For the second consecutive regular meeting of North Bay City Council, municipal politicians suspended the rules to allow Councillor Tanya Vrebosch to revisit remarks she made during a Feb. 13 meeting in council chambers about a contentious Laurentian Heights housing development.
See related: 'Exclusive' neighbourhood turns up nose to 'high-end' semis plan
Vrebosch also made a brief statement during the council meeting on Feb. 27, following a complaint by John Wallace, whose family founded the Laurentian Heights residential development. Vrebosch announced, "I simply would like to just retract my comments regarding the covenants related to the Kenreta rezoning application that I made at the regular meeting of council on February 13th."
There was no official discussion or clarification that night on what prompted the move but in Tuesday's retraction and apology, Vrebosch named the Wallace family by name.
"My apologies to the Wallaces if I've impugned your reputation. It was a civil matter that should have stayed a civil matter," Vrebosch said. See the councillor's full statement from March 26 in the video below:
It appears Wallace was not satisfied with the Feb. 27 public statement from Vrebosch. See the video of the comments Vrebosch made that led Wallace to demand an apology. The scheduled March 12 regular meeting was cancelled, so Tuesday evening was the next opportunity for Vrebosch to mend fences and, perhaps, to avoid legal action.
See also: Council approves contentious rezoning in Laurentian Heights
During the Feb. 13 meeting, Vrebosch made comments that could be construed as sympathetic to a group of homeowners who are opposed to a rezoning application that passed that evening, opening the properties on the escarpment to the construction of semi-detached homes in their neighbourhood. The controversy between the homeowners and the Wallace development group is centred on disagreements over the restrictive covenants on the properties signed between the parties.
Coun. Vrebosch has consistently declined further comment on the matter.
