Corner Brook city council rejected a development application for a change of use to allow this house at 11 Wellington St. to be turned into a bed and breakfast.
“As an investor I can tell you that the council isn’t open for business,” said Park on Wednesday.
The Pasadena man filed a development application, which was turned down by city council Monday night, to change the use of 11 Wellington St. from a single dwelling with apartment to a bed and breakfast. Park doesn’t own the property, but had put forward the application as its intended buyer.
Council’s decision means he’s now pulled out of the purchase agreement.
“This just isn’t worth it,” he said. “I’m better off going to another part of the province that’s a little more open for business than what Corner Brook is.”
Originally from the city, Park said he’s done business here before — from owning a bar to several houses, including some boarding houses — without any issues.
“It’s a little different with this council.”
Park looked at the abandoned building several months ago and considered it a good investment in the tourism industry. Since then he had several productive meetings with city staff and said they were able to jointly come up with the application.
But with more than one councillor expressing concern over parking and traffic, council was split on whether to OK the application at a previous meeting. Monday night, it voted to reject it based on those same concerns.
Each time, though, city staff recommended approving the application with some attached conditions, which Park was more than willing to comply with.
“I don’t know what the council sees that the city staff doesn’t see, or vice versa,” he said. “The staff, the people that Corner Brook are paying to make these kinds of decisions, are OK with it.”
He said the council is trying to portray the area as a quiet residential area, but “it isn’t.” There are several other multi-unit buildings in the area, a sports complex, school board office, church and an elementary school. The former Presentation Junior High is across from the house and the area directly in front of it used to be a pick-up and drop-off zone.
“Even with that bed and breakfast operating, it’s not going to create as much traffic as there used to be in the past,” he said. “Common sense will tell you that it’s not going to create havoc over there, traffic-wise.”
As for parking, Park said it’s not an issue — the back of the property can be accessed from both sides, and he planned to tear down an old garage and build a parking lot there. He said there’s also room to park at the front of the house.
To top it all off, the property once operated as a bed and breakfast for many years. A Google search for “Bide a Night Hospitality Home” results in references to the 11 Wellington St. hospitality home on several accommodations listing sites.
