Group of about 30 attend public town hall on municipal rezoning
By Mark Squibb | Vol 8 No. 4 (March 3, 2020)
For Darlene and Wally Haas, the solution is simple.
“All of our sport teams are in Mount Pearl, our kids go to school in Mount Pearl, we shop in Mount Pearl, we play sports in Mount Pearl, our services are in Mount Pearl. It feels like that’s what we’re a part of,” explained Wally.
The Haas’s, like many Southlands residents, want their St. John’s municipal boundaries changed so that they fall under Mount Pearl’s jurisdiction instead.
The couple have lived in Southlands for the last decade, and have always longed to be a part of Mount Pearl, but say that being snowed in for several days during the state of emergency in January while just a hop and a skip down the road in Mount Pearl residents enjoyed snow-free streets was the lighted match to the powder keg.
“The catalyst was the ridiculousness of the state of emergency,” said Wally. “It wasn’t just the state of emergency, and everything that happened around it, but it was the catalyst. That made us say, ‘Enough is enough, this is dumb, let’s be a part of where we should be a part of. And that is Mount Pearl.”
So, the couple decided to hold a public town hall meeting last week which was attended by some 30 people, including Southlands residents, councillors from St. John’s, and Mount-Pearl Southland’s MHA Paul Lane, all with the aim to generate momentum for a movement and to form a core volunteer committee (which, Wally said, he believes they have enough signatures for.)
“Enough was enough with complaining that we should be a part of Mount Pearl,” said Darlene. “I thought we would see how committed people are.”
The Feb. 25 meeting started off with a brief introduction by Darlene, who then opened the floor to debate.
The first question raised by an audience member was whether the move was actually possible. The Haas’s replied that, as far as they knew, if Southland residents lobbied and petitioned for the change, the provincial government would be able to order a feasibility study, which would guide the Minister of Municipal Affairs’ decision to “redraw the maps.”
MHA Paul Lane acknowledged that, at one point in time, Southlands was part of Mount Pearl, but during the Clyde Wells era in the early 1990s it was rezoned as a part of St. Johns.
“I can’t tell you exactly why, or the rationale,” said Lane. “I’ve heard different stories, but regardless of why, or how it happened, it did happen.”
He added that a few years afterwards Mount Pearl tried to absorb Brookfield Plains, but failed because the provincial government found the move would be a detriment to St. Johns.
Lane acknowledged that residents have the right to lobby the provincial government to change boundaries adding that “the more people on board, the stronger the argument and case to be brought forward.”
But, he added, “at the end of the day it’s up to the Minister of Municipal Affairs whether or not he or she is going to allow that to happen. And it’s totally under that Minister’s direction whether that is going to happen or not.”
Lane said as the elected member for Southlands he will bring any petition they generate forward to the House of Assembly. But, he warned, “from a political point of view, it’s going to be challenging to get the provincial government to make that stroke of a pen to make it happen.”
Lane said part of the challenge lays in Southlands only having one representative in the House, versus the rest of the City of St. John’s – which includes at least eight other districts. That likely means there would be pressure form other MHA’s to keep Southlands in St. John’s.
Lane allowed that if Southlands broke away from St. John’s, it would have a negative effect on the City of St. John’s budget, as it would no longer receive taxes from Southlands residents.
“I’m just trying to tell you how it is,” said Lane.
Members of the audience discussed some of the problems they say they face living just outside Mount Pearl — children who can’t get swimming lessons at the Summit Centre, speeding in Southlands, inadequate snow clearing as compared to Mount Pearl, and a lack of local amenities.
One man said he was told there was a proposal for a school many years ago in Southlands, and that perhaps residents moved in expecting their children would be able to attend school nearby.
Lane and representatives from St. John’s council acknowledged that there were plans for a school many years ago, but they never came to fruition.
The representatives from St. John’s included City Manger Kevin Breen, and councillors Wally Collins and Sandy Hickman. They maintained that homes in Southlands are actually a high priority for services such as snow clearing, due largely to the area’s high elevation.
That statement drew groans from the audience.
Breen moved on to talk dollars, explaining the City receives $6 million in tax revenue from Southlands and Brookfield Plains and to lose that revenue would punch a large hole in the City’s budget.
“That’s $6 million we pay, so don’t you think it makes sense for us to have a desire to have an influence on how that money is spent, and where we want to spend it?” countered Wally Haas.
The two argued the point back and forth for several minutes, with Breen arguing that to rezone Southlands would set a precedent for other suburbs and areas to rezone, which would wreck havoc on municipal government and the shared burden of services.
“There’s more to it than your democratic right to choose where you want to live,” concluded Breen.
The meeting went on for roughly two hours, and by the end, though no decision had been made, a handful of folks did commit to organizing a committee, which was the outcome the Haas’s had hoped for.
Certainly, it appeared that adamant proponents of a change in the municipal boundary had their opinions strengthened.
The Haas’s said the next step is to prepare a petition and launch a campaign to get as many signatures as possible for Lane to bring before the House of Assembly.
