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At the May 26th meeting of Council, 2nd and 3rd readings were given to
the Development Cost Charge Bylaw amendment. After a thorough public
process, a number of changes were made to the draft bylaw. These
include:
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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.
The Bylaw must now go to
the Inspector of Municipalities for review and then back to Council for
final adoption. Once adopted the bylaw will be subject to regular review
and updates.
Council also adopted an
Inclusionary Zoning Policy. Inclusionary zoning is a mechanism that
local government can put in place in order to have affordable housing
units included in new developments. The policy is a way of securing
commitments to build affordable housing at the time of rezoning before
development begins. It integrates affordable housing across new projects
and into the community. Now that the policy is in place, City planning
staff are working on the necessary OCP and Zoning Bylaw amendments. The
concept is widely used in the USA and is becoming more common in BC
where many communities are facing the same affordable housing pressures
that are now occurring here in Revelstoke.
Due to the anticipated
high volume of construction activity at the ski hill during the 2008
construction season, Council approved a request to close a portion of
Camozzi Road from Nichol Road to McInnes Road from June 2, 2008 to
November 19, 2008. The closure will be 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
The approval also included a condition that access for emergency
vehicles be provided. The closure will provide unobstructed access to
RMR’s contractors and also ensure public safety. RMR will be providing
traffic control signage noting alternate routes and will also be
notifying property owners in the area. Media ads will be placed and a
number of agencies, including emergency services, will be notified.
A project that Council
would like to see completed is the extension to Grizzly Plaza. An
application for funding went in to the provincial government for
$330,000 dollars but only $86,000 was approved. The project is projected
to cost $1,000,000 so Council approved a motion requesting that the
Columbia Shuswap Regional District allocate $250,000 in funding from its
Economic Opportunity Fund. The project has the support of Loni Parker,
Area B Director. The City is also going to initiate a fund raising
program to assist with the costs. It is hoped that all financing can be
put in place so that the project can be completed in 2009.
Council received a report
from the Economic Development Committee about discussions that have been
held with regards to future development of the Revelstoke Airport and
bringing in regularly scheduled air service. The discussions center on
the issues of the capacity to manage the airport and the management
model needed that will best meet the pressures of increased demand for
use of the airport. Alan Mason, Director of Community Economic
Development will draft a management plan in consultation with CSRD
staff, and then report back to Council and the Airport Management
Committee.
Council has appointed Kip
Wiley, Laura Christie, Joe Verbalis and Corin Flood to serve two year
terms on the Advisory Planning Commission. The terms of five members of
the Economic Development Commission expire in October 2008 so Council
will also be placing ads requesting submissions from the public for
those interested in serving on the Commission.
All of Council is engaged
in the hiring of new management staff. Interviews both over the phone
and in person have taken place to investigate possibilities to fill the
Director of Planning and Director of Engineering and Public Works
positions. It is hoped that these positions will be filled as quickly as
possible. Also, the process to hire a new Fire Chief will begin shortly.
As always, if you would
like 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
ads in the Revelstoke Times Review or you can go to
www.cityofrevelstoke.com.
Submitted by
Councillor MacFarlane
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