The Scope

Enviro Committee Rises From the Dead

At the March 12 St. John’s city council meeting council voted unanimously to approve a motion to re-activate the Environmental Advisory Committee.

Yep. Re-activate.

The Environmental Advisory Committee, established in 1994 as part of the city’s development regulations, fizzled into near-oblivion somehow in the early 2000s.

The committee, which is to be made up of an array of environmental experts, has been mandated to advise council on water, wetland and other environmental issues, and report annually on the “state of the environment” in the city.

“The mandate seems a bit dated and narrow in scope in my view,” says Chris Hogan, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Environment Network.

“There is a world-wide movement to ‘green’ urban environments,” says Hogan. “And this touches on every aspect of how we live and work: food production, sustainable transportation, alternative energy generation, building design and planning.”

If the resurrected committee is to have an impact on these things, it will need an expanded mandate, says Hogan.

But, expanded mandate or not, having an active, expert advisory committee is important to “provide better analysis of environmental impacts from development, and make sustainability a key consideration in all decision making and planning,” says Hogan.

This was a sentiment echoed by councillor Sheilagh O’Leary, who added that having a robust expert committee is particularly important now as development continues to ramp up around the city. And especially if plans go ahead to change provincial legislation that has long banned development above 190m elevation for water supply, sewage, and run-off concerns.

In his report on the public meeting held February 12 about the proposed high elevation developments (like “Danny-stan”), the city-appointed commissioner noted, while several reports indicate the current city infrastructure can handle increased water and sewage demand, “zero net runoff” rules—meaning new developments cannot add to storm runoff amount in existing systems-—will need to be in place for all new developments to prevent flooding and other problems that have been caused by other mega-developments. Like the Avalon Mall and Stavanger Drive.

Zero net runoff is an infrastructure concern, as well as an environmental one that presents both a water and wetland conservation challenge. But it is also an opportunity to use green development practices to deal with storm runoff. Something a committee of environmental experts could have a lot to say about.

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Houses of the Holy

Dominican church-turned-Selexyz Bookstore in Maastricht, Netherlands. Photo by Bert Kaufmann.

The churches in our downtown ecclesiastical district are buildings that transcend time, and not just in the sense that they are old. For many, it’s as though they have always been there and always will. But churches in many cities throughout Canada are faced with an uncertain future. They are losing their congregations, and struggling with the high costs of maintenance associated with old buildings. The problem hasn’t been as apparent in St. John’s yet, but may be on the horizon. This looming crisis of ecclesiastical structures is causing people to start re-evaluating just how important these buildings are, and what their role is in the community.

What to do with abandoned or underused churches has been on the minds of many people in the heritage industry, urban planning, and developers alike. It’s a matter of balancing the often conflicting interests of stakeholder groups. The community and church groups are invested in the property and see it as a public space with historical importance. Municipal governments see the architecture as a valuable cultural resource. And of course, developers see prime real estate that rarely becomes available.

But those aren’t the only problems. Transforming property for re-use for commercial, residential, or institutional purposes isn’t so straightforward when dealing with a church. They often don’t have the types of spaces that can be neatly divided into offices or apartments. They can be very expensive to heat, and often need detailed restoration work. Sometimes they are even impossible to update to today’s standards of accessibility and fire safety. Attractive and inspiring spaces to be in—yes, but a hard to fit into a developer’s profit logic.

Some adaptive reuse projects have been able to negotiate these challenges though. The Notre-Dame-De-Jacques-Cartier Church in Quebec City converted part of their space into rental units for social and community groups. The Calvary United Methodist Church in Philadelphia adopted five other congregations and incorporated secular events into their program.

But perhaps the most well known and celebrated example of adaptive church re-use would be the Selexyz Bookshop in Maastricht, Netherlands. It’s a huge 13th century Dominican church that was transformed into a branch of the popular bookseller Selexyz. Architects Merkx + Girod approached the space with the idea of accentuating the building’s existing attributes, like the extremely high open spaces, and the medieval vaulted ceilings. In fact, going up was the only way to get enough square footage in to make the store profitable. The main feature of the space is a towering black steel stack of walk-in bookshelves; it’s contrasting nature doesn’t take away from the existing architecture, and although it’s a massive structure, its appears light and lofty due to a savvy use of perforated metal throughout.

Shoppers have described browsing the shelves in this space as an enlightening experience. The three storey high bookshelves have stairs, but also a lift that take you up to the top, where you can view the restored 14th century murals. The vastness and quietude is perfect for reading, but moreover it’s a contemplative space that engages people with the timelessness of the surrounding architecture.

There was a time when the beauty of a church and its ability to overwhelm the senses through the gloriousness of its architecture was part of the spiritual experience. Now, places that people go to be spiritually inspired are manifesting in a different form: big boxes on the sides of highways. The buildings left in the wake of this social change will require a great degree of creativity to find ideas that will be profitable—and at the same time, prioritize architecture.

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St. John’s city council live blog, April 16, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: where council meets twitter since 2009.

Andrew Harvey here to bring you the play by play of council matters 140 characters at a time.

There is a delegation here for national youth week. There is a youth arts show in city hall opening May 2nd at 7pm.

O’Keefe is highlighting how the 4 staff here from the city are from CBS, Mount Pearl and St. John’s. There’s regional cooperation!

A public meeting on the rezoning of land on Topsail Rd for the new West End HS was cancelled because they had no written representations.

Yes, they will do this. Definitely write in if you feel strongly about anything going to a public meeting.

O’Keefe says he will be bringing an amendment into Confederation building tomorrow morning (re development above 190m contour line)

The Mayor’s Advisiory Committee on The Status of Person with disabilities has named their NextUp rep. Congrats Nick Mercer!

Council has approved just over $1 mil in community group grants. Breen also notes try still have $100k left for things that “come up.”

