1) Affordable and Attainable Housing – Open House Thursday, August 6, 2009 at the Seniors Drop In Centre (562 – 3rd Ave) from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
City of Fernie Council and the Planning Department invites all interested individuals, developers, community organizations and other agencies to an Open House to provide input concerning proposed Bylaw No. 2062 related to affordable and attainable housing.
The Affordable and Attainable Housing Strategy, completed by CitySpaces Consulting Ltd. in 2007, recommended 29 actions to address the greatest housing needs in the community. The City of Fernie proposes a consistently applied policy framework, through the Official Community Plan (OCP) Amendment Bylaw, to implement these 29 actions. The purpose of the proposed Bylaw No. 2062 is to strengthen the policy foundation in the OCP for affordable/attainable housing and to implement specific action items recommended by CitySpaces in the Strategy. The proposed Bylaw would:
· establish affordable and attainable housing as an essential component of community life of equivalent importance as parks, schools, roads and services;
· support the provision of housing for a broad range of individual circumstances including rental housing and home ownership;
· require that for all multi-unit residential or mixed-use developments requiring rezoning at least 15% of the total number of housing units in the development would be subject to a housing agreement ensuring, in perpetuity, that the units would be available at below-market prices to eligible purchasers as determined by the City and described in the housing agreement; and
· develop density bonus regulations to encourage developers to incorporate into areas already zoned for multi-unit or mixed use development affordable or special needs housing in exchange for additional residential density.
For more information please contact:
Bruce Lennox, Director of Planning at 250-423-2258 or at bruce.lennox@fernie.ca
2) Fairy Creek Trail Land Use Permit
Council approved the Fairy Creek Trail Land Use Permit between the City of Fernie and 0781609 B.C. Ltd, Inc. No. BC0781609, commonly known as I.G. Real Estate allowing access to the Fairy Creek – Mount Proctor Trail.
The Trail was closed to hikers and other trail users because a portion of the trail crossed private lands and the landowners had concerns regarding their liability in the event someone becomes injured on the portion of trail that passed through private lands. The Land Use Permit provides the private landowners, I.G Real Estate, with appropriate liability coverage and provides the City of Fernie, residents and visitors non-motorized access to this well used trail.
3) Lease approved for Creative Energy Arts Factory
Council approved the lease of a portion of Max Turyk School and Grounds to Alana Rybar O/A Creative Energy Arts Factory. The lease is for a period of one (1) year commencing August 1, 2009 with a right of renewal for five (5) additional one (1) year terms, at an initial rate of $3,922.92 per year plus additional rent, being a proportionate share of variable costs defined in the lease, in accordance with the requirements of the Community Charter.
4) Development Variance Permit Application
Council authorized the issuance of Development Variance Permit No. DVP-232 to Roberta Lowcay. The permit authorizes the applicant to legalize the siting of the existing single detached dwelling, located at 1111 – 3rd Avenue and to vary:
a. the maximum parcel coverage,
b. the maximum open porch projection into the required minimum front yard,
c. the maximum eave projection into the required minimum front yard setback for the second story addition in order to facilitate construction of a front porch (including steps), a second story addition, rear and second story sundecks,
d. the maximum sundeck and step projections to construct a front sundeck and to,
e. vary the maximum sundeck projections to construct a rear sundeck.
5) Bylaws
a. Bylaw No. 2102 Subdivision and Development Servicing Bylaw No. 1727, Amendment Bylaw No. 2, 2009 was adopted by Council. This bylaw amends the Subdivision and Development Servicing Bylaw No. 1727 by requiring all residential subdivisions or developments where the land use is to be rural residential to connect to the community sewer system. The change responds to recommendations contained in the 2009 Draft Stage 1 Report for the
Liquid Waste Management Plan prepared by Urban Systems which discourages “on-site septic systems for further development within the City boundary”. Further, the change aligns with smart growth principles and policies.
b. Bylaw No, 2107 Zoning Bylaw No. 1750, Amendment Bylaw 94, 2009 was granted first and second readings and referral to a Public Hearing. The Bylaw Amendment would rezone a 668 square metre (0.07 hectare) single family dwelling lot, located at 1341 – 11th Avenue, from R1 – Single Family Residential to R1B – Single Detached Plus Residential. The applicant wished to have a residential home with secondary detached suite for family use to provide accommodation and care for family member.
c. Bylaw No, 2108 Zoning Bylaw No. 1750, Amendment Bylaw 95, 2009 was granted first and second readings and referral to a Public Hearing. The Bylaw Amendment would rezone a 668 square metre (0.07 hectare) single family dwelling lot, located at 701 – 4th Avenue, from R1 – Single Family Residential to R1SL – Single Family Residential Small Lot. The applicant wishes to subdivide the existing lot into two R1SL parcels keep the existing home and remove the detached garages for development of proposed new home.
