Opponents and supporters of a controversial possible change packed Flin Flon’s city council chambers last week, eager to share thoughts on a bylaw to rezone part of Willowvale Park - including the Joe Brain Petting Zoo - as residential property.
Most Flin Flon city council public meetings on zoning changes take place in empty rooms, but the Oct. 4 meeting brought about 40 members of the public in, including almost all city council and mayoral candidates in this month’s election.
The meeting was called before councillors could give second and third (and final) reading to a pair of bylaws, allowing for the City to rezone the northern part of Willowvale Park - the current location of the zoo - from “parks and recreation” to residential property. Council members said the change was done to allow for a prospective property developer who had shown interest in buying the property to potentially buy it and build seniors’ housing in that area.
Attendees had concerns with the plan, including what effect the zoning change would have for the future of the zoo, a perceived lack of public consultation and why the council, with only one more meeting left before an election, would attempt to pass a rezoning at the 11th hour.
The zoo itself did not open this summer, with councillors citing plans to build a replacement for the Flin Flon Aqua Centre nearby. Earlier this year, council announced a change in plans, moving the Aqua Centre replacement to the site where the former Aqua Centre was located about 400 metres away, but the zoo remained closed - the City has called the closure temporary.
Huntley said that the City was not looking to permanently close the zoo and that the rezoning would not permanently shut it down, but the change would make the area “investment ready” for the developer, which was not named during the meeting. Huntley himself uttered the phrase “investment ready” more than two dozen times in mentioning the project, adding that the developer had specific interest in the Willowvale site - the mayor said the developer could be Flin Flon’s best bet to build new seniors’ housing, a longstanding priority for council.
“The bylaw allows us to be investment ready if that group of people came in to develop properties, residential properties. This is this has nothing to do with closing the zoo,” Huntley said.
“We’ve been schooled that we need to be investment ready, so when someone does come in and is interested, we can give them properties that are available, that can be used without a long slow process with the provincial government to to make that happen.”
Council candidate Vair Ellison disagreed. Ellison, who started a change.org petition requesting council to not rezone the land until further public consultation was held, spoke during the meeting - his petition has received over 250 signatures in support as of press time.
“Really, I'm struggling. We can't congratulate you for saying you're not going to close the zoo or there's no intent to close the zoo - the zoo is closed,” Ellison said.
“Another councilor indicated that it shouldn't be as much of a controversy as it is. I agree wholeheartedly. I personally believe council has failed to control the narrative and now, they're really surprised that people are upset about this. I think it is really a very much a communication issue.”
Huntley accused Ellison of spreading misinformation about the zoning change, saying that Ellison had made the jump of saying the zoo would be permanently closed as a result of the change - Huntley and others denied that, arguing the zoo could continue at its current site in the future or be moved to a different site if the area is developed.
“You have certainly stirred the pot. You've used social media to provide what we believe is misinformation and you were privy to this conversation - you know that that wasn't the case,” Huntley said to Ellison in a testy exchange. Cooler heads would prevail and the discussion would continue on for well over an hour.
Councillors maintained that, if the zoning change were to go forward and if a deal was struck between the City and the developer to build seniors housing at the current zoo site, the zoo would then be most likely moved to a different location, not permanently closed.
“It was never my understanding that we were going to close the zoo,” said councillor Bill Hanson.
“At this point in time, we know for sure that people want the zoo. I’ve had more phone calls, more texts, more people stopping me, saying ‘We can’t shut down the zoo.’ That tells me, as a councillor of the City of Flin Flon, that next year, we need to plan to open the zoo.”
Other concerns were brought up by attendees, asking why the zoo property in particular was being looked at.
“I’m wondering, why would we take away, potentially, a green space that will not come back as a green space. We only have so many in the town,” said attendee Doug Gourlay.
“It’s green space. That's what it has to be. Even if there's investors or whatever, there must be an area in the town elsewhere that they can build.”
Next steps
While the change is still on the table, it was not instituted during the meeting.
Instead of giving the bylaw second and third reading and letting council move ahead with the change, councillor Tim Babcock proposed giving the bylaw a second reading and to table the third reading instead, keeping it from being approved that night and reopening talks between councillors. Councillors voted unanimously to give the bylaw second reading before tabling the third.
Babcock said if the public opposes the measure, he would plan to table the bylaw until after the Oct. 26 election.
“We’ll see how many objections we get after people have got the information. If next meeting, we’ve got 20 or 30 people who have objected, I think it would be up to us to table it and let the next council have that discussion,” said Babcock.
“This council shouldn’t be writing cheques that the next council’s going to have to cash.”
Attendees who did not support the measure were told to come back to Flin Flon City Hall later in the week to file a notice of objection to the change, which would inform whatever decision council would make.
Babcock and Huntley debated over how the council should proceed with the bylaw change following the meeting. While Babcock mentioned tabling the bylaw, Huntley said the bylaw should be voted on during council’s Oct. 18 meeting, the final meeting of the current council.
The Oct. 18 meeting will be Huntley’s last chance to vote on the matter, while Babcock, who is running to take over the mayor’s chair along with current councillor Leslie Beck and former mayor George Fontaine, may still be a part of the future council pending election results.
“I was sincere when I said if 20 people have an objection, then I won’t read it next meeting - I’ll table it,” Babcock said.
“Well, you may still read it so we can vote against it,” Huntley said.
“Or I might not,” replied Babcock.
“Then somebody else will read it,” said Huntley.
“Maybe, I don’t know - nobody on this side of the table is probably going to read it,” replied Babcock, referring to himself, Hanson and Beck.
“Then just vote against it,” said Huntley.
“I think the prudent thing to would be to table it,” said Hanson.
“I think the prudent thing to do would be to defeat it and let the new council go forward, if that’s the wherewithal of this council,” replied Huntley.
When asked following the meeting if a future council could overturn or reverse the council’s decision following the election, Huntley confirmed that changing the zoning changes could be done, but the mayor said he hoped the next mayor and council would consider the possible development before making such changes.
