Holyrood’s west end to see new subdivision

By Craig Westcott

Holyrood council has given conditional approval to a concept plan for a 10-lot subdivision at 66 Ridge Road near the border with the Town of Harbour Main.
Deputy Mayor Michelle Woodford said it’s the first phase of a new development.
“This conditional approval is subject to the developer providing engineered plans and entering into a development agreement both of which are to the satisfaction of the Town,” Woodford added. “This is another great economic driver for our town… It’s on the other end of Holyrood. It’s great that we’re seeing these subdivision applications coming in and following the subdivision bylaws and everything that we set up.”
Councillor Laura Crawley said abidance with the rules is key when it comes to her support for the application.
“Exactly,” said Mayor Gary Goobie, “and all that is being finetuned through the new bylaw… So basically, they’ve got all the boxes to check off and until such time as they’re all checked off then the development cannot proceed.”
Councillor Steve Winsor said he supported what Woodford and Crawley had to say on the matter.
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons over the years from subdivision developments that maybe did not go so well,” said Winsor. “We sought the advice of planning professionals, legal professionals engineering professionals and it’s really important for everyone to understand this is a conditional approval. All requirements need to be met before things go forward. That should, if not eliminate, mitigate the risk of further problems.”
In other development news, council found itself having to reject an application for the construction of a garage extension onto a house at Golden Eagle Way.
“The applicant was asked to provide the plot plan, and they refused, so we didn’t have any choice but to refuse the application because that is a requirement under our regulations,” said Woodford. “If the applicant wants to resubmit with the plot plan, then we will certainly have another look at it.”
Council, meanwhile did approve permits for new residential construction at 21 Godson’s Road, and 489 Conception Bay Highway. The one for Godson’s Road was actually the second such application by the proponent.
“There was a previous application received for the neighbouring lot that was owned by this applicant,” said Woodford. “They faced some issues with developing the lot, so they asked us to cancel the other application and they resubmitted this one. Everything met the regulations.”
Altogether, some 31 permits were issued over the previous month ranging from a new business to a new fence.