On the go-around already, they want to get out into the nice weather I guess.

Also to note, O’Leary and Hanlon are missing. Everyone else here.

Galgay is noting that the cities ecclastical district is in the finals for a competition for Canada’s most interesting places.

O’Keefe says that the city needs to look into lighting up these churches at night. He says they will call a meeting with a the church groups

After the most recent water break on Portugal Cove rd Breen says staff are looking at a plan to replace a large section of these mains.

Breen: “I’m looking forward to some good news in the [provincial] budget next week.” On the cities need for provincial money.

Hann says that 75% of youth aged 15-24 volunteer in some way. They’re not all skeets and hooligans I guess.

Hickman is encouraging people to get out and clean up their neghibourhood in the nice weather.

Duff: “I will be brief because it is too nice to be in here.”

Duff also encourages artists to come out to the session in the Foran room Thursday at 7pm re: the multipurpose arts space study.

Meeting adjourned. 27 min total. Rogers tells me the record for the shortest meeting ever is 15 min!

That’s all for this week, tweet ya next week. Andrew Harvey out.

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St. John’s city council live blog, April 9, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: Your 140 character window into council since 2009.

Andrew Harvey here to tweet you the down and dirty details from the gallery of council chambers in the bunker on New Gower st.

Galgay wins the race out to council chambers with Breen in a close second.

O’Keefe has arrived and the meeting has begun (just a fashionable 15 min late).

There is a delegation here for Parkinsons Awareness month. 1,600 people in the province have parkinsons.

Sorry, 6,800 people have parkinsons in the province. The lady here says a lot more needs to be done as far as research and awareness.

There is a delegation here from the Canadian Cancer Society for Daffodil month, a symbol of hope in the fight against cancer.

They are encouraging people to wear the daffodil pin to show your support for those fighting cancer and this who have lost their battle.

Gerry Smith, chair of St. John’s Sports Entertainment (SJSE) is presenting their audited financial statements for 2011.

SJSE has posted a profit of $699k which will be returned to the city as a surplus!

O’Keefe: “It took time to turn the corner, but we’ve turned it…”. On the financial turnaround of Mile One/ the convention ctr since 2007.

Breen, the city’s representative on SJSE says that the cost of operating Mile One is now half of what it was for Memorial Stadium.

The city operating grant for Mile One was $1.25 million, so after the nearly $700k coming back it is functionally $550k.

Hann: “There were some dark days… This is how it is supposed to work” on the consistently dropping subsidy.

In 2008 the subsidy for mile one was $2 million. Down to $550k is pretty good in a few years.

O’Leary is discussing potential visiting speakers as a part of the Municipal Plan review. She wants to bring in Ken Greenberg, an architect.

Duff agrees with O’leary and says it is important to get some perspective on what is going on elsewhere at the start of this process.

The cost to bring in two speakers is $11k to have them for 2 days.

Breen: “I’m not convinced that this jangling to provide good value”. He fears the speakers may be too broad for specifically St. John’s.

The second speaker is David Buchbinder an expert on the cultural economy. Colbert is concerned that Ken Greenberg “has all the credentials”.

Tilley: “There’s so many bergs, icebergs, Greenbergs” on getting Ken Greenbergs name wrong and being corrected by O’Leary.

It seems like the two speakers work as a pair, but some of council only want to have to pay for one.

They are attempting to make an ammendment to approve one of the speakers, but not both.

O’Leary says that their price is “very economical” and they “seem like a perfect fit” for stimulating public engagement.

Apparently the idea to bring in a speaker came from the advisiory committee.

Hann is getting his back up a bit because he says that one of his fellow councillors insinuated that city staff was not doing a good job.

I think that Duff just passed a note to Collins through the commissioner. I’d say it’s not a love note.

Colbert says he thinks one speaker will fit the bill. Ammendment passes. City clerk is clarifying that this was not a hostile amendment.

I never heard a vote but I think it passed. Apparently they will have to come back to council if the speakers will only come as a pair.

Council has rejected a proposal for a home-based cake decorating business at 2 Nascopie Cr. They had 4 complaints about this business.

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They have approved a proposal for 20 Incinerator Rd, for a gravel quarry, despite several environmental complaints/concerns from CBS.

They are discussing the 2012 Streets Rehab program. The program will be $8 mil total, $ 2mil of that is from the 2010 surplus.

O’Leary is asking whether or not there is a plan for the other $8 mil of the $10 mil they had from 2010.

Finance chair Breen says that they will be planning how to use this money but they need to approve this $2 mil to get the road work done now.

Colbert is asking why there are several brand new roads that are approved for grind and patch operations.

Colbert is asking what happened to the provincial money for some repairs on these new roads or if the contractor has any responsibility.

Walt Mills (Engineering) says the roads are more then the 1-yr warranty the contractor gives.

Hann is discussing a proposal for a condo in Quidi Vidi on “School house hill”. This proposal was originally from 2009.

They have just completed a Land Use Assessment Report and the proposal will go to a public hearing.

There is also a special events report, they are giving $100k out this year to support events and festivals.

They are voting on a “zero-net runoff” policy for new proposals. They are delaying the implementation of this policy it seems.

Duff asks “Do we know what the impact of this exemption is?” She wants more information on how many proposals could get this exemption.

Collins: “… the subdivision I was trying to get up in Shea Heights” this is how Collins talks about anything going on in Ward 5.

Galgay says he has recieved many complaints about 145 Casey St, regarding both housing conditions and “dysfunctional behaviour” of tenants.

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O’Leary says that the city needs to improve how often the city garbage containers are emptied.

O’Keefe: “The only way this city will be as clean as it should be is if people litter less and get out and pick up litter more.”

That’s all folks, tweet ya next week, Andrew Harvey out.

