190-Metre Contour Amendment Approved

The City of St. John's has been taking a long-term strategic view towards development within the City and it is clear that development above the 190-metre contour will be necessary in the future.

"We have considerable lands in the City above the 190-metre contour that are suitable for development," says Councillor At Large Tom Hann, Chair, Planning and Housing Standing Committee. "In anticipation of future development needs within the City we proactively began work on the amendments and engineering assessments required to allow development above this elevation a couple of years ago. We are very pleased to see all of the hard work pay off now with the amendments approved by the province."

To ensure land above the 190-metre contour is developed to meet the needs of our growing City, Council made amendments to the City of St. John's Municipal Plan and Development Regulations subsequent to a public consultation process. In February, 2012, the City and province held a joint public hearing to get the views of residents and those in attendance at the meeting were largely in favour of the amendments being accepted. The process also required the City to put forth an amendment to the St. John's Urban Region Regional Plan for approval by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"We are very pleased that the Honourable Minister Kevin O'Brien, Department of Municipal Affairs, has approved our amendments and we are now able to move forward with developments above the 190-metre contour," says Councillor At Large Tom Hann, Chair, Planning and Housing Standing Committee. "This is a critical step forward for the City of St. John's. These approvals do not commit us to permitting developments above this level and it is important if we move forward with developments that we ensure appropriate lands are also put aside for other uses such as wetlands, natural buffers, park areas, affordable housing and recreation facilities."

Under the St. John's Urban Region Regional Plan development was previously not allowed above 190-metres of elevation because of the infrastructure requirements of pumping water to that height. Prior to any developments receiving approval the City would still need to ensure the proper infrastructure was in place to ensure services can be provided to these areas of the City.

The two areas the City is looking at making available for development include the area west of Southlands and both sides of Kenmount Road near the Mount Pearl border. Development above this level will require significant infrastructure improvements and the City would like to assure its regional partners that they will not be expected to contribute towards the costs of these improvements if they are not expected to receive any benefit from the improvements.

The City does not currently have any development applications before it that include land above the 190-metre contour.

For further information:
Jennifer Mills
Communications Officer
City of St. John's
Phone: (709) 570-2037
Cell: (709) 690-7586
E-mail: jmills@stjohns.ca

Tom Hann
Councillor At Large
Chair, Planning and Housing Standing Committee
City of St. John's
Phone: (709) 576-8219
E-mail: thann@stjohns.ca