Legal dispute delayed in court
Danny Williams claims city’s actions unfairly delaying Galway development
Winter is approaching and there’s an urgency at the Galway development in the west end of St. John’s to get some important work done before the frost sets in.
The massive 2,400-metre development, however — which includes industrial, retail and residential sections — is at a standstill because of an ongoing dispute involving Galway developer Danny Williams and his company, 10718 NFLD Inc., and the City of St. John’s.
On Nov. 9 Williams’ company filed an application with the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador for a ruling on a number of outstanding matters with the city. A hearing was set for Nov. 28.
During a court appearance on Thursday, however, the city asked for, and was granted, a delay. The hearing has now been set for Dec. 19.
That did not sit well with Williams’ lawyer, Jerome Kennedy.
“We were seeking to have the matter heard on Nov. 28 as scheduled. However, the city requested the matter be adjourned based on the fact they needed more time to prepare affidavits and to make filings,” Kennedy said.
“This is a significant matter that is at an impasse, as Mr. Williams will point out, and I felt that the city should be
doing whatever they could to facilitate the hearing of this matter so that we could move on with it from a legal perspective.”
In the application documents filed with the court, 10718 NFLD Inc. claims it is being treated differently by the city than other developers, and lists a number of examples of alleged unfairness. The documents also state the city is requiring more from the developers of Galway than from any other developer, particularly in what the city has included in proposed development agreements.
“I don’t mind signing a de-
velopment agreement if it’s a reasonable development agreement. Not only am I being asked to sign an unreasonable one, I’ve been asked to sign agreements nobody else has been asked to sign,” Williams said. “So there’s something going on here and all I’m asking is for fairness and an opportunity.
“We can’t get any more permits. We’ve made requests for permits for houses out there. We want to get basements in the ground so we can have winter work going on out there, which would be a significant boost to the economy,” Williams said.
“But the irony is, this is an application to get access to the courts, and the city is denying my rights to go to court and, as well, we are also asking to get access to council. My understanding is that council has been told to make sure they don’t talk to me because the matter is before the courts.”
Through the application, 10718 NFLD Inc. is asking the court to declare that the City of St. John’s has exceeded its legislative authority by making it a condition of a development agreement that the company relinquish its right in law to have legal disputes adjudicated by the courts in favour of an arbitration process.
The company also asks the court to declare it is improper for the city to act in this manner. In addition, it requests a declaration that city council — not city staff — be required to hear and consider the company’s application for development agreements relating to the Galway project.
“What we are seeking from the court is the matter be sent on to city council as requested by Mr. Williams, and essentially what we are arguing is that there is an improper delegation of authority, in legal terms,” Kennedy said. “And the second issue we are asking the court to decide is, for lack of a better term, the legality of an arbitration clause which effectively denies Mr. Williams the right to go to court.”
Williams said if certain work doesn’t proceed before winter sets in, there could be costly delays for the project.
“This is significant. I mean, we have retail stores that want to start in there. We have pipes on the ground on the Costco site in there that are ready to go into the ground and we want to get them in before winter because they are obviously hoping to open in the summer of next year,” he said.
“And we got a residential area on fire out there. It is on bust, a lot of interest. Hundreds of people going through there daily and we’ve got contractors and builders who are looking to work out there, all being stopped by a city that doesn’t want any economic progress. Unbelievable.”
In a statement released by the city on Nov. 10, St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen said the entire Galway development is important for the city and the region.
“City council is committed to ensuring proper municipal regulations of the project and will continue to act in the best interests of our citizens,” he stated. “The City of St. John’s has referred the application to external legal counsel who will prepare and file a detailed response to defend the allegations.”