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St. John’s city council live blog, April 2, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: telling you more then you would ever want to know about council since 2009.

The Development committee report for today includes an application for an 8-screen movie theater on Torbay Rd.

The proposed movie theater is on the left just past Stavanger dr., the former Field Farm site.

The proponents for Mallard Cottage, the resturant proposed for Quidi Vidi, are here in chambers to see how the vote on their proposal goes.

Former Ward 2 candidate Todd Perrin is one of the people behind the resturant. He is looking for a exemption from parking requirements.

Mallard Cottage is a heritage building and there is a provision to waive or alter parking requirements for Heritage use applications.

I have to give props to Wally Collins, who I have seen wearing a respect women pin on his lapel 2 weeks in a row.

O’Keefe has arrived and the meeting has begun.

April 3rd is Canadian Oncology Nursing Day. There is a delegation here for this day.

The nurses here today say that 40% of women and 45% of men will be diagnosed with cancer in their life! That is shockingly high.

Breen and Hanlon are missing and the rest of council are here.

Council is moving to approve the proposal for Mallard Cottage.

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Ward 2 councillor Frank Galgay is giving us a history lesson on the progeny of Mallard Cottage. The building dates back to the 1800′s.

Duff: “I think this is a courageous undertaking” on saving a historic building in a historic neighborhood.

Council is moving to approve-in-principle the movie theater for Torbay Rd. There are requirements which the application must comply with.

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Council has rejected an application from Portugal Cove-St. Phillips because it is in the watershed.

This is an interesting part of inter-municipal relations, St. John’s has final say on approvals if they are in the watershed.

Council has approved an exemption for the firearms by-law. This is for Newdock to address their “nuisance pigeons”.

The city will be selling a parcel of land (not sure how big) at 51-57 Job st to Deacon Investments for their proposed office building.

The on-street parking ban is over effective yesterday. Park away people! Park away!! Or preferably walk I suppose, no parking required.

Council is discussing changes to parking requirements for Hotels. They want to change the requirements from 1 space/3 rooms to 1/4 rooms.

Hann says that with the old requirements for hotel parking they had more parking then they needed.

There is an ammendment from the planning committee. One item is the workplan for the municipal plan review.

Hann: “It’s an agressive plan” to try and hold all the public hearings for the municipal plan by the end of June, or July if nessicary.

O’Leary says that she wants to bring in 2 speakers her and Hanlon saw who spoke at a recent conference on building on a creative economy.

Duff: “One of the things which has possibly been missing is an opportunity to step back and do some visioning” on the municipal plan review.

O’Keefe wants to defer this decision to give the planning committee an opportunity to look at other potential speakers.

Council is moving to approve the “Steel hotel” on Water St. This was an addition to the agenda so I have nothing in front of me about this.

I hate it when they do that, they have approved what I presume to be a huge development without even identifying the address to anyone here.

Duff wants to see a special consultation session on heritage for the municipal plan review.

Hann says that heritage will be covered as there is a special session for Downtown. Duff points out that heritage is not only a DT issue.

Collins is discussing the cities new waste management app. My Waste app is available on http://www.curbitstjohns.com

Hann encourages people to nominate someone for the Senior of the year award. Check out http://www.stjohns.ca for details and nomination form.

O’leary is discussing a memorial to be held on Thursday April 26th to commerate Stephanie Chaisson, who was killed on the Port-Aux-Port.

The memorial on April 26th will be to encourage prevention of violence against women and to raise funds for Iris Kirby house.

That’s all folks, tweet ya next week. Andrew Harvey out.

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St. John’s city council live blog, March 26, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: council fresh to your smartphone every Monday since 2009.

Andrew Harvey here to bring you the call on the comings and goings of @CityofStJohns council.

Council will be discussing proposed changes to the municipal plan to allow development above the 190m contour line.

O’Keefe has arrived and the meeting has begun. Everyone is there except Hanlon.

There is a delegation here for Earth Hour, this march 31st, 8:30pm-9:30pm. Everyone is encouraged to turn off their lights for this hour.

Earth hour will be held in over 100 countries and encourages action on climate change.

For more information on Earth hour go to http://www.WWF.ca

There is a delegation here for Purple day for Epilepsy. Purple day is today!

Epilepsy affects over 10,000 people in The province. One in ten people will have at least one seziure in their life. That’s a lot!

44% of people still don’t know basic first aid to deal with seziures. Never put something in a persons mouth who is having a seziure.

Council is moving to make ammendments to development regulations and the municipal plan to allow development above the 190m contour line.

These changes are another step towards allowing Danny-land to proceed.

Hann: “This will allow some exciting development opportunities” on the proposed changes.

Duff says the recommendations include a “zero net runoff policy” for water.

Duff: “This is a huge opportunity for the city to do this right and do some good planning… We should start it yesterday, if we could”.

O’Leary says that the recently reactivated Environmental Advisiory Committee will be interested in the new regulations for this area.

O’Keefe: “Time is of the essence on this” noting that this will be a 15-20 year development. He says phase 1 should not be “unduly delayed”.

Council has moved to rezone land on Stavanger Drive to allow a residential subdivision. This land was zoned Commercial General.

Colbert is discussing changes to enforcement for disabled parking spots. He wants to see if the newly increased fee $400 can be put on signs

Bell mobility has been approved to build a Monopole Tower at the end of Autumn Dr. This after being rejected for another location recently.

Hann is discussing the proposed drive-thru regulations. They are proposing a 15m separation from residential properties.

There is a big crowd here in the gallery which is interested in these regulations… They live next to a proposed Mary Browns drive-thru.

Breen: “There has been a lot of work on this” [drive-thru regulations]. He says he was leaning towards not allowing them at all.

