An advisory planning commission meeting for the beginning of February has been cancelled.
According to an email from Nikki Ball, engineering and development services clerk at the City of Revelstoke, there were no complete applications to bring to the advisory planning commission for their comments.
“Once we receive all the necessary information for our current applications, these will be brought to the APC,” said Ball.
Last year, the City of Revelstoke saw a value of $30,324,000 in total building permit constructions. That’s up 57 per cent from 2016 and up 102 per cent from 2015.
In a report submitted to City Council on Jan. 14, Nigel Whitehead, director of development services said that a number of planning applications that were submitted in 2017 are still in line. The department is focused on clearing the backlog in the first quarter this year.
“Achievement of this objective will be dependent both on staff capacity, as well as applicants’ ability to provide revised drawings as necessary,” Whitehead’s report said.
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The department is planning to create informational brochures that will help applicants understand what they need to submit an application.
In 2017, only half of the planned 12 advisory planning commission meetings were held. There was one scheduled each month. No meetings took place in January, February, March, July, November or December.
The former manager of development services, Dean Strachan, moved to another community at the end of 2016.
Whitehead began as the City of Revelstoke’s director of development services in April 2017. Since then, the department has undergone a lot of change.
In his report, Whitehead said that staff struggled last year with “a lack of formal departmental procedures, and outdated, ineffective procedures where they do exist. Previous staff did not update documented procedures, leaving their positions along with their institutional knowledge required to efficiently complete applications.”
The department is “aggresively” pursuing departmental procedures, so that they’re ready to go for the 2018 building season.
Last year, the department saw a total of 65 planning applications.
At their Jan. 2 meeting, the commission discussed a residential project at 100 Track Street – which was recently approved by council– and a commercial build on 206 First Street West.
The next advisory planning commission meeting is scheduled for March 6.
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