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CBS may ask Province for boundary change

By Craig Westcott/March 3, 2022

The Town of CBS wants to expand its borders ever so slightly so that it can have a regulatory say over quarry and other development applications in areas that are on its doorstep but outside its jurisdiction.

The specific areas include Fowler’s Road East, part of the Foxtrap Access Road, Incinerator Road and an unincorporated area south of the west end of town. 

The matter was discussed at the February 7 meeting of council’s planning and development committee.

Currently, some of that area is within the boundary of the St. John’s, which oversees many of the quarry applications on the Foxtrap Access Road.

The committee’s members – chairman Rex Hillier, and councillors Paul Connors and Josh Barrett – agreed to ask Town staff to “initiate a conversation” with the Department of Municipal Affairs about changing Conception Bay South’s boundary to include the areas. 

The matter was later presented and approved as part of the committee’s regular report at council’s February 15 public meeting, but not discussed.

In other planning and development committee news:

٠ An application to keep a hobby farm with 12 chickens at 105 Greeleytown Road was approved, but with the condition that the maximum number of fowl be restricted to nine.

٠ The owner of a dwelling at 392 Conception Bay Highway will have to advertise the application for public comment before council will consider granting discretionary approval to redevelop the structure for commercial activity. 

The property is situated directly across the street from the entrance to All Saints Church and Parish Hall. The committee agreed the house’s existing building line setback can continue as a legal non-conformity. The applicant, if eventually successful at council, will also have to get permission from the provincial Department of Transportation to change the access to the property to commercial from residential.

٠Staff have been directed to initiate enforcement action against the owner of property at 55-57 Cluney’s Road, who is keeping nine chickens and four pigs without a hobby farm permit. Committee members also expressed concern about the storage of manure on the land. Staff have been asked to find out when the animals will be removed.

٠ The committee has agreed that no action is required for now to a request from a landowner to sell his property at 118 Red Bridge Road in Kelligrews to the Town.

The land is located near the overpass for Peacekeeper’s Way. The committee heard the owner, through a representative, approached several councillors asking that the Town either buy the land or rezone it to accommodate future development. The committee members agreed that as there is no formal application or proposal before council, no action is required, but that the Town would consider the idea if it is ever formally proposed.

٠ Staff are being to examine whether an application to erect a building for a pet sitting service at 375 Fowlers Road will interfere with the main water transmission line that runs from St. John’s to CBS. The land is located between Marie’s Mini Mart and the off ramp from the Manuels Arterial that exits onto Fowlers Road.

The owner of the land has asked that council add pet sitting service as a permitted or discretionary use for the zone. 

The committee agreed that such an activity would be consistent with the types of uses in the area, but that the proposed location is “significantly challenged for development as the Town’s main water transmission main that supplies water to the entire town” runs through the property. The committee decided that prior to considering the request, the proponent should consult with Town staff to determine if the proposed development is feasible.

٠ A request to rezone land at 851-855 Conception Bay Highway in Kelligrews to allow for a commercial development has been deemed too premature for council to consider just yet. The land is located at the corner of Red Bridge Road, across the street from the intersection with Longshore Road.

According to committee minutes, unless the land is consolidated with neighboring properties, which are all developed, the potential for commercial development ” is very constrained.” The allowable building footprint is less than 500 square feet, meaning traffic access and parking for a commercial establishment would be difficult. The area was approved for a small dwelling in the past, which the committee agreed is still “the most feasible development opportunity.”

٠ Staff have been directed to look into what policies and rules need to change to accommodate the building of so-called “tiny homes” as an affordable option in CBS.

The Town’s zoning regulations do not have minimum floor area requirements for dwellings, but the stipulation on minimum lot sizes would likely be a barrier to making such homes affordable, the committee heard.

Staff will examine how the regulation of tiny homes could be handled in the new municipal plan.

٠ The committee is waiting for clarification on who owns the property at 119 Conception Bay Highway in Manuels before it will consider an application to extend the existing commercial building there.

The building houses Peter’s Pizza and Sherry’s Floral Boutique.

٠ And finally, staff are processing a Crown Land lease application for a vegetable farm on Minerals Road, south of the talc mine. The committee was advised that agricultural uses are permitted in that area. 

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