Stantec hired to sort CBS and Paradise boundary
By Mark Squibb
The Towns of Paradise and CBS are one step closer to ironing out a border wrinkle that has seen a number of residents straddling the boundary line.
The issue has been in the public eye since at least the spring of 2022, when members of CBS council asked the provincial government to address the matter.
“The Towns of Paradise and Conception Bay South have agreed to realign their shared boundary to correspond with the existing property boundaries near Vineyard Drive and Haliburton Street,” said councillor Deborah Quilty during the July 16 meeting of Paradise council. “This adjustment aims to clarify municipal jurisdiction for the affected properties.”
Quilty went on to say that, in compliance with provincial requirements, a feasibility study must be conducted prior to the boundary change, and that the towns had developed a request for proposals to hire a consultant for the study, which will be led by the Town of Conception Bay South.
Quilty said two consultants submitted proposals – Pat Curran and Associates Inc., and Stantec Consulting Ltd., and the planning committee recommended the towns hire Stantec at a cost of $12,027, HST included.
The cost of the study will be split evenly between the two towns.
The matter came up at CBS council the same evening that Paradise approved the expenditure and a similar motion was approved.
“This is one that we’ve been trying to push forward for some time,” said CBS councillor-at-large Rex Hillier, “and it has been a very slow process. What we’ve been trying to do is work with two municipalities so that they agree and then move it to the Province so that they agree and then work it back from there. Really what we’ve got is a group of houses and a group of properties in Paradise with parts of their backyards in Conception Bay South, and many of them probably don’t even know it, and really there is no real concern. Whereas on our end we’ve got a landowner who is trying to develop a piece of property that has a significant part in Paradise that he wants to get straightened out. That’s where this all began and it’s nice to see that we’ve gotten to this point now where we’re actually ready for a feasibility study. Put it this way; we have the steps ahead of us where we know we’re going rather than trying to gather everybody in and letting them know that, yes, this is important, which is what we’ve been trying to do for any number of years at this point.”
CBS Mayor Darrin Bent expressed hope the consultant will be able to resolve it.
“You’re right, it’s an odd sort of line that’s drawn up there in that area,” Bent said. “The houses were built at one time when it didn’t matter where the political boundary was, but now it will be valuable on both sides to get this sorted for everyone for the residents up there.”