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City Council had two delegations make presentations at the April 28th
meeting. The first delegation was Penny Page-Brittin who presented the
Revelstoke Bear Aware 2007 Annual Report. The report outlines how 2007
was a particularly difficult year for bears in the City of Revelstoke.
This was due to a shortage of natural food so a high number of bears
made their way into town. Garbage and fruit continue to be the main
attractants for bears. Statistics show that the Revelstoke Bear Aware
program has been very effective but there is still much work to be done.
There is still a need for the Bear Aware coordinator to provide
education but the role has grown to include direct involvement in many
municipal responsibilities including planning, solid waste management
and City bylaws as the program strives to achieve Bear Smart status for
the community. In the report, Ms Page-Brittin makes a number of
recommendations for the upcoming year. She has also proposed a
partnership between the City and the Bear Aware Society to carry out a
one year pilot project on the use of 120L residential bear resistant
polycarts. This will be carried out in the Johnson Heights area of town.
The purpose of this study would be to determine if the polycarts are
effective in reducing garbage that is available to bears; are they easy
to use and reasonably priced, and would they be an effective and cost
efficient way of creating a bear resistant residential management system
throughout the city of Revelstoke. Residents in Johnson Heights will be
given more information and the project will be reviewed with the intent
of expanding it into other areas of the City in the future.
Council also heard an
update on activities of the Revelstoke Community Housing Society from
Corin Flood. Since the society was formed late last year it has been
working on planning for an initial phase of non-market affordable
ownership housing. The Co-op lands have been selected as an appropriate
site for this development and consultants have been engaged to develop a
conceptual master plan. Work has begun to create a wait list of
qualified applicants which will enable the Society to better understand
the demand for affordable housing in Revelstoke.
Others issues that the
Society will be addressing include the setting up of a Housing Resource
Centre, the provision of employee housing, and the development of more
manufactured home pads. Also, the issue of rental housing for both
working individuals/families and those needing assistance has been
identified as a critical issue and will be another focus of the work
done by the Society. There will be a public meeting at 7:00pm on May
7th, at the Revelstoke Community Centre where there will be a general
update of work done by the Society and a launch of the development of
the waitlist with a review of the qualification criteria and application
process.
As of the last Council
meeting, the City now has a new Sign Bylaw. This bylaw regulates the
number, type, form, appearance and location of signs within the City. It
also regulates and imposes requirements in relation to the erection,
placement, alteration, maintenance, demolition and removal of signs,
sign boards, advertisements, advertising devices and structures within
the City. The old bylaw was long out of date and the new one should be a
better document to facilitate the issuing of sign permits both for
applicants and the City.
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Development Cost
Charges (DCC’s) were also a topic of discussion and debate at the
April 28th Council meeting. The proposed draft bylaw to set these
charges created a lot of community response. Based on this input
Council agreed to a number of changes. Council is now proposing the
following changes to the draft bylaw.
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Residential DCC’s to
be based on lot sizes.
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Secondary suite DCC’s
to be reduced to 33% of Level 1 residential DCC’s,
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industrial DCC’s to
be based on the acre of gross site area with the City of Revelstoke
following the City of Surrey’s population equivalency for industrial
use and DCC’s to only be applied to the area being developed,
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the municipal assist
factor to stay at 1%.
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the reduction in
DCC’s for not for profit rental housing remain at 50% as shown in
the present draft bylaw.
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the option to pay
DCC’s in installments pursuant to the provincial legislation be
included in the bylaw.
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and the exemption
value for DCC’s to be raised to $100,000.
These changes and the
whole draft bylaw will be subject to further public review and a public
meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on May 13, 2008 at the Community Centre
to get public input. Watch for advertisements or notices as to when this
meeting is going to be held.
Council will be giving
1st, 2nd, and 3rd readings on the 2008 budget and related bylaws at the
May 12th Council meeting. The plan is to then have final reading and
adoption at a special Council meeting at 11:45am on May 14th. If you
would like further information on the budget or would like to comment
you can do so at the Finance department at City Hall.
For further information
on any of the above items please feel free to contact any Council member
or you can speak to City staff at City Hall. Also, information about
what is going on at City Hall is in the weekly advertisements in the
Revelstoke Times Review or you can go to
www.cityofrevelstoke.com
Submitted by
Councillor MacFarlane
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