ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — After an online petition amassed nearly 6,000 signatures opposed to the controversial Parkhotel harbourfront development, St. John’s city council will consider rescinding its approval of the project at the next council meeting in two weeks’ time.
Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary tabled the petition on behalf of residents at the regular council meeting on Monday. At the time, it had 5,695 signatures. The petition calls on city council to rescind its approval of Parkhotel on the basis of insufficient public engagement.
O’Leary gave notice that at the next council meeting, on June 8, she will make a motion for council to rescind resolutions made on May 11 that approved all but the air rights for the development.
While O’Leary wanted council to immediately debate rescission on Monday, the city’s rules of procedure bylaw states that a notice of motion must be given for motions of rescission.
After the council meeting, O’Leary told The Telegram she believes there’s definitely room for improvement in the city’s public consultation process.
“Quite obviously if 6,000 people have signed a petition saying that they just don’t feel like they were engaged in this process, then I think that we’re obviously showing that there must be some gaps in the system that exist.
“And I think that considering the incredible year that 2020 has presented with, I think that between Snowmageddon and the existing pandemic, honestly, people’s survival was first and foremost. So, I don’t think that a lot of the public was engaged.”
O’Leary said she believes the public consultation process in general — not only in relation to this particular development — can be improved.
Mayor Danny Breen, however, says enough was done to engage the public on this development proposal.
“Judging by the number of people at the public hearing, and the submissions that were received, there was a significant amount of feedback given, and participation in the process,” he said.
In a media scrum after the council meeting, Breen discussed some of the engagement that was done, pointing out that neither the public meeting nor the public hearing took place during extraordinary events.
A public meeting about the proposed development was held on Dec. 11, prior to Snowmageddon, and the public hearing was held March 11, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in this province.
“They weren’t impacted by either the snowstorm or COVID-19, so I’m quite comfortable with the amount of consultation that was done, and it was done according to the requirements.”
The Parkhotel is proposed to be a 12-storey building not exceeding 47 metres (no higher than adjoining Atlantic Place) with potential retail or tourism information space at the ground level, parking on eight storeys, and a hotel on the top four storeys. It would revamp the current A.P. Parking Garage located at 1 Clift’s-Baird’s Cove for this purpose.
According to city staff, the last time St. John’s city council rescinded a decision was in relation to the Cycling Master Plan in September 2015. The council of the day rescinded a decision it had made in July of that year, reversing a resolution to remove parking restrictions on streets with bicycle lanes during the winter months.
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