By Mark Squibb
Conception Bay South council approved a number of development permits, both residential and commercial at its most recent public council meeting.
First, council approved the operation of a workshop with subsidiary retail operations from a garage at 20 Cables Road, Foxtrap. The owner makes and sells survey pegs but had been operating without a permit.
“This is one that has been ongoing for some time,” said councillor-at-large Rex Hillier. “I met with the resident, and I believe councillor (Gerard) Tilley met with the resident last fall, probably in October, and it’s nice to see now that we’ve done a lot of work over that time and the resident has done a lot of work to bring the property into compliance, and now we’re able to recommend approval for their business.”
Tilley allowed that while there were a few hurdles along the way, the property owner has since dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s.
Despite receiving three submissions from residents who opposed the operation of a business at the address, council approved the permit unanimously.
Council also approved operation of a one-on-one fitness studio in the commercial building at 2535 Topsail Road, Chamberlains, conditional on implementation of an acceptable snow clearing and storage plan, and parking line painting and signage.
“This is a building on a very small property with very little parking space, very little storage space for snow clearing,” said Hillier. “It’s very close to a neighbour’s driveway, and I know there have been issues there with other businesses in the past. We’re asking this business in particular, as we go forward, to respect the other residents in the neighborhood.”
Mayor Darrin Bent noted there had been a number of business start ups at the location over the years, but given the nature of the business, “maybe it’s the one that will work for the longest.”
In other development news:
Council has approved a land use assessment that was required before construction of a home could begin at 47-53 Perrin’s Road.
“This property is near the water down in Long Pond in a moderate hazard area, and as a result we require a land use assessment report before any development takes place,” explained Hillier.
The assessment addresses grading and potential flooding of the property.
The applicant was also required to develop a turnaround at the end of Perrins Road.
A request for a home and subsidiary apartment at 589-591 Seal Cove Road with a reduced building line setback of five metres was approved by council, despite a recommendation from the planning committee that it be rejected because the proposed building line setback does not meet the minimum distance required in the regulations.
“We’ve had a second look at that, and a deeper look,” said Hillier. “This is a property that’s in a unique place. It’s caught between Seal Cove Road and Little Indian Pond on the back. Some, I’ll say six years ago, we had worked with the family to develop a plan for a house on that lot. In the interim, two things happened. A family member passed away, and the permit was allowed to expire, and also we extended the width of our roads… Basically, our roadway expanded so that plan that the family had agreed on and we had worked with, wouldn’t fit.”
Hillier added that neighbouring properties have similar road setbacks.
“It’s higgledy-piggledy along that strip as it is,” said Hillier. “So, we’re asking council to relax that regulation.”
Considering the circumstances, council voted to approve construction of the home.
Council approved a motion to undertake a public consultation for a proposed re-zoning of land at and near 251 Spruce Hill Road from open space zone to residential low-density.
“Along our T’Railway, there are wide buffers and narrow buffers,” said Hillier. “In setting out our new town plan, we’ve tried to set a standard. In this case, the buffer is much wider than the standard that we’ve set in our town plan. The resident is looking to build a home in what is now the buffer, so they’re looking to get that rezoned. They are not prepared to wait until the town plan is complete, so they’re taking it upon their own hands to go through the rezoning process themselves and pay for that process.”
Hillier said that a similar situation is unfolding in Manuels.
Council voted to provide public notice of it’s intention to sell approximately of 10 acres of land on the east side Graham Mifflen Drive and south of the Conception Bay South Arena.
The Town acquired the land for development of the Gateway commercial park from private title holders and Crown Lands back in 2009. A portion of the land was subject to subsurface mineral rights held by Greenslade’s Construction Limited. In exchange for release of the mineral rights, the Town agreed to convey approximately 10 acres of land on the east side of Graham Mifflen Drive to Greenslade’s.
“We’re just working through the process as legislation requires,” said Hillier. “But basically, we have already been paid for this piece of property.”