Breen says “I’ve seen some too close” in Ward 1. He is proposing ammendments to the regulations, the buffer to be 3m with the option of 15m.

Hickman says that the city needs to “show some flexibility” with the development committee.

A 15m buffer is a whole lot different then a 3m one. The ammendment may only apply when the abutting property is commercial, not 100% sure.

Collins thinks that 15m is too much of a buffer and wants 10m. “I’ve got a couple [drive-thrus] in my ward and they don’t cause any trouble”

Galgay says he can’t support any ammendment which would lock the city into one distance, he wants discretion.

Hann says he won’t support going down to a 10m buffer. He thinks that 15m is appropriate to protect residential properties.

I am confused over the procedural mess with multiple amendments. It appears the 3m buffer amendment did not go through.

O’Keefe: “I think it’s all about protecting the quality of life of residents”.

Motion on ammendment to make buffer 10m instead of 15m was 5 to 5, therefore the motion is lost.

O’Keefe: “The drive-thru business community has been good to the city and the city has been good to the drive-thru business community.”

The city clerking clarifying what the motion with amendments is. This will allow for a 3m buffer with council discretion to go up to 15m.

Duff is discussing new criteria for heritage buildings including more modern buildings “Which will be the heritage buildings of the future”.

O’Leary says DT St. John’s wants to see a sub-committee to encourage communication with DT business owners.

DT business owners are responsible for keeping the front of their property clean and well-maintained. I wonder if this includes snow…

Paul Mackey clarifies that DT businesses are responsible for snow clearing in a specific part of DT.

As a part of the needs analysis for a multi-purpose arts centre they will be holding a “Supply and Demand Forum” on April 19th at 7pm.

The Arts advisory committee also welcomes Sara Tilley, the NextUp representative. She was chosen from 26 highly qualified applicants.

Collins reminds people that on April 1st people have to cover their garbage again, no foolin’.

Quick go-around this week, no one want to talk after the long discussions on drive-thru’s and development above the 190m contour line.

O’Leary says we need to look at more international models for universal design to accommodate our aging society.

O’Keefe: “That’s not the issue… What they do in Europe they do in Europe” on Duff discussing European models of seniors living.

That’s all folks, tweet ya next week. Andrew Harvey out.

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Community Centres

Herstedlund Community Centre in Albertslund, Denmark. Photo by Adam Mørk.

Just because you build a community centre, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a sense of community will grow up around it. These centres are a public service, like a transit system or running water and sewer. But how can they really be vibrant, functioning parts of a community, and avoid the pitfall of underuse?

Southlands is a relatively new subdivision of St. John’s, located just south and east of Mount Pearl. It’s really just getting going as a neighborhood and, to help it along, the city of St. John’s recently approved $60,000 for a concept plan for a new community centre. Council recommended that public consultations be made to determine what should be in it, and where it should be.

It’s not easy to program a building of this type. The plan has to anticipate and incorporate a range of activities that a community desires. It has to be flexible enough so that all types of people can call it their own. It also has to be a dynamic and attractive space in which people want to spend their time.

The Herstedlund Community Centre in Albertslund, Denmark is a great example of a project that really looked at what the community needs. The neighborhood is a new development of around 600 families located on the outskirts of Copenhagen. Conceptually, the building was meant to resemble a large tree at the edge of a field—a symbolic notion relating to the town. It’s a large mass that curves at its base into a half-pipe skate ramp. The facade is made of solid and perforated shiny aluminum panels cut in an angular pattern that accentuate the gestural shape of the building. One side looks as if it’s covered in a three-dimensional decorative pattern, but it’s actually a climbing wall.

The design had to be flexible, featuring multi-functional spaces that could serve many different groups at the same time. The architects’ (Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter Aps) solution was to make a transformable space, with entrances on multiple levels, various ways to access facilities, and moving walls and hatch doors. The centre is surrounded by outdoor activity spaces, which all have access to washrooms and kitchens on the main level. The kitchen can also transform into an outdoor patio or bar. The performance space has a stage that can be divided into smaller stages by sliding walls, and the top level of the facility is an open roof terrace and basketball court, which can be accessed without crossing paths with other groups.

The Herstedlund Community Centre is not just simply about providing a place for people to gather, its making a statement about the community through its architecture. The architecture can actually be a contribution to that neighborhood and its sense of community. Maybe if the building is part of the identity of the place, people will want to be a part of it.

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A Taxing Relationship

Photo by Flickr user Alan Cleaver

It appears municipalities are changing tack in the ongoing battle with the province to get a better financial deal. Shortly after Kathy Dunderdale stated that the municipal operating grant formula will not be addressed in the 2012 provincial budget, St. John’s mayor Dennis O’Keefe fired back in a press release, “it is fundamentally wrong, unfair and inequitable that the provincial government forces municipalities to pay provincial HST on the essential services we provide our residents.” With the renegotiation of municipal operating grants off the table O’Keefe and the municipalities will focus on battling to keep their provincial portion of the HST.

In this province it is estimated that municipalities pay between $25 and $30 million in HST to the provincial government. About $10 million of this is paid by the City of St. John’s, leaving a lot of money being paid by municipalities beyond the overpass, many of which face significant infrastructure deficits. As a result, municipalites have begun working together to try to wrangle a bigger share of money back from the province.

“Everybody is in the same boat,” Corner Brook Deputy-Mayor Donna Luther recently told the Western Star. “Infrastructure is crumbling and we are taxing people to try and come up with the money we need.”

The HST situation in particular riles up municipalities because the provincial government itself is exempt from federal governments taxes—a courtesy municipalities want to see extended to them as well.

Ultimately we are talking about how our own money is being spent. Right now about eight cents of a taxpayer’s dollar goes to municipalities, 50 to the federal government and 42 to the provincial government. Municipalities are creations of provincial law, a law that limits municipalities’ ability to tax its citizens and generate revenue.

