Prince Rupert City Council to consider new plan for Temporary Land Use along Park Avenue

A parcel of land along Park Avenue is once again up for
a Temporary Use consideration, with City Council accepting
comments until March 19th.
(from Google maps)

Update: The City issued a Correction to the land use application notice issued March 11th, noting a change in location of the site, which is now as of March 18th listed as Miller Bay and not the Park Avenue location originally indicated.

******************* Original Story **********************

A public notice from the City of Prince Rupert in the community weekly paper, has made note of a new plan towards use of some vacant land along Park Avenue, a stretch of land that made for some controversy last summer when Council turned down a proposal from the Prince Rupert Port Authority.

In the new request for temporary use, the City notes that the applicant would like to make use of the land as follows: 

"Temporary storage of construction demolition waste on  a 30 acre  property along Highway 16/Park Avenue. In the formal application, the uses are described as 'Temporarily store water tight industrial bags of demolition plywood, roofing shingles, drywall, insulation  and carpet until the City of Prince Rupert completes land fill expansion.

Specifically, Rothwell Holding LTD is seeking the following approvals.

1. A TUP for the whole of he property including the portion currently designated as R1 (residential) and

2. A TUP for a term of six months

Rothwell Holdings has noted in their application that areas along the edge of the Property will be maintained as greenspace to provide a visual and noise buffer between the Property and adjacent properties."

In their Notice, the City calls for comments on the application, though noting of the current COVID measures in place, which limits any engagement to that of written options.

 "All person's who believe that the interests of their property are affected by the proposed temporary use permit will be afforded an opportunity for their comments to be read aloud and considered at the Council meeting, in advance of Council's consideration of the permit.

Due to restrictions on gatherings related to COVID-19, members of the public are asked to submit their comments on the application in writing via email. 

All written submissions (mailed, or electronic) must be received by the Corporate Administrator by no later than 12 noon, March 19, 2021. 

Please mail to City of Prince Rupert 424 3rd Avenue West, Prince Rupert BC V8J 1L7 or email to rosamaria.miller@princerupert.ca"

The advisory also notes that a copy of the application and relevant background documentation can be inspected at City during regular business hours, though as the City currently has a number of COVID related protocols in place at City Hall, you may wish to contact Ms. Miller at 250-627-0963 to see what the process of access is when it comes to visits to City Hall.

Council has plans to consider the Temporary Use Permit request at their Regular public Council  meeting on March 22nd.

One of the entrances to the
land along Park Avenue

It's never been made clear by the members of the current City Council why these Notices are never posted to the City website, that to allow for a wider exposure of such civic advisories. 

Something which would perhaps offer a greater opportunity for community interest and participation than something tucked into the last pages of the local newspaper. 

The need for such public notification in print is a legal requirement, but the city should probably go the extra mile in ways of consultation by posting to their own information portals and highlighting the opportunity to comment through their social media platforms.

As we noted above, the same land area under consideration this week,  was the subject of a previous Temporary Use Request from the Prince Rupert Port Authority, which wanted to make use of the land as part of the current expansion of the Fairview Container Site, a request denied by Council back in August of 2020.

The current proposal to use the land as a form of construction materials holding site until the city's landfill expansion is complete, will be the second such proposal Council has considered this year. 

In February City Councillors approved a similar concept for a parcel of land on the city's outskirts near Miller Bay.

Previous notes on land use and planning themes can be explored here.

For more notes on past Council Discussion themes see our archive page.