Slipway application lands in choppy waters

By Craig Westcott

CBS council has deferred its decision on a permit for a second slipway at 59 Villa Nova Road in Manuels marking another tack in a long log of disagreements involving the property.
In the latest installment, the applicant applied for permission to build a five metre by 12.5 metre slipway on Crown Land extending into the waters of Long Pond harbour.
The property already has a water lot lease and a wharf and a building that was originally approved as a boathouse but never used as a boathouse.
“This file has a long history,” said councillor-at-large Rex Hillier. “The initial permit was approved to build a boathouse, I believe back in 2006. Instead of a boathouse, a guest house was built. In recent years, when we had an application to renovate the guest house, we turned it down for several reasons.”
Later, the property owner applied to renovate the building into a boathouse, and use it as a boathouse, which council approved.
However, a neighbour appealed council’s approval, arguing Villa Nova Road is a private road where no new developments are allowed, and that a private storm sewer in the area might be affected by the slipway.
Last December, an adjudicator ruled in favour of the neighbour and ordered the Town to cancel its permit for the boathouse.
“Under Appeal it was turned over and basically said that we didn’t have the right to tell someone they could use a boathouse as a boathouse,” said Hillier. “We feel we do have the right to make that decision. So, we’ve taken it to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador for a decision. In the meantime, there is an application for a slipway to go in front of this boathouse. Because of how this has proceeded, we’ve decided we will not be making a decision on the slipway until such time as the whole thing has been settled through the Supreme Court.”