Municipalities will be quick to tell you that they are the ones who hear the complaints about the pothole-riddled roads and leaking water mains. The provincial government, though, is understandably reluctant to make any change that leaves them with less money. The province seems to be posturing itself to postpone any major changes to municipal financing until next year, and by then I wouldn’t be surprised if the province throws municipalities a bone—possibly something along the lines of paying municipal property tax on provincial buildings.

But the question is: will municipalities be happy with anything less then not having to pay the province HST?

Our magic 8-ball has come up “cannot predict now.”

In the meantime, be sure to contact your MHA or councillor and let them know how you feel about all of this.

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St. John’s city council live blog, March 12, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: council live on your smartphone since 2009.

Andrew Harvey here to bring you the call of the municipal madness from the bunker on New Gower.

There is a massive addendum to the agenda this week, all submissions related to the proposed seniors complex in Kilbride.

There is a delegation here for volunteer week. 35 million hours of time are donated in NL per year! We loves helping each other.

There is a notice of notion by Hann to ammend the Parking meter by-law. They will be increasing the fine for an expired meter from $15-$25.

Hann says that they need to increase revenue for the parking reserve fund. He says they have borrowed $8 mil to develop parking DT.

Tilley is requesting an ammendment that the motion be deferred. City clerk Neil Martin clarifies that this is not an amendment.

There is some confusion over what is being discussed/voted on. The mover/seconder would have to withdraw the motion at this point.

Hann: “It’s already been discussed… Everybody knows” on why the motion does not need to be deferred.

Motion to defer failed, 4-5. O’Keefe and Colbert are missing. Duff is in the chair.

Tilley wanted to defer to have an opportunity to discuss the timing of this with @DowntownStJohns

It sounds like @DowntownStJohns was hoping the increase in parking fines would come after electronic parking ticket writers came in.

O’leary: “It’s not fair to our partners” on making this change without discussing with @DowntownStJohns and other partners.

Motion carried, make sure to feed those meters people.

The city is also amending the Ticketing By-law, to increase the fine from $75-$400. Quite a jump!

To clarify, this increase in parking fines is for those who park on handicap parking without a valid permit.

There was a public meeting held regarding a proposed 69-unit seniors complex in Kilbride. Collins is moving rejection.

Collins says that the proposal is for the wrong area, it’s on a hill an in the middle of a busy intersection he says.

This appears to be a controversial proposal. 125 letters of support were recieved and a petition with 187 signatures against.

Galgay says he supports the “much needed” proposal and objections are simply NIMBY sentiments.

O’Leary: “This proposal does not meet the reasonable standards for rezoning” she says safety has to be first in this matter.

Tilley says he will support the proposal and that there is a huge need for seniors assisted living “Seniors need our help”.

Hickman: “I personally don’t feel it’s a good location”. He thinks it would be more appropriate for residntial infill units.

The land is currently zoned R1 (residential), and would need to be rezoned to AA (apartment special).

Hann: “I don’t think municipalities are planning for the inevitable” on our aging population and the need for seniors housing.

Breen: “It’s not about seniors… We’re not voting against seniors… It’s an application” he is concerned about parking.

Hanlon: “I try not to talk to developers on issues like this” she says she tries to listen to city staff and citizens.

Hanlon says she knows the area “I sold half the houses on Richmond Hill”, but does not think it is an appropriate area for the proposal.

Duff: “It is backlot development… There is an unresolved parking issue” on why she does not support this development in this location.

Collins: “There’s 125 letters of support, but only one of them is in Kilbride, and he’s a mile and a half up the road”.

Motion to reject the proposal passed 6-3. The proposal will not go ahead.

The arts jury met last week to award $159k in arts grants to individuals and groups. This amount is up $50k from last year.

Council has approved an increase of funding from $1/capita last year to $1.50 this year, $1.75 in 2013 and $2/capita in 2014.

These amounts only include the direct grants to artists, total funding for the arts in St. John’s is closer to $3-4 O’Leary says.

Duff: “We’re investing in our artists… That goes beyond the art they make”.

They are moving to make ammendments to the municipal plan, didn’t say what type of changes, or why… Thanks for the info guys.

Those changes for the municipal plan are being made for Deacon Investments but no address was given. This was an add on so I have no info.

Breen says that $12.8 mil was paid in HST to the provincial gov’t just for the harbour cleanup project.

That’s all for this week folks, tweet ya next week. Andrew Harvey out.

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St. John’s city council live blog for March 5, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: bringing council to the masses via twitter since 2009.

Andrew Harvey here to bring you the blow-by-blow of your city council at work.

Council will discuss the rezoning of land at 465 Topsail rd to allow for the construction of the new West End High School.

Council will also discuss an application to rezone the land between Kenmount rd and Kelsey dr from open space to allow for a subdivision.

The piece of land in question for Kenmount/Kelsey is a long strip between Kelsey and Ladysmith Dr.

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Council has assembled and the meeting is about to begin. It appears Duff will be in the chair as O’keefe is not here. Everyone else is here.

There is a delegation here for Social Work month. There are 1400 registered social workers in the province.

There will be a public event match 22nd from 7-9pm at the @RamadaStJohns on Anxiety in children. It’s free! just show up.

There is another delegation here for World Plumbing Day. Duff says that local plumbing organizations have been very good to @HabitatNLCA

O’Keefe has arrived and is in the big chair. Not sure why he was late, he was clearly back there.

The @CityofStJohns consolidated financial statement is complete for 2010.

Apparently they had issues with some financial reporting systems which caused a 4-5 month delay.

The auditors gave the city a clean audit report, what Robert Bishop “would hope and expect”.

