City of Terrace blazes a trail for local governments towards themes of information sharing

Plans for development in the Kenney and Keith Avenue area
of Terrace have become a key conversation point in that city

The City of Terrace is not shying away from what has become a contentious local topic of late, providing for an impressive amount of background on the proposed Inland Port project in the community.

The introduction to the plan by Progressive Ventures to make use of the land highlights how it would become a hub for economic development and support the downtown core.

This NSD Inland Port and Developments plan envisions the 4800 Keith Avenue property becoming a hub of economic activity that supports and complements other developments and a vibrant downtown core. 

The northern portion of the property will become a transportation hub, hosting a transload facility and additional rail infrastructure adjacent to existing CN rail. The southern portion of the property will be mixed use and will host a variety of commercial and light industrial businesses, institutional uses and possibly residences. 

Together, the improved transportation and trade connectivity and service offerings will make the northwest, and specifically Terrace, a more attractive place to do business

The project will improve cycling and pedestrian transportation along the Keith Avenue corridor. The proponent anticipates contributing land and funding to pedestrian and cycling sidewalk/pathway upgrades along Keith Avenue. The new pedestrian and cycling infrastructure will provide connectivity to the Sande Overpass and downtown for both the area residents and employees of new and existing businesses.

The location of the terminal is being noted as one which would give Terrace industry and suppliers opportunity to benefit from both the Port of Prince Rupert and the Port in Kitimat and take advantage of the activity at those two shipping points.

The plans to develop the inland terminal in the Keith Avenue area of the city has certainly captured the interest of Terrace residents and towards providing for a pretty fulsome overview, the City of Terrace has compiled all of the information for the proposal to allow for as wide an overview as possible.

The City of Terrace prospectus on the plans includes the timeline to date, notes on the Next Steps to come regarding the project which will feature an Open House for the public and a Public Hearing related to the plans.

Also part of the information package are all of the Council reports on the theme, the documents submitted by the Applicant and a range of associated Civic planning documentation related to the proposal.

The Terrace approach is a well developed relay of information and would make for a good template for other communities to make use of. 

It would certainly have been a welcome format to use back when the City of Prince Rupert reshaped the future for Watson Island.

A period of recent time when we received some promotional notes from the City of Prince Rupert but where actual tangible information related to the workings of the Watson file was limited, and still is today as things move forward out on the Watson Island site, with few in the way of updates on what's happening being delivered of late.

You can review how Terrace rolls out their information program here.

More background on themes from Terrace Council can be found on our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.