Rossland city councillors have decided to issue a development permit with conditions for a new four-storey development at 1920 Third Ave.
If the project goes ahead, city council chambers would be on the bottom floor and 37 affordable housing units would be built on the above floors.
New city hall, four-storey development proposed for Rossland
Despite the permit approval, Rossland mayor Kathy Moore said much more is still to be done to make the project a reality.
“This is just one of many steps before this project goes through to its construction phase,” said Moore at a city council meeting on April 6.
“We still have many more construction drawings and approvals to do for the project. We’re also in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so anything could happen.”
If construction goes ahead, there would be a bicycle parking area, common storage area and in-suite laundry at the building.
Moore said she’s cautiously optimistic about the project so far.
“We haven’t heard any complaints or compelling arguments against this project,” said Moore.
“On many merits, this project would be a huge benefit to our community by providing us more affordable housing, an adequate space for city hall and more tax dollars that we all know about.”
Conditions outlined in the development permit state the building must be similar in size to its concept drawings, the building must have adequate parking and the building applicant must comply with the city’s engineer to perform any needed upgrades on the building.
Project architect Anthony Boni said the building would be of similar height to other surrounding city infrastructure.
In 2018, a roof collapse forced the shutdown of Rossland’s old city hall.
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