By Mark Squibb
The Town of Witless Bay has been ordered to pay Gary and Ann Marie Churchill over $1,000 in court fees stemming from council’s decision to rescind a motion granting the couple permission to build a septic system.
The Churchills built a gazebo on their Gallows Cove Road property with all proper permits in place, and in August 2021 applied to the Town for approval of a well and septic system. The council of the day gave the Churchills the greenlight, and the couple received approval from Service NL shortly thereafter.
An entirely new slate of candidates was elected to council on September 28, 2021, and made short work of rescinding a number of motions approved by the previous council, including the approval of the Churchills’ septic system, which was rescinded by council on November 9.
Gary Churchill appealed to the Eastern Newfoundland Regional Appeal Board, and the Board determined that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the Appeal.
Churchill then appealed to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Justice Alexander MacDonald, in a decision handed down April 12, found that the Board did in fact have jurisdiction to hear Churchill’s appeal.
The Board had argued the Town’ s motion to approve the septic system did not actually constitute approval of the septic system due to the wording of the motion.
The actual wording of the motion was to “support the application and refer back to Servicer NL for final system approval.”
The Town had argued that approval of the motion only meant that the Town would support the Churchills’ application to Service NL, not the actual septic system.
MacDonald, however, argued the application was itself a request for the Town to approve both a new septic system and well. Town minutes also note that council had been asked to approve a septic system.
“I find the development application, read in it’s entirety, shows that Gary Churchill applied to the Town to approve him taking an application to Service NL to approve his design and then develop the septic and well system afterward,” read MacDonald’s decision. “It is unlikely that an applicant would ask a council to sanction their application for Service NL approval of a septic system if that applicant was not also asking for a council’s approval of the same system.”
MacDonald deemed other points raised by the Town, such as whether the head administrative officer in the Town was in fact the CAO or Acting CAO at the time of the approval, irrelevant.
MacDonald ordered the Town to pay Churchill $1,100 in court fees, and referred the matter back to the Board with the understanding that it has jurisdiction to hear the matter.