The @CityofStJohns had a $10.2 million surplus coming out of 2010. I wonder if any of that’s left?

Breen (chair of Finance committee) says a $10.2 mil surplus gives the city some “wiggle room” when it comes to “unexpected one-time costs”.

Duff says that there is a huge defecit in capital works needs in the city.

The issue with the proposed rezoning for Kenmount rd/ Kelsey dr is a reduction in the current 50m buffer behind the commercial on Kelsey.

Hickman says that he is not concerns about safety issues there but wants to make sure there is a public park in the area.

There is cheering from council when the issue of the rezoning of 465 Topsail rd came up. This is for the new West End High School.

Council is ecstatic to see this new school finally being built in the west end since Beaconsfield high school closed ten years ago.

Breen is discussing new protocol on how the city writes-off parking tickets. They will write-off tickets after 6 years for people from NL.

Hann says that an application for Wesley United Church was rejected because churches are considered commercial by the city.

Breen clarifies that all non-profits are considered commercial as opposed to residential, but the city will not subsidize repairs for them.

The Parks and Rec committee will be reallocating capital funding for a concept plan for a Southlands community ctr and a skate park for QV

Collins: “I did a good bit of leg work me self… Feet are sore” on his work to prove there are at least 5000 people in the Southlands.

The rest of council agrees that this is a growth area and the need is definitely there for a community ctr in the southlands.

In order for a community to qualify for a community centre in the parks and rec mater plan the area needs 5000 people.

Duff: “I think it will be an interesting neighbourhood or community building activity”on the Southlands community centre concept process.

Colbert is making notice of motion to ammend the Ticketing by-law to increase fines for parking in disabled parking, from $75 to $400!

The city is going to expropriate the property at 155 New Gower st to allow for the convention centre expansion.

Apparently the city tried to negotiate with the owner of 155 New Gower st but “We are too far apart to negotiate” says the city solicitor.

Hanlon says that people in Toronto at a conference on Creative Economies were impressed at what St. John’s is doing, particularly NextUp.

Hanlon and O’Leary both mention that it is International Women’s Week. Get out and attend some events people, especially men!

Duff: “We have to keep at it like Chinese water torture” on the need for perseverance in negotiating a new municipal/provincial arrangement.

That’s all for this week people. Tweet you next week, Andrew Harvey out.

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St. John’s city council live blog for Feb 27, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: your municipal government live to your smartphone since 2009.

“His worship, the mayor” O’Keefe has arrived and the meeting has begun.

Next week is Allied Youth Week. The theme of the week is “Be the heart of your community”.

O’Leary and Hanlon are missing (at a conference), the rest of council is in attendance.

There is another proclamation for Nutrition month. The month is focusing on helping people make better decisions around buying food.

They are having a Follow the Leader Challenge. It encourages municipalities to meet goals through the month of March.

Hickman is introducing a motion for the Whistleblower protection by-law.

By-law passed, blow away people. It will be interesting to see if this encourages employees to come forward.

They are moving to approve a home-based pilates studio, Pony pilates for 5 Carpasian Rd.

Council is discussing a public hearing held on proposed guidelines for non-residential properties.

These guidelines are intended to protect peoples views in the Battery and preserve the “character and scale” of the neighbourhood.

A lot of people in the Battery are unhappy with the trouble they are having rebuilding their fishing stages down there.

The planning and housing committee heard a presentation from the Narrows Working group (Battery/Ft. Amherst).

The Narrows group wants a Planning Area Development scheme. Council says this will have to be done along with the municipal plan review.

Council has now formally recieved an application for the former NL tel building (345-354 Duckworth). This will be 80 units.

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Right now what I’m reading in the agenda says they will be “80 residential apartments and one level of commercial floor space”.

I was under the impression that the NL tel building was going to be Condos. I hope I was wrong on this. We desperately need apartments here!

There is an application for a lounge/restaurant at 177 Duckworth, the old Taste of Thai. This will have to be advertised for public input.

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The Public Works committee got back Phase 1 of the Goulds Servicing Study, they need $51million to remediate the water/drainage system!

The Economic Development and Tourism committee is establishing a Roadmap 2021 liaison committee to implement the reports recommendations.

Good to see some follow-up on Roadmap 2021. There is nothing worse then report that costs thousands of dollars sitting on a shelf.

I do question why there is no such liaison committee to ensure implementation of the municipal arts plan or other such documents.

Tilley: “I though it was a great session… It was a good start” on the municipal plan review mayors symposium over the weekend #sjplan

Hann: “I think it was an example of democracy in progress” on the mayors symposium “it’s only the start”.

Duff is making a motion to create a planning area for the Narrows which will be worked on through the municipal plan review.

Duff says that for @MunicipalNL “urban” communities in NL are classified as over 3000 people. I guess everything is relative…

O’Keefe is addressing comments made by @mount_pearl mayor Randy Simms questioning the quality of service provided by Metrobus.

Simms called the bus service “woefully inadequate”. O’Keefe says they get exactly what they contract for, and pay for.

O’Keefe says that Mount Pearl has to “pony up” the money if they want enhanced service from Metrobus.

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St. John’s Municipal Plan Review Mayor’s Symposium live blog for Feb 25, 2012

The @CityofStJohns Municipal plan review mayor’s symposium liveblog: your live updates from the Foran Room of city hall.

Andrew Harvey here to bring you notes throughout the day on the brainstorming on the future of the @CityofStJohns

O’Keefe is introducing the days proceedings and saying everyone is encouraged to help “build a city we can all be proud of”.

I have in front of me a keypad which will be used to vote on various questions throughout the day.

O’Keefe, Duff, Hann, O’Leary, Galgay, Tilley, and Hanlon are in attendance from council.

Hann: “We want to know what your vision for the city is”.

