Development permit application triggers debate at Nelson City Council
By Colin Payne
Nelson City Council’s first meeting of May started out with a surprising bang, as council debated a seemingly minor development permit application for a complicated residential project planned for 113 High Street.
The zoning bylaw variance application asked council to approve a reduction in setbacks, an increase in lot coverage, a removal of the height envelope for a part of the building and a reduction in the lengths of the parking stalls. Several letters were provided from neighbours in the area who objected to the variance due to the size of the development it would allow.
Council’s debate on the variances focused around having the development conform with the character of the neighbourhood, which largely has 15-foot setbacks – as opposed to the 18-foot setback requested by the applicant, Domenic Castellano.
There was also some debate about whether or not to allow the three parking spaces requested – or limit that number to two.
Councilor Dailly was most vocal on the side of keeping the development in line with the neighbourhood, stating that he would like to see the variance conform to the neighbourhood character by consulting with the neighbours and building it in line with the other houses on the street.
On the other side was Councilor Adams, who asked why they were debating the matter and holding up the development if the variances requested are in line with the city’s guidelines.
Council was preparing to vote on a motion by Councilor Morrison to refer the matter back to staff to consider changing the variance permit from three to two parking spots, when the applicant came forward and asked to address council about the matter.
Castellano told council that he couldn’t afford to have his project held up for another month while they made a decision, and he would comply with whatever decision council made, as long as they made it right away. He said he spent a year to figure out how to develop the complicated lot, and has already been held back two months. If he had to wait another month, he would abandon the project.
Council tabled the motion so staff could meet and work out something that would work for the project and then moved on to other business, including passing its tax rate bylaw that allows for taxation as outlined in the recent financial plan, as well as the fees and charges bylaw and an amendment of the procurement policy.
Council then returned to the variance permit application for 113 High Street and after hearing from staff, simply removed one recommendation from the list and approved the variance permit.
Big vote on Nelson Commons affordable housing
Council then moved on to the big item of the evening, a vote on whether or not to approve the variance permit for the affordable housing component of the Nelson Commons development.
The developer had applied to council for a variance asking to replace its previous commitment of $54,000 to the affordable housing fund with a new commitment to create three restricted resale units with a 25 percent price reduction, as well as a request for the city to waive its $9837 connection fee for the three units, and commitment to manage the resale of the units on an ongoing basis.
After debate in previous meetings, this issue was sent back to the Nelson Housing Committee (NHC) for further discussion – due to the fact that at least some councilors didn’t consider the price of the units to fit in the “affordable housing” category.
The NHC reviewed the issue and expressed concerns about the lack of qualifying criteria for buyers and also the request to waive connection fees – stating it would be unfair, since other developers haven’t had the same incentive in the past.
Ultimately, the NHC had a majority vote against the variances – but in its recommendations to council, city staff recommended council approve the variances.
Manager of Development Services, Pam Mierau told council the restricted resale units are a good opportunity to give people with a lower salary the chance to buy into the housing market – and as such staff supported the variances.
All but councilor Morrison, who has been vocally opposed to all the variances for Nelson Commons, supported the variance item that would allow the creation of the restricted resale units in lieu of the $54,000. As such, the variance was allowed.
But council had a different tune when it came to waiving the connection fees, with the majority of councilors speaking against it – stating that it sets a bad precedent for future developments. Only Councilor Adams spoke in favour of waiving the fee, stating it could be beneficial to future developments and they could quickly be paid off via water and sewer fees.
Ultimately council didn’t approve this point of the variance permit application.
Council also debated whether or not the city should manage the resale of the units, with Councilor Morrison again vocally against the prospect. But ultimately council approved this variance.
