Drake Crescent housing proposal to go to Public Hearing in late February

City Council moved forward with a
proposed housing development for
Drake Crescent, sending the topic
to a Public Hearing on February 22

Prince Rupert City Council made some tentative steps forward Monday  night on required zoning for a proposed housing development on Drake Crescent.

Moving the proposed zoning changes further along in the process and scheduling a Public Hearing on February 22nd to provide the public an opportunity to learn more about the housing plans.

The City Planner provided a review of the process so far, providing some background on the nature of the project which would see no more than 80 units created for the site in question.  

He also outlined some of the findings from a public information session from December 9th that had been held in relation to the proposal.

The review of the zoning requests for the Drake Crescent proposal led to a larger discussion by Council members on the subject of how they will seek to approach future growth in housing requirements in the community, with a particular desire to provide for parks, public open spaces and other amenities as part of the engagement process with developers in the future.

Councillor Thorkelson led the majority of the discussion, referencing some of the past decisions that Council has had to make, calling attention to how they approached the development of Edwards Street cul-de-sac area a number of years ago.

Using that example as a way of noting that Council needs to find a way to ensure that it's desires regarding open spaces and park like elements are addressed when they look at new developments.

As well as to review land options in the city where such elements could be included, adding that the City needs to be aware to guard against putting up places that they wish to see people locate in  but then not having any no amenities available for children to make use of in those neighbourhoods.

The Mayor tied that concept into his thoughts on placemaking and the need for balance in the community and something that would be part of further review.

You can review the discussion from the City's Video Archive, it starts at the 1 hour 29 minute mark.




For more items related to housing issues in the region see our archive page here.

For more background on City Council discussions see our Council Archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review