City Council passes motion for Housing Agreement with 11th Avenue East Supportive housing proposal

At Tuesday evening's City Council session, council members heard a report
from the City Planner related to a Housing agreement between
the City of Prince Rupert and the proponent of
a supportive housing facility on 11th Avenue East
(photo from City of Prince Rupert files)

The final item of business from Tuesday's Prince Rupert City Council session found the city's council members exploring the background related to a proposed Housing agreement between the City and the proponent of a supportive housing facility on 11th Avenue East.

The property in question, known as 333 Trinity House,  is currently in the process of being rezoned to allow for the supportive housing facility, the proponent of the project hosted a public information session in early January.

It will still require a Public Hearing at City Hall, the date of which has yet to be announced.

You can review some of the background related to the application from our blog items below:

January 9, 2018  -- Supportive Housing proponent schedules information meeting for January 8th
December 8, 2017  -- Supportive Housing proposal for 11th Ave East moves on to consultation phase
December 4, 2017 -- Supportive Housing application for 11th Ave East property up for review at tonight's Council session

City Planner Zeno Krekic outlined the background to a Housing agreement
between the City of Prince Rupert and the proponents of a supportive housing
facility proposed for a location on 11th Avenue East 

The task of explaining the concept of the Housing agreement fell to City Planner Zeno Krekic who outlined the nature of the process for the proposed development, as well as the terms to the Housing Agreement.

Towards that overview he noted that, the arrangement will specify that the property be kept in good order and that residents do not engage in any conduct or behaviour that unreasonably disturbs the neighbourhood.

The City Planner added that the Housing agreement can be terminated should the owner not comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement.

Mr. Krekic noted that the agreement provides for a safeguard the proper use of the subject property and provides for a mechanism for termination in case of any failure to comply.

When it came time for questions from Council members, there were a number for the City Planner, as well as a number of observations on the process for the 11th Avenue Facility and how it may impact on other proposed projects.

Councillor Niesh observed that he considers the agreement a case of putting the cart before the horse, as the project has not even gone to Public hearing to this point.

Mr. Krekic advised that the agreement is required element,  as it it's a procedural step that assists in moving the process forward.

Councillor Thorkelson offered up her support for the project and observed as to how she would like to see a process put in place towards other potential supportive housing options for the community.

In reply, Mr Krekic provided an explanation as to the various housing descriptions and elements that the city has to consider when it comes to different types of zoning issues related to the different housing options.

He added that each separate situation would require a bylaw, and how council would have to use the same process.

He outlined how the Housing agreements are designed to ensure that the properties in question do not stick out and blend into the neighbourhood and offers remedies should any issues arise that could have the agreement cancelled.

Councillor Cunningham brought the discussion to a conclusion on the night by asking for an explanation of the different types of housing and how they would fit into the city's bylaw process.

Council then voted to give approval and first, second and third readings to the bylaw.

The presentation from City Planner Zeno Krekic and following discussion can be found from the City's Video Archive starting at the thirty minute mark.




The 333 Trinity House Recover program hosts this website, which outlines what the facility is going to offer and what it offers to the North Coast.

For more notes on the 11th Avenue proposal, as well as other items of interest related to housing see our housing archive page here.

You can find more items of interest from Tuesday's City Council session from our Council Timeline Feature and Archive of items from the February 13th session.

While a look at the Discussion topics from City Council can be explored on our Council Discussion page.


Cross posted from the North Coast Review