The City of Campbell River has found help from nearby local governments to ride the rising local building wave.
“With the number of commercial projects occurring in Campbell River, and the interest from the development community to discuss potential plans with City staff, we’ve made temporary arrangements with the Strathcona Regional District and Comox Valley Regional District to help us keep up with rising demand to process building permits,” says Ron Neufeld, the City’s General Manager Operations. In addition to the short-term assistance from the Strathcona Regional District and the Comox Valley Regional District, the city currently is currently working to recruit a building inspector.
Neufeld emphasizes that streamlining the process for permits is in place for all applicants, but efficiency depends on builders and developers having the required details available to process applications.
“Larger building projects often rely on a certified registered professional to sign off on aspects of the job, which often helps these projects run more smoothly,” Neufeld explains. “Once all the required paperwork is submitted to the City, then the permit process is expedited.”
To support the local building and development sector, the City of Campbell River’s Land Use Department offers a series of regular lunchtime forums that highlight different aspects of the permitting process and provide an opportunity for industry representatives and City staff to discuss the steps required to keep the permitting system moving forward.
Campbell River’s interaction with property owners and builders and the city’s fees and speedy turnaround time for building permits were recently praised by Building Links, a publication that released second quarter statistics comparing Campbell River and the Comox Valley in July.
