A surprisingly controversial development near the Village Mall has nonetheless been given the green light.

St. John’s councillors voted unanimously yesterday to approve the six-storey apartment building in the far north end of the mall’s parking lot, backing onto Robinson’s Place.

It calls for a first-floor parking garage topped by five storeys and 110 apartments, appearing to tick all the boxes, including location and housing need.

And while most input was supportive, some were upset with perceived flaws in the zoning process.

Public engagement was also an issue, according to the newly minted councilor for the Ward 3 area, Greg Noseworthy.

“Late notices, those types of things, and I’ve raised those concerns to staff at a preliminary level and I do intend to continue to raise that,” said Noseworthy, less than an hour after being sworn in with his parents in attendance. “But again, housing crisis, it’s going to create lots of economic opportunities for the west end.”

Councillor Ophelia Ravencroft, meanwhile, admitted being taken aback by the pushback.

“I got to tell you, we’ve done, in the last three years, lots of things on this council that I expected to receive a certain degree of contentiousness from certain voices in the public, and this was not one of the things I thought we’d take any heat over, but here we are,” said Ravencroft. “This is an excellent project.”