City of Prince Rupert seeks public comment/feedback on PRPA plans for temporary use of land on Park Avenue

Prince Rupert City Council is seeking comment from those
who may be affected by  temporary use request from the
Prince Rupert Port Authority for land along Park Avenue

Members of Prince Rupert City Council will be looking to the public to provide some feedback on a request from the Prince Rupert Port Authority to make temporary use of some land along Park Avenue. 

With the application seeking use of the land for a period of up to two years now under consideration.

The topic was introduced to City Council as a late addition to their July 20th City Council session and did not generate much in the way of discussion from the city councillors on the night.

At that session, the city's corporate administrator Rosa Miller outlined that the port would be using the land as an area of preparation of lands and subsequent operation of an off dock container facility.

The land in question is part of the large parcel of property that had once been identified as a potential residential area, though those plans of a few years ago never gained much momentum and now appear to have been abandoned as the developer of the time departed, the property one which was recently put up for sale.

As we outlined on July 23rd, the Prince Rupert Port Authority is currently investigating the lease and potential purchase of the vacant property on the western end of Park Avenue, providing a glimpse of a concept for a buffer zone between port related activity in the Fairview area and the residential areas adjacent, as well as to enable for complementary light industrial use. 

That potential proposal however is a bit far off into the future, for the more immediate period of time, the two year temporary use proposal is up for review by Council and they will weigh their decision on the feedback received.

Towards that the city has called for all persons who believe the interests of their property are affected by the temporary use permit to provide for comments to be read aloud and considered at the August 24th Council session.

With the City's planning office currently vacant and no Planning Director on staff, Corporate Administrator Rosa Miller appears to be the person to talk to related to the proposed land use topic.

Any written submissions must be received by her office no later than noon on August 24th, you can forward your submission to the City of Prince Rupert at City Hall, 424 3rd Avenue West, Prince Rupert V8J 1L7 or electronically to rosamaria.miller@princerupert.ca

Those wishing to review more information on the PRPA application for temporary use of the land can contact Ms. Miller at 250-627-0934 for more details on how they can inspect the documentation.

The call out for public comment isn't exactly a loud one, so far the only notice of the opportunity to provide feedback has come from the back pages of the weekly newspaper, where only the really devoted readers of the local publication may have stumbled across it.

For whatever reason, these types of civic advisories never seem to be added to the city's growing list of information streams; whether they be the official city website or the social media pages for the City of Prince Rupert or that of the Mayor.

The lack of a larger call of notification and for active community engagement is something which  perhaps may impact on the amount of comment that the Council members receive on such issues, and perhaps should be a theme for discussion for city councillors to take up at their only public meeting of the month on August 24th.

For more notes related to past City Council discussion themes see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.