Bay Roberts asks to boost its boundary

By Mark Squibb/December 2, 2022

Bay Roberts council has voted to ask the Province for an expansion to its municipal boundary.

Discussions about expanding the boundaries have been ongoing since at least 2020, when council approached the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities (formerly the Department of Municipal Affairs) about moving forward with expansion plans. The department advised the Town it would first have to complete a feasibility study.

That feasibility study, completed by L.W. Consultants, was presented to staff in October.

Town CAO Nigel Black updated council on the final report.

The areas in question include lands near Rocky Pond (72.69 ha) and Goose Pond (51.85 ha), and a small portion of Butlerville that is currently serviced by Bay Roberts, but is actually outside the Town’s boundaries (48.03 ha).

The report, which Black provided to The Shoreline, contained eight recommendations.

Amongst them was a recommendation that all three areas be included in the town’s Municipal Service Boundary, that information pertaining to Saunders’ land near Goose Pond be retained and that appropriate ownership be obtained prior to issuing any building permits, that information pertaining to requested zoning changes in the Goose Pond area be provided to the consultant to conduct a municipal plan review, that new maps showing the expansion be approved, and, finally, that the new boundary should be approved by the provincial government.

“The next step of the process would be for council to accept or adopt those eight recommendations, and then move that process forward to the provincial government for their consideration on actually extending our boundaries,” said Black.

The CAO advised council it should accept the eight recommendations, post the document on the town’s website for the public to see, and forward the report to the Minister of Municipal Affairs with a request to expand the town’s boundaries.

Deputy Mayor Geoff Seymour said he was in favour of the expansion, but added he needed some verification on a certain point made in the document. He noted the document recommended that residents of the proposed Butlerville expansion area pay taxes at the same rate as current residents of Bay Roberts, and wondered whether this meant water and sewer tax despite the area in question not being fitted for water and sewer. Black clarified that the taxes being referred to were property taxes.

The motion passed unanimously, meaning the next move lies with the provincial government.