By Mark Squibb/November 4, 2022
Witless Bay council said no to two applications during the October 11 meeting, while another application could not be voted on because of a lack of quorum due to conflict of interests and absentee councillors.
The first application was for Crown Land along the Southern Shore Highway for industrial use. Councillor Gerard Dunne declared a conflict of interest as it was a relative who had made the application, while Deputy Mayor Lorna Yard left the chamber to allow council the opportunity to discuss whether she was in conflict on the matter, as she claimed her brother was employed by the individual who had made the request. With Dunne and Yard having left chambers, and councillors Jacob Hayden and Alex Troake being absent from the meeting, councillor Ralph Carey declared that a quorum had not been met, and that a vote could not be cast.
The next application was a Crown Land application for construction of an access off Dean’s Road to private land.
Carey motioned to deny that application, claiming that what the resident had requested did not square with the town plan. In short, ‘Transportation’ applications, as per the Town Plan, must be either airfields, railway yards, or docks and harbours. The application was neither of those three (presumably, the applicant would use a car to get to their property, and not an airplane, train, or boat.)
Next up was an application to construct a storage shed on an Ocean View Drive. Yard declared a conflict of interest as the application was made by a family member.
Carey put forward the motion to deny the application, claiming that, along with the building that already exists on the property, the shed, if built to the specs the resident had requested, would push the property above maximum allowable square footage.
Carey was apologetic about the decision.
“We do realize that accessory buildings need to be a bit larger, so we are going to try to deal with that in the near future with the town planner and our regulations,” said Carey.
Council did approve a request for a pet grooming salon at 147 Southside Track.
Carey moved to approve the application, so long as it meets town regulations for a home-based business. Dunne seconded the motion, and all members present voted in favour of it.
