Too darn tall: St. John's council turns down proposed hotel

A controversial application to put a large hotel in a high-profile corner of St. John's was turned down Monday evening, as councillors worried about a prestigious part of the downtown.

A Halifax-based developer has been campaigning to put a 140-room hotel on a largely vacant lot at the corner of Water Street and Prescott Street, mere metres away from St. John's harbour.

Council voted 6-3 against the proposal, largely because the project entailed a 23-metre height. The city forbids developments in the downtown — much of which is protected as a heritage area — beyond 15 metres, largely to protect public views of the harbour.

Coun. Frank Galgay said approving the hotel would destroy the downtown's uniqueness. He and other councillors argued against making an exemption for the proposal.

"We will be committing cultural genocide," Galgay told the meeting.

City council developed stricter rules on development, in part because of public opposition to tall buildings like Atlantic Place, erected in the 1970s, and TD Place, which was built in the early 1980s.

Coun. Art Puddister said he liked the plans for the hotel, but the height was too much.

"It's a bit more than I can support at this time," he said. "It really pushes the envelope."

Coun. Shannie Duff, who helped draft the city's heritage bylaws, said approving anything beyond the 15-metre mark would open the gates to a flood of new applications.

"We have been put on notice by several developers at that public hearing, and subsequently in correspondence, that if we approve this they're coming back in either for additional height on existing buildings or additional height on new buildings that we have approved or rejected," she said.

But Coun. Tom Hann urged council to find some compromise, rather than reject the application outright.

"We can't stand still. You know, we have to move forward and we have to grow," Hann said.

Heritage advocate Shane O'Dea said council made the right call.

"Council has made an extremely wise decision," O'Dea said.

"I'm really pleased that they have looked at the long-term impact of such a development, of the height of such a development, on the Water Street side, and I think this bodes very well for their planning prospects for the future," he said.