Kootenay Avenue housing plans now up for neighbourhood consultation

The letter to residents of the 
Kootenay/McKay area over a proposed
housing development

Almost three months after a proposed housing development was announced for the Kootenay Avenue area, some of the residents of the west side neighbourhood have begun to receive their information packages, a home mailing program that will for the most part take the place of the usual public viewing opportunity.

Prince Rupert City Council chose to go with the mailing option last June, noting how current rules over COVID limited their options when it comes towards any public gatherings that normally would accompany such a significant redevelopment for the area.

The consultation mailing which is addressed to residents has been forwarded by McEllhaney which is conducting the process for BC Housing and Prince Rupert Indigenous Housing. 

The August 11th mailing notes is directed towards those who are an adjacent neighbour, or own property that is close to the properties that are proposed to be rezoned. 

The rezoning is required to accommodate the additional housing that will be created, with 27 new residential dwellings to be added to the existing property to be developed.

The letter accompanies a number of illustrations which show the location of the properties to be redeveloped, the proposed site plan, the heights of the proposed structures and what the proposed development will look like.

Part of the information package delivered so some residents of the 
Kootenay/McKay area as part of the consultation on plans
for additional housing in the neighbourhood

As part of the correspondence, those who have received the package are invited to provide their comments on a sheet that has been included in the mailing. 

The feedback from the community is something that will give the proponents a better understanding of what those in the neighbourhood think and to provide for recommendations for any changes that they may believe are required.

The deadline for those who wish to comment is August 28th, with residents to drop the comments off at the McEllhaney office on Second Avenue West, or to send them back by mail.

The scope of the roll out of information so far is something of interest, with the North Coast Review hearing indications from some residents on the west side that suggest that it is a fairly limited mail out to this point, with only those in the immediate vicinity of the proposed development receiving the packages.

During the course of the May 24th council discussion on the proposed development Councillor Barry Cunningham advocated for a thorough job of notification, including the placement of advertisements and an expansion of the notification zone to a wider area of the neighbourhood, with a desire to see as many members of the public as possible become engaged on the topic.

"We've got to take into consideration the people living in this area if they have some input .. they are the ones directly affected and 100 metres or a 100 yards doesn't cut the mustard ... I really want to hear from the residents of that neighbourhood.

I would like to extend the boundaries for public notification as wide as we can, whether its on one side of Smithers or the other ... I think we have to expand this to the whole neighbourhood and I like the idea of a lot of there's a lot of people who sometimes have something to say that don't necessarily live right there, so I think it's important that we engage the public as much as possible on this  -- Some of the comments on the Kootenay proposal from Councillor Barry Cunningham in May

That was a theme echoed by Councillor Wade Neish, who also championed the idea of a wide notification area and suggested that the information be provided on line for all residents of the city to examine.

"If they want to hand out packages to people in the neighbourhood, I would like to see that maybe expanded a little bit, to a little bit further than the required normal, and also if there's a way that they could do it online so that people that aren't in the neighbourhood ... have the ability to look at the information also or request a package also" -- Councillor Wade Neish on the Kootenay proposal in May

Councillor Adey also had made inquiries as to how far the community engagement would expand.

During the early review of May, the Mayor also offered up the concept of a potential webinar towards the information relay on the Kootenay proposal towards that wider community involvement.

"I think we can talk about an online piece here, as well as a further expansion of information. What comes to mind to me right now maybe like a Webinar or something because usually you do a presentation at these public information sessions, we'll work with BC Housing on that." -- Mayor Lee Brain at City Council on May 24th

It's not clear if the early word of the roll out of the information packages meets those recommendations from Council, though one element has yet to be addressed for sure, that of any mention of the community engagement on the city website or any of their social media platforms.

The path forward for the Kootenay proposal has also not made it into the Mayor's Social Media feed so far.

The community engagement on the Kootenay proposal also comes as the City continues to approach its planning decisions without the benefit of a on staff planner, with City Manager Robert Long announcing that he has taken on the planning duties after the retirement of former City planner Zeno Krekic.

In late June, Councillors Adey and Cunningham cautioned their fellow council members to not allow the city's COVID response to become a block for community engagement. 

Residents on the west side who may have been left off the mailing list, no doubt might ask that the guidance of June continue on into August as the deadline for public comment looms.

Some of the past  timeline of City Council's process towards the consultation period can be reviewed below:

June 24 -- Kootenay/McKay area residents await roll out of information on Housing proposal

May 27 -- Council to use Second reading of zoning amendment for a review towards need for a Public Hearing on Kootenay Social Housing proposal

May 25 -- Kootenay Avenue site proposed for new 55 unit multi family residential development 

For more notes of interest on Housing in Prince Rupert see our archive page here.

A wider overview of past Council sessions can be examined here.