Hann advises that written submissions for the municipal plan review can be sent to planning@stjohns.ca throughout the process.

Greg Dominaux from the Rural Secretariat is introducing his team for the day. One lady flew in from the northern peninsula last night!

There are 15 or so tables with 8 participants, a facilitator, and a recorder.

There will be 7 discussion questions to guide the talking through the day.

The first discussion question of the day is “How can the quality of life in the @CityofStJohns be improved?”

The next question is “When you think about where you live, what types of land use would you like to see in your neighbourhood?”

The discussion at the tables is lively and the moderator says that they have hordes of information coming in.

Feel free to tweet your own ideas for the municipal plan review with hashtag #sjplan @CityofStJohns

Discussion 3: How can we encourage more “affordable” housing be built in SJ? #sjplan

Discussing how to encourage more affordable housing in the @CityofStJohns for the municipal plan review #sjplan

The “Theme team” is reporting back on the comments that have been submitted by participants. #sjplan

People here today want to see protecting and increasing greenspace/community gardens, mixed-income communities, and increasing local shops.

They are showing us the raw data from the first question’s discussion. They got 200+ responses in ten min! #sjplan

Lots of great ideas to encourage affordable housing at the #sjplan

Check out the @cityofstjohns 2007 report on affordable housing: #sjplan stjohns.ca/cityhall/pdfs/…

Next question is “What should the City consider when planning for an aging population?” What do you think? #sjplan

The next discussion question is “How should the city ensure the integrity of our Heritage Areas while encouraging new development?” #sjplan

To help with our aging population people want to see taxation based on income, walkable neghibourhoods, and better public transit. #sjplan

They are presenting back the points made in earlier discussions and getting people to choose the most important one. Neat-oh! #sjplan

Next question is “How would you balance development with environmental sustainability?” Wadda-ya tink? #sjplan

And they are even using the keypads to have a trivia contest at the end, which is totally cool. #nlpoli

People are suggesting subsidies for owners of houses, regulations, and a strong vision to ensure the integrity of our city’s heritage#sjplan

Final discussion question “What additional topics should the @CityofStJohns consider for inclusion in the municipal plan?” #sjplan

They already have a preliminary report of findings from the symposium in our hands! Talk about quick feedback at the #sjplan

What a fantastic day this was. Lots of great brainstorming on the future of the @CityofStJohns #sjplan

That’s all from the municipal plan review mayor’s symposium. Be sure to continue to tweet your suggestions to @CityofStJohns and #sjplan

@CityofStJohns Congrats on Mayor’s Symposium, great example for other councils! Followed on Twitter from HVGB thanks to @thescopeNL #nlmuni

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@cityofstjohns #municipalplan

There’s no excuse any more. Call, write, tweet, or Facebook the city your concerns and opinions and you will have them considered in the development of the new St. John’s Municipal Plan. This is the document that will help guide development in the city for the next ten years, so it is, you know, probably worth the twelve seconds a tweet will take.

The Municipal Plan review will be a year long process and will involve consultations with individuals, and community and special interest groups. An advisory committee has been set up to help guide the process.

The major areas of concern for the review will have been determined at the kick-off event: a Mayor’s Symposium held on February 25. Those main areas will then be expanded on at future events. Planning and Housing committee chair and city councillor Tom Hann says a draft of the final report prepared by staff will be presented to the public at a “major” event before the document is finalized.

Last time the city went through a municipal plan development process an outside consultant was hired for a whole year, and the consultant was responsible for arranging public consultations and preparing the report. But this time around the bulk of the work will be done by the city’s in-house planning staff, with some of the public hearings work being contracted out to the Rural Secretariat. Using existing staff to do most of the work will save the city a big chunk of money, but could also run the risk of stretching the staff too thin.

Hann and the city are also hoping to change the tone of consultation meetings for the Municipal Plan review process. “For a long time I’ve thought that our public consultation process needs to be looked at, because it’s always confrontational,” says Hann. “We all want the same thing, only we’re saying it in a different way.”

Hann says he understands that getting ordinary citizens to engage in the planning process is an important part of the review, and says technology will be an important way to engage the public.

One of the ways meetings will be made more participatory and less confrontational is by using the Rural Secretariat’s real-time voting clicker system, which is sort of like the voting machines the audience uses on America’s Funniest Home Videos.

The city is also going all out with social media with a Facebook page (facebook.com/cityofstjohns), and Twitter account (@CityOfStJohns) which they now use for things like press releases, cancellations, and recycling tips.

“Anything anybody says on social media will receive the attention that it deserves,” Hann promises. “Even I’m twittering now,” he says (@HannAtLarge).

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Living in the Edge

Left: CBS 2012. Right: CBS 2022? (actually, 'The American Dream' by Roma Flowers, and the skyline of Denver.

Considering the rapid growth CBS has been experiencing over the past few years, it should come as no surprise that it is now Newfoundland’s second largest community. There are new roads all along the main highway, each with brand new developments of single family homes. All sorts of amenities are within close reach, and a new big box “Smart Centre” in the area provides even less reason to visit St. John’s.

Debate has raged over the idea of amalgamation for a while, with opponents fearing a bill for services they might not get, and proponents blaming the so-called bedroom communities for the poor conditions of St. John’s roads. But now with CBS population passing the mark for city status, the debate is shifting towards a new question: Is CBS ready to be a city?

CBS lacks most of the traditional elements that people associate with cities. At first glance, it doesn’t seem to have institutional and government edifices, monuments, economic centres, cultural districts, transit systems, notable architecture, entertainment districts with night clubs, theatres, restaurants and hotels.

