ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — At the regular meeting of St. John’s council Monday evening, councillors made one last unanimous vote, officially moving the Jag Hotel expansion and concert hall ahead.
The direction note to council included information about a written submission from Jerry Dick, executive director of the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador, that came in after the city’s deadline for submissions on Sept. 23.
When no submissions were received, city staff cancelled a public hearing on the development.
Dick had suggested a redesign of the proposal to add street presence and activity along Water Street and Springdale Street, according to the council agenda.
The notes indicate the city has worked with the developer to include a door and stairwell from Water Street to the main floor of the hotel, as well as improvements to city-owned land. It also said the site is tight on space, and parking would need to be reduced to accommodate Dick’s redesign.
The agenda says those points were already discussed at the public meeting in July, and while the Heritage Foundation submitted an alternate proposed design earlier in the process, the developer “did not formally comment on it but pressed ahead with its own design, including changes based on discussions with the city,” reads the decision note.
That portion of the decision note to council prompted Coun. Dave Lane to comment.
“We constantly struggle to incorporate that kind of input,” he said, adding it’s partly because of steps in the process and partly because design is complicated.
While Lane acknowledged he is “excited” about the development, he said it’s difficult to watch other opportunities pass by, such as Dick’s ideas.
Lane suggested council can work to resolve some of those issues with the process in the meantime.
To that end, Coun. Hope Jamieson asked city staff if they had an update on her request to lay out exactly what the public engagement process currently looks like. Staff said it will be forthcoming at a future committee of the whole meeting.