Nordic spa, road closure and daycares before St. John’s city council
ACTION
The city rejected an application for a take-out restaurant at 319 Hamilton Ave. The application came before council on Feb. 20 and was deferred to further look at parking in the area. In the information note provided to council, it says that Hamilton Avenue has no parking directly in front of the proposed business and the opposite side of the street has a no stopping restriction, which prohibits parking and is in place due to insufficient separation from the driving lane.
Parking in either of these areas creates a safety issue, the note reads, adding there is limited parking available on the south side of Hamilton Avenue and Richmond Street in between driveways, there is no designated off-street parking for staff on the property and adjacent sites do not have surplus parking available for shared parking.
Nine submissions were received by the city about the proposed take-out, five in support, and four raising concerns pertaining to a lack of on-street parking in the area, intersection safety concerns, blocking of driveways, and concerns pertaining to lighting from the business.
A number of councillors said they were conflicted on the application, with more than one saying they wanted to support small businesses but were concerned about the parking.
Coun. Carl Ridgeley did not support the rejection of the application, saying he felt if parking issues presented themselves once the business got up and running customers would stop going there and the issue would sort itself out. Coun. Ron Ellsworth disagreed, saying he didn’t feel the limited parking would work for the area and that is would create a problem.
Vote: 4-4-0
ACTION
Council gave the green light for a development application to allow rural tourism use from Iceavik Nordic Spa & Village Inc. for Nordic spa facilities and hospitality services at George’s Pond Road.
More than one councillor noted that approval of the application does not imply development approval; the applicant will also be required to submit further detailed plans for review that meet the city development requirements. Revisions to the overall site plan may be required once a Floodplain Study for Kitty Gaul’s Brook has been competed, along with providing detailed design plans for upgrades to George’s Pond Road, which will be at the expense of the developer, and a secondary access prior to final development approval.
Coun. Ron Ellsworth said he supported the application but felt the challenges involved in getting the business going at this location may be cost-prohibitive.
Over 600 submissions were received regarding the application, with most in favour.
A number of concerns were also raised, including the stream running through the property, increased traffic in adjacent neighbourhoods, loss of habitat from the development, concerns that the structures are portable with a lack of infrastructure/services, pollution into the adjacent stream, forest fire concerns, impact on future development in this area, upgrading of George’s Pond Road, and whether this development could impact current rezoning applications in the area.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
A discretionary use application for a family home childcare for 106 Old Pennywell Rd. was approved. The business will be owner operated, accommodate up to seven children and will operate Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
A discretionary use application was approved for a dog grooming salon at 29 Palm Dr. Hours of operation will be Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and only one client will be booked at a time.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council approved a discretionary use application for a family home childcare at 47 Oxen Pond Rd. The business will accommodate up to seven children and will operate Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. One submission was received in favour of the application.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
An application by Treehouse Daycare Ltd. for a daycare centre at 50 Airport Rd. was approved. The business will accommodate up to 118 children and have approximately 20 employees. It will operate seven days a week, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on-site parking is provided. Three submissions were received, with one in favour. The remaining two raised concerns pertaining to traffic and other uses in the area that are not compatible with a daycare use. It was noted in the council agenda that parking along Airport Road is not suitable and should it become a problem in the future, parking may be banned in the area.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council approved an open call for preliminary engineering, design, contract administration and construction inspection services for detailed design of a shared-use path from Airport Heights to Paul Reynolds Community Centre. Three vendors bid on the project and it was awarded to Pinnacle Engineering for $407,407.34.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council voted to approve a contract for snow removal services for Kenmount Terrace. Farrell’s Excavating Limited was given the contract to the tune of $339,000 per year. Three quotes were received, and it was noted request for quotations were also sent to two other companies; however, they did not respond.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council voted to consider extending the residential 1 zone along Main Road and Shoal Bay Road in Goulds for areas that can now be serviced with municipal water and sewage.
The area in question would start at 591 and 602 Main Rd., opposite Heffernan’s Place, and run south to 705 and 730 Main Rd., at the corner of Shoal Bay Road.
At the corner of Main Road and Shoal Bay Road, the area would extend to 83 and 86 Shoal Bay Rd., where the sewage system ends.
According to the council notes, the rezoning would be for lands that are zoned rural residential and a municipal plan amendment would be required, including a commissioner’s public hearing.
The municipal plan also requires that a comprehensive development plan be prepared prior to development and an amendment to the St. John’s Urban Region’s Regional Plan would not be needed.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council voted to consider rezoning 39 Janeway Pl. from the residential zone to the apartment zone to allow an apartment building.
The city has received an application from the Association for New Canadians (ANC) to rezone the land, which formerly housed the Janeway Children’s Hospital Hostel, to accommodate a 33-unit apartment building slated for affordable housing for newcomers.
Now that council voted to consider the amendment, some revisions will be needed to meet the Envision St. John’s development regulations, which will be required prior to any public consultation.
Once a satisfactory site plan is received by the city, the application will be advertised and referred to a public meeting chaired by an independent facilitator.
Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’leary said she has received feedback on the application and she’s glad to see there will be future opportunities for public consultation.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council voted to exercise the option to purchase two loaders at end of lease term from Toromont CAT, for buyout price of $213,800, as per the original tender awarded on Dec. 4, 2017.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council approved lane reductions associated with the 2024 Shamrockin’ 5k road race on March 17. The race is scheduled to take place from 11 a.m. to noon and a traffic control company has been hired to implement the lane reductions.
The race route is from Jack Astor’s on Harbour Drive to Water Street heading west to Blackhead Road, then turns left on Blackhead Road and takes another left onto South Side Road and continues east on South Side Road to a turn around location and repeats the course in the opposite direction back to Jack Astor’s on Harbour Drive.
Participants will use the sidewalk, and a lane reduction will be in place as an added safety measure.
Vote: 8-0-0
ACTION
Council approved funding for three projects under the Building Safer Communities Grant Program.
Iris Kirby House was given $130,000 to provide specialized counselling services for children and youth living temporarily at the house, including a mental health and wellbeing counsellor with expertise in assessing and treating this group of children and youth; the redesign of three spaces (play-therapy space, sensory room, and the reception and intake space to be more child- and youthfriendly); and crisis prevention intervention training for staff.
Thrive CYN St. John’s Inc. was given $150,000 for a street-based outreach program that will operate exclusively in the downtown core. Outreach staff will be available for 35 hours per week to provide support, crisis interventions, referrals and community connections, and harm reduction supplies to vulnerable individuals on the streets.
Macmorran Community Centre Corp. and Buckmaster’s Circle Community Centre Inc. were given $197,000 for a project addressing the root causes of violence in eight low-income neighbourhoods within the city. Funds will primarily support staff to work with youth ages eight12 to develop neighbourhood-based programming to address the risk factors and strengthen protective factors.
The lion’s share of the funding, $450,000, was allotted to the grant program through Public Safety Canada and the remaining $27,000 was being added to the fund from project cost savings.
Vote: 8-0-0