Too many rental properties in Signal Hill neighbourhood, say residents

A rezoning application for medium-density apartments is part of the hotel creep that is threatening the fabric of an historic neighbourhood, a Signal Hill resident said.

Now the Signal Hill Neighbourhood Association is circulating a petition in response to Premier Executive Suites' application for rezoning in order to expand their existing property in the area.

"'This kind of hotel development — and commercial, really, development — going up Signal Hill is just the wrong use of the land there, and it will really change the whole feel of the neighbourhood," Mona Rossiter of the association told the St. John's Morning Show Thursday.

"It's already happening in the neighbourhood."

Application for rezoning for apartment

The association's concerns are both that the development doesn't fit with the neighbourhood and could expand to become six stories high, and that the building is not being properly classified.

Fougere Menchenton Architecture, on behalf of Premier Executive Suites, applied to rezone 22 St. Joseph's Lane for medium-density apartments, with the purpose of expanding Premier's existing property by an additional 16 units.

City staff are preparing a recommendation on the application, which will be sent to council for review before they vote on the proposal, the City of St. John's said in a statement. If they accept the proposal, a commissioner's hearing will be required.

"City council and staff are aware of the Signal Hill Neighbourhood Association's concerns and will take them into consideration during the decision making process," the statement read.

The current plan for the development puts it at two stories, but Rossiter said that the zoning for medium-density apartments would allow for development up to six stories high.

The city held a public meeting about the rezoning application on May 16. Rossiter said the association found out about the meeting two or three weeks in advance through a letter from the city, and had to mobilize quickly to prepare to participate.

But as they understood from the meeting, the process between the city and the developer actually began about 10 months ago.

"We had to, as a neighbourhood association, come together really quickly. We've had to mobilize and had to basically fight something we really should have been engaged in 11 months ago," she said.

Rossiter said the neighbourhood should have been more involved in the process from the start.

"I think the city and the developers see us as the last hurdle to get over, as opposed to us being involved in shaping what happens in our neighbourhood."

'Dirty little secret'

Beyond the issues with the development process, and the building itself, Rossiter said she believes the intended use of the building is being misrepresented.

Premier Executive Suites is applying for zoning for a medium-density apartment but Rossiter contends that the property will actually function as a hotel.

"This is really a hotel operation because they rent these units nightly," she said.

"All their marketing and all their advertising shows that they rent it nightly and that it's for travellers coming and going."

The increase in hotel properties, including unregistered Airbnb listings and short-term rentals, in the area is changing the neighbourhood, Rossiter said.

"That's the dirty little secret that nobody's really aware of," she said.

"Every second, third house is a rental property now and the Battery long-term residents say this is kind of happening under their nose and it doesn't seem to be getting the regulation it needs."

In addition to their participation in the public meeting, the Signal Hill Neighbourhood Association plans to lobby councillors about their concerns, and has begun a petition against the development. Interested parties can message her on Facebook about the petition, Rossiter said.

"Once this happens there's no going back," she said.

"It will really change the fabric of this historic neighbourhood altogether."