During the Feb. 20 public meeting of Quesnel City council, the following housing highlights emerged from the discussions:
Hearings held for proposed
developments:
• A proposal was heard to allow the use of supportive housing to be located at 530 Carson Avenue, at the site commonly known as Grace Inn. The City’s written material in the agenda did not specify who the proponent was, but those in attendance were informed it was a BC Housing proposal.
This property has already been the subject of such a proposal, but the specified development time frame was not met, and had to be re-done if it was to advance.
Since the planned new use is in close relation to its previous use, no change would be required to the Official Community Plan, only a zoning amendment.
No written submissions and no verbal submissions from the public were made regarding this project.
In the subsequent meeting of mayor and council, the matter was passed through the “third reading” phase and final approval is pending at a future meeting.
• A proposal was heard regarding the switch of commercial zoning in West Quesnel at 668 Doherty Drive (a small office building attached to Quesnel Community Living Association), to allow conversion of a commercial building into a 17-unit residential apartment.
No verbal submissions were made at the public hearing. Three written submissions were made, all in opposition to the project, each one concerning the parking pressure it is expected to cause in the adjacent neighbourhood. There would only be three parking stalls at the apartment building.
Mayor and council discussed the application, each who spoke expressing concern over the apparent scattered parking result that would unfold if it were turned into a dense residential location.
Council voted to have municipal staff research the parking matter and bring back a report to a future public meeting, before they made their final decision.
B-n-B stays versus
residential renting
The dialogue on the two housing applications dovetailed with a report made by councillor Martin Runge, the chair of the Policy & Bylaw Committee. The main item in that report was Quesnel’s response options in light of new short-term rental rules mandated by the provincial government, in their attempt to increase long-term rental spaces by disallowing many urban bed-and-breakfast spaces.
Quesnel falls under the population threshold for this new rule, Runge pointed out, so “no action is required,” but City staff would do some research into other municipalities for a bylaw comparison “and bring back policy options.”
The provincial government made substantial changes to housing regulations. “There are lots of them,” said Runge, “and these changes will require a lot of staff work throughout the whole year.”
The committee’s recommendation was for the City of Quesnel to do nothing regarding any local policy changes until the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act has been discussed at the provincial Housing Solutions Table.
That report was received and the recommendations accepted by the councillors.
Also approved
• An application was discussed to open a vape retail store at 118 Juniper Road. It received three readings, by approved vote, and final approval is pending a sign permit, in consultation with municipal staff.
• An application to build a single-story dwelling at Lot 2 of Nickel Ridge Avenue was discussed. Per City requirement, the proponent obtained a geotechnical report, and the subsequent building design was within the recommendations of that report. Council approved the application, pending final updates to required permits.