6) Council Correspondence
a. Council resolved to send a letter to the Minister of Housing and Social Development, Hon. Rich Coleman, urging him to implement the recommendations of the Barrett Commission Report respecting local government liability in building regulation.
The Commission described the role of the local government in the construction process as monitor only. A review and analysis of the issues by the City of Burnaby’s City Solicitor, comments that, “local governments must be provided with a reasonable level of protection in performing their building regulatory role, and not be faced with shouldering the financial burden when a building suffers water or any other form of damage, whether through poor design or poor workmanship, in aspects of construction for which they rely upon the design professionals or for which they do not inspect.”
The Solicitor recommends that, “ideally all municipalities would be given the same thorough statutory protection that Vancouver has under s. 294. (8) of the Vancouver Charter but that “even changing the municipal liability exposure to several rather than joint or several liability” would go a long way towards easing this “inequitable and onerous burden.”
b. Council resolved to send a letter of support to the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA) in support of their efforts to make recreation infrastructure renewal a public policy priority and to help ensure recreation infrastructure remains functional and safe, continuing its role in improving community health and well being.
c. Council discussed the letter received from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers regarding the Canada Post Corporation Strategic Review (CPCSR) Report which recommends no deregulation but threatens rural and small post offices and rural delivery.
Council resolved to complete and send the pre-prepared Resolution, as provided by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, to Denis Lemelin, President, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Basil Stewart, President, Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Hon. Jim Abbott, M.P., Kootenay Columbia. The resolution requests the government preserve public postal service and jobs by rejecting the CPCRS recommendations and requesting the Minister responsible for Canada Post, Hon. Rob Merrifield, consult with the public, postal unions and other major stakeholders to develop a uniform and democratic process for making fundamental changes to Canada Post’s retail and delivery network.
Council reiterated the importance of the local Post Office and Canada Post as a Canadian Institution and agreed that the petition, including the letter, sent by the Unions of Canadian Postal Workers be made available to citizens of Fernie at City Hall and at the Post Office.
d. Councillor Giuliano informed Council that the British Columbia Library Trustees Association is extremely concerned about the current freeze on provincial grants to libraries and about potential cuts to library funding in the next provincial budget.
A delegation representing the Association of BC Public Library Directors, BC Trustee Association, BC Library Association and Union of BC Municipalities are meeting on July 28, 2009 with Hon. Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid, Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for Early Learning and Literacy to discuss the ominous situation facing libraries.
Any cut backs to the Fernie Heritage Library would be detrimental and, as the City of Fernie managed to maintain funding levels to the library, Councillor Giuliano asked Council to support a motion requesting the province do the same. Councillor Giuliano also urged residents and supporters of libraries to write to their MLA expressing concern regarding cuts to library grants.
Council resolved to send a letter to the Hon. Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid, Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for Early Learning and Literacy, Premier Campbell and Minister Bennett asking them to keep library funding at its present levels in its upcoming 2010 Budget.
Special Meeting of Council Held July 29, 2009
1) Council Awards Contract to Westside Windows and Doors for the City Hall Window Project
Council approved $200,000.00 from the 2008 Capital Budget towards a City Hall Energy Retrofit project. An energy audit was completed in the winter of 2008 to help identify options that would achieve the greatest energy savings for the City of Fernie within its allocated $200,000.00 budget. The findings from the energy audit recommended that the City of Fernie replace the windows in City Hall to achieve the desired energy savings.
After extensive consultation with staff, the Advisory Planning Commission, the Historical Society, Chernoff Architects and the Leblond Partnership, Administration created the Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP was posted on BCBid on July 13, 2009 and closed on July 27, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Two bids were received from “Westside Windows and Doors” and “J. Damer”. Administration opened the bids in public as per City Policy and, upon review of the bids, recommended that “Westside Window and Doors” be awarded the contract.
