Parking ‘problem’ created by Commons finds solution in amendment
By Timothy Schafer
Although the Nelson Commons project is a welcome addition to the city’s downtown, the vehicles of contractors that are working to bring the low-rise development to realization aren’t.
City council came down on the numerous construction worker vehicles that infuse the city’s downtown, using monthly parking permits, and passed an amendment to the Traffic Bylaw requiring no more than two parking meter hoods — used for monthly parking permits — on any given city block.
Mayor Deb Kozak said the situation over “parking issues” had been growing in the last year-and-a-half with the start of construction of the Commons.
“It really brought it into full focus that we needed to update this bylaw,” she said.
Several downtown business owners had complained to the city repeatedly about the proliferation of the hoods on meters near the Commons site, city staff told council, filling several consecutive parking spots.
It was felt the hoods were an impediment to parking access for downtown business customers that were not working on the Commons site, and was impacting those businesses negatively.
In all, four amendments were passed, including the handling of parking meter hoods. The purposes and duration of the hood usage changed, limiting no more than two parking meter hoods on any given street per city block.
As well, the section introduced an application process and cost recovery for lost or damaged meter hoods. The bylaw also now curtails the number of rentals and allows for varied arrangements as required, at the discretion of the city manager.
The amended bylaw will be posted to the city’s website.
Tobacco motion passed
Council will be submitting to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities a motion to require plain and standardized packaging for cigarettes sold throughout the country.
Mayor Deb Kozak — who made the notice of motion — said tobacco was the most important cause of preventable disease and death in Canada, killing 37,000 people every year.
She said the tobacco industry uses every means at its disposal to make its products seem less dangerous and more attractive, with packaging becoming the most important promotional vehicle for the industry.
Australia, France, the United Kingdom and Ireland have all passed laws requiring plain and standardized packaging for tobacco products, and many others have announced their intention to do so, Mayor Kozak noted.
Council will be asking the Government of Canada to create legislated requirements for plain and standardized packaging for all tobacco products in Canada, thereby prohibiting all promotional features on all tobacco packaging, including the use of colours, images, logos, slogans, distinctive fonts and finishes, allowing only the brand name.
As well, health warnings will remain on all tobacco packaging with the size and shape of packages being standardized, prohibiting specialty package formats such as slim and super slim cigarette packages that reduce warning size and overtly target women, Mayor Kozak said.
Backing two projects
With two major affordable housing projects in Nelson vying for funds and favour for respective projects, the competition may have opened up a bit.
Both the Kootenay Christian Fellowship’s Share Housing Initiative and the Nelson Cares Society’s redevelopment of Lakeside Place are in the throes of getting off the ground and are competing for limited funding dollars, but one city councillor had some positive news.
Coun. Bob Adams said the federal government has come up with $250 million over five years to build and maintain new construction for affordable housing.
Adams met with some federal government officials recently and asked about the availability of funds for Nelson.
“My question to them was would they think about funding both of our projects?” he asked. “And their answer was, ‘Yes.’”
Kootenay Christian Fellowship’s Share Housing Initiative is a proposed 42-unit affordable housing development on Falls Street. Lakeside Place is a three-storey structure aimed at low-income seniors and people with disabilities.
In the affordable housing realm, the Nelson Housing Committee recommended to council to entertain an expression of interest from O’Ryan Estates Limited to purchase city-owned property to develop a private-owned assisted living facility in the city. The proceeds of the sale would go to the city’s affordable housing fund.
The committee also asked council to direct staff to investigate other affordable housing models and how housing funds have been developed in communities of a similar size to Nelson.
“This speaks to asking staff to look at how housing funds are actually funded, where the funds come from, and how funds for affordable housing can be used,” said Coun. Michael Dailly.
“We find ourselves in a place where there isn’t much money in our fund at all, so it is very difficult, without funds, to create some initiatives for affordable housing. So how do we populate that fund?”
Water supply dwindles
The city’s water supply is dangerously low this year as it sits at its third lowest level in 13 years at this point in time, says the city’s manager.
Kevin Cormack said the snow pack was three weeks ahead of where it would normally be, due to the early spring and unusually hot weather.
The snowpack is the third lowest it has been since 2003, meaning there are 533 millimetres of snow water equivalency, with normal being 831 mm. The highest was 1,702 mm. and the lowest was last year at 292 mm. one of the warmest and driest years on record.
“So we are in better shape with the snow pack than the year before,” Cormack said.
Rainfall has been 321 mm from February to June, while the average has been 314 mm.
“It is fair to say we are going to have years where we will have to be careful with how we use water, and build that into our normal daily practices,” he said.
City council gave final reading and adoption to an amendment to the Waterworks Regulation Bylaw that will override historical rates of normal watering and usage conditions in the city with what had previously been stage one restrictions — instituted in times of drought at the height of summer.
“As a community we have to be serious about how we use water,” said Cormack. “This (bylaw) is normal practice. People don’t need to water their lawns seven days a week.”
The city is looking at a secondary source of water that “it hopes it never has to use,” said Cormack. The city has applied for another water licence to use for emergency purposes.
“But it’s not a short-term process,” he said.
Adoption passed unanimously as council begins to make good on its target of a reduction in water consumption in the city by 20 per cent, “while allowing for development in line with Official Community Plan targets.”
The city first adopted a Waterworks Regulation Bylaw in October of 2015. But with water usage rising, and the health and longevity of the water supply in some question, the bylaw had been amended to change what were previously stage one water restrictions to be the normal condition for watering.
