Residents submit petition opposing apartment buildings

But no application for construction has come before council

It’s not uncommon for people to be concerned with development near their homes, but a petition that was presented to St. John’s council on Monday, June 5, is opposing apartment buildings no one has yet applied to build.

Coun. Jill Bruce, who represents Ward 1, presented a petition with approximately 145 signatures on behalf of people who live in the Black Duck and Osprey condominium developments near Stavanger Drive in the east end opposing apartment building development on Shortall Street. But no application has come before council to build the development.

Bruce told Saltwire that residents can submit pretty much any petition they want, and she had seen some that had been submitted unrelated to issues currently before the council, but this is her first time seeing people oppose a development that hasn’t been submitted to the city.

“I think what brought this one to the forefront is the developer, the owner of the land, put a rendering of what they had planned to do on their website last year,” she said. “A resident saw it and contacted me about it, so I have taken multiple meetings with the condo representatives and I’ve also talked to the developer, but again, there’s been nothing submitted.”

A Google search for proposed apartment buildings in the area brought up three results, which say somewhere between 5 and ten apartments buildings are planned for the area, totalling about 200 apartments.

Residents have concerns with the “integrity and continued harmonious living environment” of the senior neighbourhood, according to the petition, and are also worried about increased traffic, safety of residents, and overpopulation issues.

The petition says it requires that the city not allow the developer to use Shortall Street or Coultas Street to access the buildings, that a buffer be built to “ensure they are kept separate from the adjacent senior neighbourhood” and that any discretionary use applications related to the property be communicated to the condominium boards.

Bruce said the petition is anticipating an application coming before council and the condo boards want to get ahead of it before it does. She was quick to point out, however, that the parcel of land has been zoned A3, which allows apartment buildings, since 2005, before the condo units were even built.

“I think it’s important to note when the residents in the area purchased homes a couple of years after that, that land had already been rezoned,” she said. “That information, as always, is readily available and was readily available with the city departments, if anyone had chosen to inquire about it at the time.”

Bruce said residents had asked her to hold a public meeting on the potential development, but that would be unlikely, because there was no development application submitted to the city and, even if there was, apartment buildings are zoned as a permitted use on that land.

After Bruce read out the petition, she asked St. John’s deputy city manager Jason Sinyard to go through what process would happen if the developer applied for an apartment building. Sinyard confirmed since the land is already zoned for an apartment building, there is no requirement for a public meeting.

Sinyard said if the city receives an application for a permitted use it’s a different process than if the application requires a rezoning or approval of a discretionary use.

“A rezoning or discretionary use application, built into that process is public engagement to get feedback from neighbours and then that comes back to council for a decision on whether to approve the development or not,” he said. “For applications for permitted uses, there is no public engagement in the process, because the owner of that land has a right to build certain things.”

Sinyard said those applications are dealt with at a staff level, who do a technical review to make sure it meets zoning requirements, to make sure any traffic concerns, access point concerns and servicing issues are dealt with, and it’s approved at a staff level without the need for council to vote on it.