Horizon North work camp parking changes proposal to head to public notification

Discussion on a work camp on
Wantage Road was part of
Monday night's Council Agenda

While the news of late hasn't been particularly positive when it comes to the progress for major projects in the region, with the Canpotex project abandoned and ongoing delays in LNG development prominent, Council remains optimistic and is continuing on with its plans for the foundation of that major growth.

One area which was addressed on Monday evening was the concept of the accommodations camp proposed for Wantage Road on the site of the old trailer park in the area, that site has been identified by the Horizon North group as a location for 160 unit housing camp.

Monday Council considered a request to reduce the required number of parking spots for the proposed camp from 168 to 110, with Horizon North providing documentation that suggests a number of the workers that would make use of the camp would not be using personal vehicles during their stay in the community.

A parcel of land behind the Lester
Centre of the Arts is the proposed
location for a work camp in the city

City Planner Zeno Krekic provided the full overview of the proposed reduction, calling attention to camps that Horizon North operate in Alberta and some of their findings from patterns of use in those locations.

Council members had a few questions on those themes, with Councillor Mirau asking for clarification on some of the ratios that the City Planner had outlined for the proposed camp.

Councillor Cunningham noted that his only concern was what might happen if there was a reversal of projections on the amount of vehicle traffic that the site might generate.

The process now moves toward public notification, Mayor Brain noted as part of the discussion that there were no residential areas located in the immediate vicinity of the site that would require public notification, with Mr. Krekic outlining that the Lester Centre and the Golf Course are the main neighbours for the camp location.

When  the Horizon North projects for the community were first proposed in 2014, there was significant interest and some opposition from the community related to the second phase of the project that would see the old dump location turned into a much larger camp, which could host over 2500 workers.

The Wantage Road version near the Lester Centre is the section of land that Horizon North had previously identified as a Lay Down area in anticipation of the larger development, the city signed a lease with the company for the land in the fall of 2015.

Some background on the proposed development can be found from Monday's Council agenda here, starting at page 23.

Some past background on the Horizon North proposal can be found below

October 2015 -- City of Prince Rupert moving forward with leasing plans with Horizon North for property along Wantage Road
October 2014 -- Council pushes ahead with Work Camp plans for Wantage Road, despite rough reception at Public Hearing

You can review the presentation and discussion on the theme from the City's Video Archive, it starts at the 11 minute mark and runs for about eight minutes.




For more items related to Monday's Council session see our Council Timeline Feature here.

Further background on Council issues and discussions can be found on our archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review