Danny Williams says St. John's axed apartment proposal, but the city says it doesn't exist

The developer of the Galway subdivision is calling out the City of St. John's for allegedly rejecting the development of a new apartment building in a time of housing need, while the city says that council hasn't seen any proposal for apartments.

Danny Williams first voiced his displeasure in a news release on Thursday, saying the city is showing an obstructionist and hypocritical approach to housing.

Williams says his development company, Dewcor, attempted to make an application for a new 60-unit apartment building in the Galway subdivision on land already approved by the city — and that the application wasn't accepted.

"We've spent the last six to 12 months doing design and engineering and all the preliminary work and then we filed the application last week. And within a week we had it sent back to us. Not only was the application just, you know, rejected for flaws, it was not accepted," Williams told CBC News on Thursday.

Williams accused the city of holding the application over his head in an effort to see work on a road leading into Galway completed — known as the Southlands Boulevard Extension.

He said that road isn't his responsibility on account that the land is owned by a neighbouring developer. He said Dewcor has worked to facilitate an agreement — and has spent over $2 million completing the road to the end of his land — but the city says it's his full responsibility.

"We don't have any control of this. It's not our land, it's not our property," Williams said.

"They're going to try and force me, then, to act on something that I have no control over."

Williams also specifically referenced a post on X — formerly known as Twitter — by Coun. Maggie Burton. In the post on Oct. 29, Burton spoke on the role municipalities have in helping reduce process approval times for housing projects.

"A councillor's saying one thing, and doing something else. They're speaking out of both sides of their mouth, and, you know, I can't understand it," Williams said of Burton.

This isn't the first time Williams has had quarrels with the city relating to Galway. He announced in April he was suing the city over the city's desire for a new roundabout, and has been vocal in the past that the council makes it hard to do business.

Accusations 'a giant pile of crap': Burton says

Speaking with CBC News before the interview with Williams, Burton didn't mince words.

"The general response I have to the overall press release is that it's a giant pile of crap," she told CBC News.

Further, Burton said council hasn't received any kind of application on an apartment building in Galway. The post on X referred to by Williams was also taken out of context, she said.

"I firmly believe in my words, and I stand by them. He, however, took what I said completely out of context as I was talking about a development at the Village Mall and about why we need to not obstruct new development."

Burton said the approved land Williams is likely referring to has an active rezoning application for a personal care home. Williams told CBC the land had been zoned for an apartment building for at least four years. The city confirmed Friday that it is currently zoned for an apartment building.

"It's a confusing situation, but the bottom line is that we didn't reject an apartment in Galway. In fact, council never voted on anything to do with an apartment building in Galway," Burton said.

"Mr. Williams put himself in this position in the first place by choosing to develop Galway where he did, which was separated from all existing city services and roads by privately owned land. So it's his responsibility to work that out, not ours.… I very much welcome the apartment building in Galway as well, but we have to see the developer hold up his end of the bargain."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.