But maybe CBS isn’t a traditional city. Maybe it’s on its way to becoming an ‘edge city’. In North America, a surprising thing occurred in urban areas in the late 20th century. Suburbs were originally intended to be serene places to live away from the busy urban core of a city, with residents expected to commute to the city centre for work, shopping and entertainment. What happened was that people started moving all those elements closer to the place they live—to the suburbs. Hence, the ‘edge city’ was born. It’s not just a suburb anymore, it has some mid-rise office buildings, maybe a small library, a few schools, a shopping centre or a big box centre. Much like what is happening in CBS—albeit on a larger scale.

Author and futurist Joel Garreau coined the term in his 1991 book titled Edge City. He defines it as having a large geographic area, on the edge of a traditional city, close to a highway or airport, built to the scale of the car. They have mid-rise office buildings, and low-density single family homes. In the long term, edge cities face problems that limit their growth, and these have to do with the fact that they are designed exclusively for car-user lifestyles. Land along primary arterial highways can’t be easily adapted to divide into more lots, and the hierarchical road networks are not amenable to public transit. Essentially, it’s a pedestrian nightmare. It may not sound like a place you would want to spend your time now, but it has been suggested that all cities are chaotic in their early formative years. Garreau is optimistic, and projects a future where abandoned big boxes are akin to the hip converted industrial loft spaces, and sprawling parking lots are community gardens.

For a long time, the ‘city’ has existed in conflict with its suburban counterpart, but now it seems like the suburb-city is starting to be recognized as a phenomenon of its own, without being forced into the mold of the traditional, historic city. I am not so optimistic as Garreau about everthing working itself out on its own. I think CBS has a lot of possible futures and some are better than others. The fact that we can learn from other cities’ experiences with edge cities means that we could have a little more agency in determining that future.

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St. John’s city council live blog for Feb 20, 2012

The St. John’s city council liveblog: your weekly flood of council tweets since 2009.

Andrew Harvey here to tweet you the comings and goings of your muncipal government from the bunker on New Gower.

Tom Hann is the first councillor out to chambers, chomping at the bit to solve the city’s problems.

There is some sort of schmoozing going on in the back with council and a bunch of people. They have yet to share the hors dervrs!

Council appears to be discussing strategy for the CBC pancake breakfast trivia challenge tommorrow.

@DebbieHanlon1 is hard at work on the iPad before the meeting begins. Good to see!

Here comes O’Keefe and the meeting has begun. Looks to be several delegations, now well fed from the back room.

It is the Kinsmen and Kinettes week. The service organization has been on the go since 1920.

Colbert has snuck in a few minutes late and that makes for a full deck of council.

Today is heritage day. The day is to celebrate, recognize, and protect our heritage.

They are presenting the winner of the heritage day poster contest, Katie Walsh (gr 6) from Harbour Grace!

O’Keefe is now presenting awards to commercial and residential property owners who have excelled at protecting heritage properties.

O’Keefe: “We have to ensure that the development happens in a way that preserves our heritage… As much as it can”.

The first award goes to 32 Lemarchant Rd which has recently been revamped and they have improved 75% energy efficiency.

The next winner is 78 Water st, who have done a real number on the building, keeping many original features, including mouldings, etc.

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This building is home to @Raymonds_Ca and Killick capital.

Jeremy (chef at Raymonds) “It’s an honour to get to go to work there everyday… It’s beautiful”.

The next winner is 108 Water St. and Republic properties. This is their new office in what is becoming the “re-vamped” Water St East.

The next is 110 Water st (former turner’s tavern). Next door to the previous winners.

The winners are two former students of O’Keefe! He must have taught them something.

They are approving a proposal for 38 Cairo St, to construct 2 additional infill units to make 4 units total on the property.

They are deferring a proposal for 5 Carpasian Rd for Pony pilates. City staff wants more time to review traffic concerns brought up.

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Duff is discussing a public meeting held on new drive-thru regulations. Citizens are mainly concerned about the buffer and # of spots.

People are concerned that a 5m buffer is not sufficient and a min of 12 ‘stacking spots’ is not enough.

These concerns raised by citizens will be brought back and looked at by city staff.

Tilley: “What’s good for a residential area is good for a commercial area” around drive-thru’s next to residential properties.

O’Keefe: “1935, that’s you councillor Tilley” on the NextUp program (for people 19-35).

Congrats to The Scope’s own Taryn Sheppard who is the first NextUp committee member for the Heritage Advisiory Committee!

Colbert says that he thinks it is wonderful when groups come in with not only problems, but solutions. Residents of Hazelwood Cr did this.

Hazelwood Cr residents brought concerns to the Police and Traffic committee and some proposed solutions.

As a part of traffic calming work is to be done on Old Topsail Rd The budget for this is $400k, $100k over the whole traffic calming budget

Breen says that if they had of know the work for Old Topsail Rd was going to cost $400k, they would have budgeted for it.

Breen: “Although it’s necessary, it’s expensive” on work happening under the traffic calming policy.

Traffic calming work includes speed bumps, signage, and the like. Galgay says area residents are “tickeled pink”.

Hann: “Call the cops, that’s a good idea” on enforcement issues around snowmobiles being used in the city.

Hickman: “It’s crazy” on changing the speed limit to 50km/hr (from 60 in one snall section) on Torbay rd beyond Stavanger dr.

Hickman: “I think it’s noteworthy that there was only one tender on these things” (3 tenders for metrobus) over $460k for the 3.

Duff is discussing a new initative to put a face to people who are homeless. The posters will be launched tomorrow concurrent with a video.

O’Leary was the photographer for this project and encourages people to check out the video on the city’s website.

Hanlon says she and O’Leary will be missing next week as they will be in Toronto for an economic summit.

Hann says that the city is going forward with buying cameras to catch illegal dumpers.

O’Leary: “I am a firm believer in the concept of round-abouts” she wants us to keep these in mind when planning traffic calming.

That’s all folks, tweet ya next week.

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