Development Variance Permit Application
An application for the reduction of property lot lines from five feet to three feet was presented to council for review during Monday’s meeting. The property in question is situated within a residential zone, which requires side lot lines of five feet, however the landowner has applied for a development variance. According to the application procedures notice of intent was distributed to neighbouring properties. Responses to the bylaw adjustment request raised concerns about the potential congested look of relaxed lot lines that would affect property values and alter the character of the neighbourhood.
Councilor Hughes weighed in by stating “I think five feet needs to be firm unless there is a significant reason because for no other reason than the convenience of the side of the building why would we not say yes to other requests?”
Councilor Duchaine added that if council remained committed to the five-foot bylaw then the homeowner still has building options within the building bylaws, and the house will inevitably go up.
Council decided to deny the development variance as requested.
Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group
The Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group has proposed a return to Nakusp to host their second Motogiro event in September 2014 and is seeking council support. Last year’s gathering was a success for the motorcycle group, however inadequate advertising failed to inform community members of the event and led to the misconception that the hot springs road was closed to all public traffic for the duration.
Chief Administrative Officer, Linda Tynan, penned a letter to the event organizer, Dave Marshall, in August 2013 outlining the caveats for council’s support; guarantee unrestricted emergency vehicle access, adhere to a maximum allowable delay of half an hour for public traffic to and from the hot springs and implement an improved advertising strategy.
Marshall has submitted documents outlining his group’s plan to consent to the council’s requests, and has proposed that the event take place between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on September 15. Council passed the motion to support the Motogiro event as submitted.
Stop Sign
Council reviewed a request from a community member to remove a stop sign from private land located on the corner at 88-5th Ave. SW, Nakusp. Several options were presented to council regarding the stop sign, but removal was the recommended solution of staff.
“It is an alleyway” Tynan stated, “it is not very common to see stop signs in alleyways and this one serves no purpose.” There are two alleyway stop signs in the Nakusp municipality; the other one is located adjacent to Shon’s Bike and Ski Shop.
Council decided to pass the motion to remove the stop sign as requested.
Budget Variance
Chief Financial Officer Robert Richards presented council with the Consolidated Budget Variance to June 18, 2014 which details a comparison of budgeted versus actual expenditures of Village operations. Richards reported that there were no significant variances in the report, “we are almost halfway through the year and all of our actual values are within our expectations.”
The Budget Variance also highlighted capital projects, notably the Million Gallon Reservoir upgrade contract has been awarded to a winning bidder, the water treatment plant has started its two week commissioning process on June 23, and a new monitoring tower has been installed at the public works yard. Some areas of concern include a delay in repairing the Nakusp Arena’s showering facilities and ongoing issues regarding connectivity between the Village Office and Public Works.
