Around 30 people filed into the Council Chambers in Quesnel City Hall tonight (March 6) to listen to mayor and councillors deal with the revised Elliott Street Supportive House Development proposal.
BC Housing sent out an information bulletin around 3 p.m. on today, noting it was removing the shelter component of the previous proposal, which had been a contentious issue for members of the public and council.
BC Housing’s new proposal calls for a total of 30 supportive housing suites, with four support recovery beds, which would be funded and run by Northern Health.
After discussion about the changes, council unanimously rescinded and stood down from first reading of Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 1829 and the Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 1830.
Council then gave first reading to Official Community Plan Amendment Bylaw No. 1848 and Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 1849 for the second proposal.
Council also requested BC Housing require the facility operator enter into a Good Neighbour Agreement with the City and other stakeholders to be identified.
Council also required BC Housing to enter into a Housing Agreement the City.
When the agenda of the council meeting was completed, Mayor Bob Simpson asked if there were any questions from the gallery.
Four people took advantage of the opportunity to talk to council.
However, when the speakers started making statements, the mayor explained the policy for questions from the gallery were just that – an opportunity to ask the chair of the council meeting an explicit question about a specific business item that is one the council agenda.
Simpson repeatedly stopped the speakers from making statements and/or asking questions about things that were not on the agenda.
Read more in the March 9 edition of the Quesnel Observer.