Monday, July 18, 2016

City set to move on land issue off Graham after AAP results released

Prince Rupert City Council will be meeting in a Special Regular Session this week, as City Council looks to move forward with a proposed land proposal for an area at the very western end of Graham Avenue.

At Wednesday's 5 PM session, Council will hear the results of the Alternative Approval Process to remove the park dedication and disposition of the land located off of Graham Avenue.

The notice of that AAP process, which required residents to deliver their electoral response forms to the City, was first outlined in April of this year. As the process came to an end on June 3rd only 337 residents had responded to the City's initiative during the course of the consultation.

After the release of the AAP results
from June, City Council may have
a green light for a land sale
off of Graham Avenue
In a Report to Council (see page 3 of the Agenda ) to be reviewed at Wednesday's session the assent of electors is declared.

As well, as part of the report the suggestion to Council is offered up by City Staff that Council members move forward with the proposed bylaw and disposition of lands to the Bryton Group for their proposed project development as previously outlined to Council.

In May, the City outlined how the Alternative Approval process would be used for the Graham Avenue land sale, which would see the land in question turned over to the Bryton Group for the recorded value of $21,000.

At the time, the City observed that money received for the land transaction would be directed towards a reserve fund to be put to use for future acquisition of park lands.

Councillor Blair Mirau provided for much of the lead for the City when it came to offering up some background for how the AAP would work, what the sale proposal was all about and how the City plans to make use of the revenue generated from the land sale.



With the final numbers from AAP process now released, the 337 residents that the City makes note of in its report for Wednesday's meeting falls short of the 866 mark, that was the number required to reflect opposition by more than 10 percent of the city's population.

Had that number of 866 been reached, it would have required City Council to consider taking the issue to a full referendum.

That expensive proposition won't be something that the City will need to consider at this point and the path forward towards the sale can begin its journey on Wednesday. Though controversial as it appeared to be in May, some on Council may still have some reservations when it comes to the proposed land sale and  there may also be concerns with the use of the AAP mechanism by the city to reach a decision.

The increased use of the AAP process in recent years has been an issue which has made for some discussion around the Council chamber in the past.

Those thoughts could become part of the official record should Council decide to give First, Second and third reading to the proposed Park Dedication and Disposal Bylaw as part of the Wednesday presentation to Council.

Some background on the past discussion related to the Graham Avenue proposal can be found below:

July 2015 -- Concerns over Graham Avenue Road extension dominate Park Avenue Public Hearing
July 2015 -- Park Avenue Housing Development to get Second Public Hearing
June 2015 -- Park Avenue proposal receives petition push back
June 2015 -- Councillor Thorkelson looks to include Senior's Housing in Park Avenue Development planning
April 2015 -- Public Meeting scheduled regarding Park Avenue Housing rezoning issue
March 2015 -- Proposed West Side Housing Development moves to public notification stage
March 2015 -- Council to consider Zoning issues related to proposed housing development off of Park Avenue

March 2014 -- Council takes Graham Avenue Condo project to public comment phase
February 2014 -- City considers townhouse development for Graham Avenue Area

Other items related to Housing and Housing development plans for Prince Rupert can be reviewed here.

For more items related to City Council discussions see our archive page here.


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