Dennis O'Keefe's Galway comments 'over the top', Randy Simms says
Mount Pearl Mayor Randy Simms said the city may have voiced concerns over the Galway development, but that doesn't mean they are necessarily opposing it.
St. John's Mayor Dennis O'Keefe made comments after Monday evening's council meeting that suggested Mount Pearl was being being unreasonable in its objections to the rezoning process for Galway, a huge residential and commercial development spearheaded by former premier Danny Williams.
Speaking with CBC's St. John's Morning Show on Wednesday morning, Simms said O'Keefe's words were "were a little over the top," and that Mount Pearl's concerns about the development were valid.
"There's no reason to think that because we've raised some concerns that we're voicing opposition," he said.
Lack of consultation
On Monday, St. John's rejected Mount Pearl's request to put the rezoning on hold until officials from the two municipalities meet.
Simms said he isn't losing sleep over the news, but thinks St. John's could easily have delayed the rezoning to address Mount Pearl's concerns.
"The issue of whether or not, in January month, you are actually going to cause a delay in the development by saying we're going to take a look at this before we actually go ahead with this approval, I don't think that was a serious concern," he said.
"Little disappointed that they didn't take accept a request from the city and say 'let's take a couple of weeks here and take a look at this', but that's ok."
Despite public disagreements between the two cities, Simms still thinks that the relationship is still strong.
"This kind of public debate that deals with these kinds of development challenges, implying that somehow Mount Pearl and St. John's are always at each other's necks, always at each other's throat, therefore Mount Pearl should be blown away, I think it's really it's old and outdated," he said.
Infrastructure concerns
Mount Pearl still has some major concerns about what will happen when Galway, a development equalling the size of Gander, is built near its western boundary with St. John's.
"Traffic is obviously one of the concerns to talk about, the other is sewer and water capacity in the region itself. We are looking at developing capacity above the 190 contour," he said, referring to the fact that Galway's elevation will be above what used to be a 190-metre limit for development.
Simms has concerns that developing above that area could result in infrastructure problems related to water and sewer.
"The belief being we can go above the 190 contour with development because there is capacity in the trunk sewer. Alright, how much capacity? Who gets to claim all of that capacity? Is it the city of St. John's? Is it the city of Mount Pearl," Simms said in an interview on Tuesday.
A need for co-operation
Simms said he would have liked to see St. John's consult more with Mount Pearl before going ahead with the latest stage of development.
"There are some issues and challenges that both cities are going to have to face here," he said.
"I thought it would be worthwhile to have discussion before they went ahead with the rezoning."
Simms said he would have liked to see meetings take place to iron out some of the technical details, rather than for political purposes.
However, the mayor thinks that the relationship between the two cities is still strong. He pointed to the North East Avalon Regional Plan, or NEAR, as an example of that.
"This is a huge initiative," he said. "Where neighbours have to live with neighbours, there is a recognition that we have to respect each other's borders and boundaries."
Simms thinks that both municipalities are experiencing growth, and working together will be key as that continues.
"The level of cooperation on the North East Avalon is the greatest in the province," he said. "Working together will generate better results than working at odds with one another."