The owners of a Mount Pearl campground have filed an appeal against the City of Mount Pearl over its approval of a motion last fall to issue a cease and desist order.
According to minutes published for the Sept. 17, 2019 city council meeting, Wallken Enterprises Limited was accused of operating an RV campground at the site, located at 1161 Topsail Road, without an occupancy permit.
According to an article The Telegram published last July, the Walker family bought 16 acres of land about 50 years ago. The Waterford River runs through the property, which inspired the name for the campground — Waterford River Valley Campground. At the time of The Telegram story, the owners hoped to have the first phase of the camp ready to open by Labour Day 2019.
Dan Walker from Wallken Enterprises Limited told The Telegram this week he's hopeful the situation with the city will get resolved before a hearing takes place with the Eastern Newfoundland Regional Appeal Board.
"We'd like to find a compromise with the City of Mount Pearl and hope it would be resolved before any appeal would need to be heard," said Walker, who declined to comment further on the matter.
The City of Mount Pearl did approve initial permits for the project, with Mayor Dave Aker having spoken favourably about the proposal in the past.
“Initially what I felt was, is this really going to work when you are down in that valley — will you see houses on one side, office buildings on the other?” he told The Telegram last year.
“But down there you seem to have escaped the urban setting here in Mount Pearl. Because you are down in the valley, you don’t even know you’re in the middle of Mount Pearl.”
In a statement released to The Telegram, the city reconfirmed the occupancy permit issue resulted in city council members deciding to approve the motion to issue a cease and desist order to Wallken Enterprises Limited.
"There are outstanding items that must be addressed by this business before the occupancy permit can be issued," the city said in its statement.
A public notice was advertised last weekend about the municipal appeal. According to a provincial government spokesperson, the Newfoundland Eastern Regional Appeal Board is presently holding off scheduling upcoming hearings in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
@CBNAndrew
