Category: By-Election 2024 Ward 3

By-Election 2024 Ward 3/

Ward 3 Candidates 2024 on Transit

Scott Fitzgerald

Metrobus has been a common election issue in St. John’s since at least 2009. Many, many candidates who have gone on to serve on council have talked about the importance of public transit and there has been little change over that time. That is, until very recently when ridership actually grew for the first time in recent memory. For years the catch-22 with Metrobus has been that we can’t make investments in Metrobus until we see that more people are using it, and we can’t get more people to use it without investing in it and making it a better service. We finally see an increase in ridership and what does council do but divert funds slated to be re-invested in Metrobus and use it in other areas! To make matters worse there has been very little transparency about why this was done and the report recently provided by Metrobus on plans for future growth has not been released to the public.

A robust public transit system is a must in a modern municipality like St. John’s. It is a service that citizens have been calling for improvements to, for a long time. Withholding funding that was earmarked for re-investment into the service is just wrong and it hurts our city in the long term when you consider such things as road maintenance and taking action on climate change.

Walter Harding

Metrobus has been a contentious topic during many municipal elections in the past dating back 20 years. While I am delighted to be able to offer my thoughts on the service, the cost associated with it and the stigma that still lingers about our public transit it seems many people before me and many members of council past and present have not been able to get the service to a proper level of quality for Metrobus users. Having said that, I think we can get there.
The increase in ridership is for many reasons. The high cost of living has led to many people wanting to save money as much as possible and leaving their vehicles parked is one way to achieve that. Many users of Metrobus have turned to the service as cost cutting measures and have mixed feelings on the service with some simple improvements required.
Our many newcomers to St. John’s regularly use Metrobus to commute around the city but complain about unreliable services on the weekends and as many are working multiple jobs and taking classes at the same time and the reduced schedule on weekends leaves them having to pay for much more expensive modes of transportation. We should improve our weekend service to match weekday service.
Our students avail of Metrobus services and the new on-demand system in place has proven to be quite beneficial for them while still raising concerns about our lack of direct routes and timely transport to and from their destinations.
Monies earmarked for the addition of hybrid smaller buses should free up some monies saved by lower consumption of diesel fuel and perhaps saving on maintenance costs and upkeep of the aging Metrobus fleet.
As well, monies available through the federal governments clean air fund should be targeted by city council and every effort should be made to secure the maximum amount possible, unlike our first attempt at securing a portion of the 4 billion dollar housing acceleration fund that was short on significant foresight and called “lacking” by the federal government. When we have opportunities presented to us as a city we must take advantage of the situation and maximize the benefits to our residents.
The development proposal for affordable housing on the parking lot of The Village Mall is an exciting opportunity as long as we take our time and make certain we do our due diligence and get it right.
I see an opportunity on that site to improve the current situation with perhaps a reconfiguration of the current sheltered bus stops to the rear of the mall to free up pedestrians and traffic congestion in the area. Moving the bus stops to the rear of the mall may also provide us the opportunity to integrate a more robust and efficient transportation network and provide a much safer environment for users of our Metrobus service.
Metrobus is headed in the right direction but there are many improvements required to attract and retain new passengers to our Metrobus network.
Covered bus stops, more direct routes, free service for the people who need it most, a gentle move away from fossil fuels and a weekend service that closely resembles our Monday to Friday service are all examples of improvements required to get maximum returns on the investments into our public transportation network.
We can work hard on lobbying , advertising more,  maximizing spending, using best practices to find ways of doing more with less and getting inventive with how we maximize the investment in our Metrobus network. Our riders and our tax payers deserve the best from us so they can enjoy the best service possible.

Mark House

Public transit is a lifeline for so many, especially during tough economic times. As your councillor, I would push for improvements to the Village Mall transit hub. These upgrades should include better shelter, accessibility features, and potentially covered walkways to the mall. Transit is an essential service, and ensuring it meets the needs of our community is key. While there are always budget constraints, I believe we need to prioritize investments that make life more affordable and accessible for all residents. Improving transit isn’t just an expense—it’s an investment in our community’s future, one that pays off in economic growth and environmental benefits.

Paul Morgan

Ridership does appear to be up in St. John’s and the Village Mall is certainly a major Metrobus hub
● With the proposal to build an apartment complex on the rear parking
lot I think this would be a good time to incorporate a bus hub as well – perhaps this initiative could possibly be cost shared between the
builder and the city
● The cost of such projects if deemed necessary to the area residents and ridership would have to be maintained by all parties involved
● Nobody wants more taxes

Greg Noseworthy

[To Come]

By-Election 2024 Ward 3/

Ward 3 Candidates on Traffic and Safety

Scott Fitzgerald

Neighborhood traffic speed is one of the most talked about issues when speaking with residents in Ward 3. The first thing I would like to see is school zones all given their own priority and traffic calmed with the solution that best fits the situation. You can’t put speed bumps on a four-lane road like Topsail Rd, but traffic cameras, for example, would work wonders I’m sure. In short, school zones should be taken out of the traffic calming application process as it currently stands and given their own priority. With 7 schools in Ward 3 (including 5 primary/elementary schools) it’s not hard to see why this is such a major concern. If you gave the school zones the proper levels of traffic calming and reduced speeds in sub-divisions and neighborhood streets to 30k/hr, it would help the speed issue immensely.

