qathet Regional District directors have referred a Nootka Street zoning bylaw motion back to the regional district’s planning committee.
At the March 11 regional board meeting, directors considered a motion brought forward by Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne to direct staff to prepare a bylaw to permit accessory dwelling units, and that it be elevated in priority for the planning service’s list of priorities.
Gisborne said there had been extensive discussion regarding the bylaw and its consistency and inconsistency with the Area B official community plan in relation to restrictions on access to housing, particularly relating to accessory dwelling units.
“They are considered to be a form of affordable housing,” said Gisborne. “Our planning committee had the motion back in November and that motion was referred to staff. This is not in relation to a specific property but is in relation to the entire Nootka Street neighbourhood.
“One of the purposes for the Nootka Street zoning bylaw is to ensure consistency in the area. As there is growing pressure in the area to allow more forms of affordable housing, we should really look at changing the bylaw, so that way it can support the accessory dwelling units.”
Gisborne said directors had heard from staff that a report is somewhere in the workload, but he would like it to be elevated as a priority for the regional district’s planning service.
City of Powell River director Rob Southcott said what doesn’t come through clearly is the reason for urgency regarding the matter.
“If my memory serves me correctly, the board has already waived any enforcement action to the one applicant in that neighbourhood that stood to be enforced due to having a secondary dwelling on a property up there,” said Southcott.
Electoral Area C director and board chair Clay Brander said the motion is to elevate the requested staff report higher up on the to-do list.
“We did pass a motion to ask for a staff report, and [Gisborne’s] motion is asking for a staff report to be elevated higher on the planning service’s list of priorities,” said Brander.
qRD general manager of planning services Laura Roddan indicated that the staff report was not highly placed on the priority list. She said the work plan was organized in order of importance for when the board has directed staff to work on reports. She said the planning department also has to process four types of applications, and they are time-sensitive, needing to be processed within provincial timelines.
“The Nootka Street zoning bylaw amendment report is on the list but it is the last on the list right now,” said Roddan. “Staff can move it up at the desire of the board but there are implications for current projects. We have limited capacity with only two staff.”
Brander said he did not support the motion.
“We have professionals on board who are very experienced and educated,” added Brander. “They set their priorities, and if we start politicizing the administrative tasks, we run the risk of throwing everything out of whack. We may be helping out one group but we may be harming multiple other groups in the process. We need to trust our staff.
“In this case, I know of one property owner who wants to have this done. I don’t know of any others.”
Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall said it would make sense for the matter to go back to the regional district’s planning committee. He asked when it was anticipated that the Nootka Street matter would come back to directors.
Roddan said staff would need direction from the board on what to prioritize. She said the department’s focus right now is on Savary Island, plus all the applications that are coming in.
“From my perspective, as the manager of planning, it’s all hands on deck for the Savary Island official community plan,” said Roddan. She said housing was secondary on the list.
Fall made a motion to refer the motion back to the March 25 planning committee meeting. The motion passed, with Gisborne opposed.
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