The Village of Nakusp has obtained council permission to try and outsource some of its planning services to the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
A report by chief administrative officer Cheryl Martens shows the number of building permits staff have processed has skyrocketed from four in 2018 to 24 in 2020.
Martens said reallocating the planning services would let staff work more on their main job functions.
“I spend about 30 per cent of my time on planning services now and I’ve noticed my time spending on it has already increased from last year. I’ve also been told by staff that it’s increased significantly before that,” said Martens.
“As the CAO, I really need to be there for council, the community and the village’s strategic plan. If we could get the RDCK to help with planning services, that would really help me focus on those other things.”
Subdivision applications have also increased from zero in 2015 to four in 2020.
“I already have three subdivision applications on my desk right now and one of them is potentially for 16 lots,” said Martens.
RDCK board of directors will now investigate to see if their staff can help out with planning services and what kind of services they could provide to the village.
Between 2011 and 2016, Statistics Canada reports that Nakusp’s population grew from 1,094 to 1,130.
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