Walter Harding

This is my fourth attempt at being honoured with occupying our Ward 3 seat on council. Speeding, irresponsible operators of motor vehicles, excessively loud motorcycles , cars and trucks and pedestrian safety was first brought up by me in 2013.
My 40 year career has included a lot of driving all across this island and while driving habits have eroded all over the island I find it’s worse here in St Johns and surrounding areas. Neighbouring municipalities have been much quicker at making their presence known in their communities and in 2013 I drew attention to the changing landscape when it came to the rapid increase in irresponsible, distracted and inconsiderate operators of motor vehicles in our west end and entire city.
I felt it was time for us as the capital city to implement our own 3 or 4 vehicle municipal traffic enforcement program. While the response was positive and supportive the program did not come to fruition so in 2017 and 2021 I once again suggested we look to address what was now an exponentially worse situation than in 2013. Again, I received support for this idea but as I did not get elected it did not come to pass. Clearly in 2024 this situation has gotten completely out of control.
We have a high percentage of operators of motor driving in an extremely dangerous manner, completely ignoring the rules of the road and driving distracted and with little to no regard for anyone else including pedestrians. It’s utterly ridiculous. Cellular phone use while driving is now an absolute nightmare with, I would estimate, with 70 percent of people driving with a cellular phone in their hands and regularly driving without any clue of where they are on the road and completely unaware of their surroundings. Pedestrians are at greater risk of being struck by a distracted driver more than at any other time in our history and pedestrians must also take precautions and more responsibility for their own personal safety and wellbeing. They as well are far too often distracted while in the middle of a crosswalk with their cellular phones buried in their face and have no idea how dangerous a situation they have placed themselves in. When on a crosswalk they must not be on their phone or having music blaring in their ears. Pay attention to the vehicles around you because most motorists are completely oblivious to your existence. We need to educate new drivers on the importance of never using a cellular phone while driving and lead by example.
We need to install more electronic speed indicators to flash in the drivers face to remind them of their speed and to slow down. We need to increase the fines for being caught driving while distracted with a longer impound period for the vehicle and perhaps even a confiscation of the cellular phone for 90 days. Drive while using your smartphone and lose that smartphone for 3 months. We need to partake in visits to area schools of all levels to encourage our young people to speak up if someone is using a cellular phone while driving them around. They should be encouraged to speak up and say “ could you please put your phone away while I’m under your care as my safety is much more important than your social media likes and comments.”
This would go a long way to help lower the number of people who are not following our rules of the road. We do need speed cameras. Yes. We do require speed bumps in some areas. Yes. We need more enforcement. Yes. We do require cameras at red lights to catch people using their phones while stopped at an intersection. Absolutely. And we need the visual deterrent that is a municipal enforcement officer patrolling our streets. Our vehicles patrolling our streets providing a service and keeping ticket revenue within our city. We can attack this irresponsible behaviour by so many motorists – we can fix it. We simply need a multi pronged approach, more education for our new drivers, a penalty and fine system that is so robust even the thought of someone picking up their phone has them seeing their bank balance drop and we need to make certain our young people aren’t afraid to teach the adults to do the right thing. The other way hasn’t worked with more and more adults acting in such an entitled and irresponsible manner that it has put our children, our pedestrians and other motorists at a level of risk that is unacceptable, inconsiderate and completely avoidable.

Mark House

Traffic concerns are among the most frequent issues I hear about in Ward 3, particularly on streets like Waterford Bridge Road and Craigmillar Avenue. Traffic calming measures should be more readily available, and we need to explore solutions that keep our roads safe without pushing the problem onto neighboring streets. I would advocate for traffic cameras where appropriate and ensure we’re using our traffic calming budget as effectively as possible, consulting with residents to find balanced solutions that improve safety without sacrificing convenience.

Paul Morgan

● A major issue in our city is traffic and the safety issues it presents, residents have certainly stressed this point
● I would like to see reduced speeds on side streets especially in areas with only one sidewalk
● Solar digital speed signs showing speed and when to slow down are very effective in reducing driving speeds
● Elevated crosswalks with flashing lights
● Proper signage and not residents putting up their own signs is a must
● Perhaps putting up more 3 and 4 way stops in residential areas certainly aids in controlling speeds.
● Better enforcement because we can have all the rules and regulations we want but if it’s not enforced then it is a mute point

Greg Noseworthy

[To Come]

By-Election 2024 Ward 3/

We urge council not to make final Village Mall apartment decision without proper information, public debate

Visualization of apartment building proposal for Village Mall parking lot

The City of St John’s has announced its intention to decide on November 12 on whether a six story, 110 unit apartment building should be built in the Village Mall parking lot. Developers have indicated that unnecessary regulation and delays in the process are discouraging them from building and we pressed the city earlier this year to make it easier for developers and homeowners to construct apartments to help meet pressing housing needs. In principle this proposed development and others like it could play an important role in addressing the housing affordability crisis. Why then are we raising concerns?

