Planning and Development

The City of St. John's Planning and Development Division administers Council's policies on present and future land use, as set out in the St. John's Municipal Plan. These policies are implemented by land-use zones and standards in the St. John's Development Regulations.

Planning and Development Division
Phone: 709-576-8220
Email: planning@stjohns.ca

Hours of Operation
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

The City of St. John's will only be accepting Development Applications electronically. You may download a development application form: PER-3003 in the Development Applications and Building Permits, complete & sign the application, and email a PDF of the signed application to access@stjohns.ca. If you have questions while completing the application please call 576-8220. Once received, an Access St. John's  representative will be in contact to obtain the payment of the application fee. After the fee has been paid, development staff will perform a cursory review of the application and advise how and where to submit any other required electronic attachments such as legal plans, engineered drawings, etc. As staff are working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, there may be some delays in processing and reviewing your application and we apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Please note:
The updated 2018 provincial climate change floodplain mapping for the Waterford River, South Brook, and Kilbride Brook, is in effect immediately for City of St. John’s. Any new developments, or existing developments that have made application to the City but have not received final approval, will be required to use the new floodplain mapping – where applicable. This update is not an exhaustive floodplain delineation in the City and must be read in conjunction with previously completed mapping. Only those floodplains shown on this mapping are updated; previously identified floodplains outside the limits of these updated delineations remain in effect. The 2018 main report and climate change floodplain files can be downloaded from the Province’s website at: https://www.mae.gov.nl.ca/waterres/flooding/frm.html.