CBS moves array of housing projects through the development pipeline
By Craig Westcott
A reworked plan to build rowhouses at 30 Foxtrap Access Road has got the all clear from CBS council.
The applicant, Jeremy Caines, got approval from council earlier this summer to demolish a house on the property to make way for a 10-unit row development. However, even with the old house demolished, the plan to build the 10 adjoined units on the 1.07 acre lot didn’t meet the minimum 60 metre frontage needed under the development regulations for a building that size.
So, Caines split the proposed development into two five-unit row house buildings. The development regulations in that case require a minimum frontage of 30 metres. The application met that requirement, but because more than four units are involved, he still needed to obtain the discretionary approval of council.
And that’s just what Caines received at last month’s public council meeting, where the application received unanimous approval.
Fifteen parking spaces are included in the development.
Council has rejected an application for a 10′ by 16′ shed in front of a 10 unit grouped dwelling under construction at 83 Chamberlains Road.
Occupancy permits have already been approved for four of the units. The applicant hoped to use the shed to store a lawn tractor and other maintenance equipment.
However, Town staff determined the grades and sloping of the land would present problems when it came to building the shed. The proposed location also didn’t meet the Town’s minimum building line setback for a residential property.
A proposed rezoning of land at 10 -14 Rectory Road in Topsail and running downhill to Route 60 across from the CBS Soccer pitch has been approved, but the developer who asked for it will need to conduct an archaeological assessment of the land before any houses can be built.
The land formerly belonged to the Anglican Church. The developer who bought it, has already built two homes and has two more approved for construction. But plans to subdivide what’s left of it into four building lots – with two each on Rectory Road and two on Route 60 – was dependent on changing the zoning on a portion of it from Public Institutional to Residential Low Density.
A public hearing on the application was held in May at which the public was informed the land may have been the site of the parish’s original rectory, known as Alma Cottage. As a result, Commissioner Glenn Barnes recommended to council that the matter be referred to the Provincial Archaeology Office. It advised council that prior to any development of the land, an archaeological assessment will be needed, hence, the condition that was included in council’s approval of the rezoning.
Council has also approved the rezoning and consolidation of four parcels of land across from the trades school in Seal Cove to allow for a major housing development.
The application involved the consolidation of three different planning zones across four parcels of land totalling 9.3 acres in size as well as an amendment to the St. John’s Urban Regional Plan.
The rezoning will allow developer Kurt Hayward, who has been developing single family homes in Seal Cove for several years, to apply to build some 30 row houses targeted at the seniors market.
“This is the end of a long process in rezoning a property,” said councillor-at-large Rex Hillier. “The developer is interested in constructing a couple of multi-unit buildings there.”
The motion to approve the rezoning passed unanimously.
And finally, the Town of CBS has agreed to sell 425 square metres of land on the eastern side of 18 Tobins Place in Manuels to the owner of the adjoining property.
The move will allow the owner of 16 Tobins Place to have enough side yard setback to accommodate an extension to his home.
Councillor Hillier asked to add an amendment to the motion calling for the sale in order to set a condition to protect a sanitary sewer line and stormwater infrastructure on the street.
“We know we have some of our infrastructure running through that property, not exactly sure where it is, so we’re saying we’re prepared to sell upon identifying the location of our infrastructure,” Hillier said.
The Town acquired the land back in 1983 in case it ever needed to make a road connection to Cherrington Place and Elliots Place. It is bounded on the north by the T’Railway and has an assessed value of some $87,200. The Town is agreeing to sell a 7.25-metre-wide swath of the property.