We believe the approval process in this case has not been followed appropriately, so the city and public risk losing a key chance to work constructively and publicly to find the best possible outcome.The public has been given until November 5th to submit public feedback, but neither the public nor the council appears to have enough information about the proposal to make an informed decision now. Crucially, unlike the major proposals that require a re-zoning to proceed, there will not be a second opportunity for public feedback when further details emerge.

Here are the key points of concern we have about the development process:

1) The proposal to build this apartment building is being treated by the city as a “discretionary use” of the land it is on – the approval and notification process for this is much less stringent than it would be if the land had been rezoned. The city’s planning and engagement sites don’t link to the proposal for example, and no news release was made. The proposal was mentioned by the city on social media but that is not a required part of the process. Crucially, while a rezoning proposal calls for an initial approval decision followed by a second public consultation when more details are available, there is only one consultation required here.

2) Classifying this as a discretionary use decision is questionable. Development regulations for the Commercial Regional zone do allow for a “Dwelling Unit – 2nd storey or higher” as a discretionary use, but it seems clear from the context that this was intended to allow for small-scale supplementary dwellings but was not intended to enable a proposal of this kind. As best we can determine, there are no apartment buildings or multiple occupancy housing units in any other CR zoned area in the city.

3) Given the size and scale of this development, the information initially available on October 18 was extremely limited (neither the height nor even the location of the building within the land around the Village Mall were specified). By the 22nd, a few more details (the building height and its location “toward the North side of the property”) had been added, but still no artist rendering, exact location, indication of the dimensions of the building and so on have been provided. (See https://www.stjohns.ca/en/news/application-430-topsail-road.aspx)

4) Believing that the council’s regulations indicate the public has the right to see the full application details, our Vice-Chair requested them, but was told repeatedly by planning staff (who had not at that point consulted the city’s ATIPP coordinator) that this would require an ATIPP request because the application contained details that needed redaction.

That ATIPP coordinator was able to confirm that this six page survey and basic schematic could be provided without needing redaction and has shared it with us and we can now share it with you. They also told us that this was the only additional information on the application currently in possession of the council. As you will see in the background information below, this is well short of the amount of information that developers are meant to provide.

5) Among the issues that the schematic we have seen raises but does not itself answer is the number of the original parking lot spaces that would be lost due to construction, the number of parking spaces that would be needed to be allocated to future residents in the area around the building (it provides 82 spaces in the building itself but without council waiving requirements, the building would require 120 spaces), the nature and character of any landscaping, and how pedestrians will safely and comfortably get from the building to the mall, to transit options, or to surrounding streets.

Happy City does not think it is reasonable to require extensive public engagement on every decision Council makes to allow a discretionary use. We would merely like to make sure that when one of the largest and most high profile developments in recent history comes before Council, it has the information it needs to decide and the process is handled in ways that offer the public a reasonable chance to weigh in on its merits and to suggest improvements. If the council wishes to treat this as a discretionary use application, it has the authority to attach conditions to its approval. Setting a second deadline for the developer to provide additional information and requiring a second opportunity for public and council scrutiny before proceeding would satisfy this need.

We sent the city clerk and council a short letter on the 24th requesting that the council defer its decision until more information about the application is available to it and to the public.

We also intend to raise with the council in more detail all issues we have outlined here over the coming days. We are concerned that the way this application has been treated may be just one example of wider systemic failures that need correction.

The Ward 3 By-election

All candidates in the Ward 3 by-election (in whose ward the Village Mall is located) have now been informed of these concerns. A round table discussion is now scheduled to take place on November 1st along the lines of the one that took place for Ward 4 candidates earlier this year, and we hope they will respond to the issues raised here either separately or during that discussion.

We are still collecting the candidates’ responses to questions we posed to them last week and bringing together links to present and past media interviews and statements. This information as well as information and statements related to the Mall development and other Ward 3 issues can be found here. https://bit.ly/Ward3YYT

Background

Ward 3 byelection city information (including candidate contact information)
https://www.stjohns.ca/en/city-hall/2024-ward-3by-election.aspx

Information to be provided to council by developers applying for discretionary use according to municipal regulations (p. 4-3)

Available to the public

Location (approximate only)

Description of Proposed Use
Building Floor Area and Height (approximate height only)

Additionally available to the council (from the plans we are now sharing)

Building Floor Area and Height
Survey
Site Plan
Lot Area & Frontage

Building Placement

Apparently not available to council or public (despite being required by regulations)

Vehicular Access
Water & Sewer
Yards
Off-Street Parking
Number of employees on site
Hours of Operation/Duration
Storm Water Management Plan
Snow Storage Plan (As requested)
Pedestrian Access, Cycling, & Transit

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