Terrace City Council briefs from the meeting on November 13, 2018. Some of the key discussions are summarized below:
Keith Avenue Mall to get new electronic sign
Council voted in favour of a bylaw variance to allow the owner of Keith Avenue mall to upgrade their existing Strata sign to one with a larger electronic messaging board.
The variance permit would increase the size from 3.5 sq. metres to 4.85 sq. metres, a 35 per cent increase from what the bylaw allows.
Originally city staff recommended council not support the variance.
“We felt as staff looking at this that it was hard to justify supporting the recommendation without it setting a precedent,” says city planner David Block.
Roth argued at the council meeting that the upgrade would significantly improve their 26-year old sign, adding that they had already placed an order for it.
After discussion, council decided to side with Roth and allow the existing sign to have a larger digital space to advertise local businesses within the mall and community events.
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Building report for October
Although building permit values are behind last year’s pace, the city’s October building synopsis showed an above average increase for the month.
So far in 2018, 160 permits valued at 22 million dollars have been issued, nearly half of last year’s 39 million dollar year-to-date value. Though that value is down, October’s report almost doubled in value, from $784,000 last year to $2 million.
Commercial renovations totalled $565,000 last month, nearly $10 million year-to-date. Twenty single residential permits were also issued so far this year, an increase from 17 permits last year.
Terrace’s year-to-date average sits at $19 million for October.
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Higher fence allowed to block flying scrap metal
Council allowed the installation of a higher chainlink fence to block the debris from flying over from Allen’s Scrap & Salvage yard at 5206 Keith Ave. into neighbouring properties.
Managers at the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development and BC Hydro voiced support for the variance after finding pieces of scrap metal and steel on their property and parking areas.
“The only issue seems to be the machinery that shreds and smashes up the steel, sometimes it flies over the fence just from the active pounding or working of that machinery. This is hoped to contain that,” Block says.
The fence proposed will reach 1.83 metres on top of the current concrete block fence, bringing the overall height to 4 metres tall.
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