St. John’s city councillors are hearing a lot of comments on the proposed rezoning and possible redevelopment of the former Belvedere Orphanage property, according to the deputy mayor.
The proposal is currently at the heritage and land use report stage, which would then be followed by public consultation. In the past, there would have been a lot of back and forth between staff and the applicants before the public got involved. Changes adopted as part of the Envision St. John’s Municipal Plan in 2021 now mean the applicants have to talk to the neighbours much earlier in the process and, hopefully, iron out any problems and details before they get to a final LUR and a public meeting.
“The applicants are working through their report, we’re getting a lot of feedback and we appreciate the public interest in people putting their comments forward now, but they should rest assured that once a report is done it then goes to a regular process of a public meeting, followed later possibly by a commissioners hearing.”The apartment complex is slated to go on the site of the former Belvedere Orphanage, which burned down in 2017 and was subsequently demolished.