Paradise man may sue Province to stop clearcutting in subdivisions

By Craig Westcott

A Paradise man who is angry over a developer clear cutting the woods behind his home to make way for new houses says he may sue the Province to force it to make municipalities follow the Environmental Protection Act.

Kevin Martin, who has worked as a realtor for the past 30 years, said he was shocked this past August when tractors showed up in the woods behind his house on Irving Drive, and started gutting the trees and brush.
Irving Drive runs parallel to Drover’s Road, with both of them intersecting Topsail Road just east of the Post Office. For as long as Martin has lived on Irving Drive, the area between the two streets has been heavily treed. And while Irving Drive has houses running up both sides of it, Drover’s Road was a narrow street with less than a handful of houses.

“There was no water and sewer on that road until a few months ago,” said Martin. “It’s a really old road… As soon as they put the water and sewer in on Drover’s Road, bam, within 48 hours heavy equipment was going up there. All the neighbours were calling me, (asking) ‘Kevin, what can we do?’ because I’ve been around so long in real estate. And I said, ‘I have no idea.’”

Martin said many of the residents on the street are seniors and they looked to him to represent them because of his real estate experience.

“There was a tree line behind us and it was full of rabbits. There were rabbits running around the neighbours’ (yards) for the last 20 years, since I’ve been here. Now all of a sudden there is a developer out there cleaning out the trees, and we weren’t notified of any of this.”

Back in September, during the provincial election campaign, Martin said, former Paradise Mayor Dan Bobbett happened to be campaigning on his street as the Liberal candidate after having just finished his last term on council.

“Dan told me we were all supposed to be notified (of the development,” said Martin. “We’re all within 200 metres. Dan said we should have been notified (if we live) within 200 metres – we weren’t.”
Martin said that made him dig in his teeth. He said he contacted the Town and was told by a senior manager that it had done nothing wrong.

The Town approved, in principle, an application by Chino Holdings on June 25 for a 16-lot residential infill subdivision on Drover’s Road, with 12 of the houses running on back of Martin and his neighbours on Irving Drive, and four of the houses to be built on the other side of Drover’s Road. Among the conditions set by the Town, is that Chino Holdings construct sidewalks on the street, and pay its trunk sewer, driveway and infrastructure fees, which amount to about $3,000 per lot.

Martin said he dug out the Town’s development regulations and discovered that not only had the council failed to inform the residents on his street about the development, but there was a right to appeal. Martin said he also examined the Environmental Protection Act and the Wildlife Act.

“So, then I went to appeal, because the decision clearly affected us and the Appeals Act says, ‘a person or group of persons aggravated by a decision may appeal the decision to an arbitrator where (there is) an application to undertake a development,’” said Martin. “So, we had the right of appeal, but the appeal process was gone past. It’s only a 14-day appeal process. So, then they denied everyone the right to appeal.”
Martin gathered a 40-name petition on his street and wrote the then ministers of Municipal Affairs, and Fisheries Forestry and Agriculture, but didn’t get satisfactory responses.

“The only person who has been helping me with this is Bradley Moss at the Citizen’s Representative Office, the Ombudsperson,” said Martin. However, Martin added, it appears that Office doesn’t have jurisdiction over municipalities or the department that oversees them.

“From what I’m after finding out, the provincial government is not enforcing the Environmental Protection Act upon these municipalities,” said Martin. “They’re doing whatever they want. My only option is how far I want to push this and I’m probably going to have to take the government to court and force them to force the municipalities to follow the Environmental Protection Act. I’m 30 years into this career as a real estate agent working with developers and building new homes. I’ve seen what Paradise and what they all (other municipalities) have done over my 30-year career. They just go in and clearcut. They do what they have done out on the back of my house, they just scrub it off like it’s contaminated soil and take it away. They’re not allowed to do that.”

Martin reckoned it will cost $10,000 or $15,000 if he proceeds to take the Province to court, but he thinks it will want to settle for fear of losing the case and setting a precedent affecting the way development is managed in towns across the province.

The Shoreline made a number of attempts to reach developer Ed Russell of Chino Holdings in Paradise, but all three phone numbers are no longer in service.

Paradise Mayor Patrick Martin said it’s his understanding the developer is still working his way through the Town’s regulatory process towards submitting a development application to build the houses. The water and sewer line construction on Drover’s Road is scheduled to be finished this fall followed by the laying of the first layer of asphalt.

“There’s some more information required, but the developer was granted the excavation permit on August 22, 2025, which allows for the site preparation, which includes clearing and grubbing of the land,” said Mayor Martin. “I understand it’s difficult for residents to see the trees cut down. And I have to confirm this, but the development is proceeding within the requirements of the Town’s Municipal Plan… We’ve got to remember it’s a private developer doing an infill subdivision on privately owned land, it’s not Town-owned land.”
Mayor Martin said it’s not uncommon to see development occur on a street after it gets water and sewer.
As for the residents’ contention that the developer should have been made to preserve more of the wooded area between the two streets, both to protect the birds, rabbits, toads and other wildlife, as well as to not cause distress to the neighbours, Martin said the developer was following the rules.

“They’re not doing anything that they’re not permitted to do,” said the mayor. “It’s pretty straightforward to be honest.”

Enforcement of the Wildlife Act, he said, is outside the Town’s jurisdiction.

“With respect to that stuff, that’s provincial regulations requirements,” said Mayor Martin. “You’d have to check with the provincial government on that. I wouldn’t be able to speak to anything on that, I wouldn’t be able to speak to that at all.”

Realtor Martin, meanwhile, who is no relation to the mayor, said he doesn’t blame the developer, who was following the Town’s rules, or for that matter, council, to some extent, for how the clearing and grubbing transpired.

“When these councillors are going into these municipalities, I’m pretty confident they don’t realize the laws that they’ve got to abide by,” said Martin.

“It blows me away that they have recklessly broke so many Acts… But it’s appalling what the Town has done without any public consultations or any regard for the environment and the wildlife. It just appalls me.”