A public hearing into the proposed rezoning of the Nelson Landing project will be held on June 11 at 6 p.m. at city hall.
When a landowner wants to change the designated use of land, a public hearing is required. In this case, the change is from the current mix of several zoning designations to Comprehensive Development 5, which would allow a mix of residential and commercial uses.
Phase 1 of the development, which will consist of eight housing units to be priced at around $400,000, does not need rezoning and is currently under construction. The upcoming rezoning hearing applies to the rest of the property. The bylaw is attached below, along with some background information.
Council is required to consider a zoning decision in four separate “readings” at council meetings. Often the first and second reading on a rezoning bylaw are done at the same meeting, as happened in this case on April 7. After second reading, a public hearing must be held, advertised according to strict rules.
Anyone can present at a public hearing. The process is quite formal: presenters speak at a microphone and there are no questions from council or any discussion of the presentation. Council will consider the presentations when it makes its final decision.
Immediately after the hearing, council must conduct third and fourth readings, and the results of the vote at the fourth reading constitute a final decision.
Nelson Landing is a mixed commercial-residential development of 265 housing units proposed to be build by the Storm Mountain Development Corporation on the old Kootenay Forest Products site on the shore of Kootenay Lake. The development would be phased in over ten years, and if 40 housing units have been built by then, the phase-in period will be extended to 20 years. The developer will provide a public waterfront pathway and public access to Red Sands Beach.
