Path towards future development in Prince Rupert gets a makeover as Council moves forward with New Standards and Specifications Bylaw

The City's Approving Officer Richard Pucci outlined some of
the features of a new bylaw towards property development 

The City's Approving Officer, Richard Pucci provided some background for Council on Monday night towards his request seeking the first second and third reading towards the City's Subdivision and Services Bylaw.  

In his outline he observed how the current guidelines date back to the late 1980's early 1990's and that standards and other elements related to development have changed since that time, including provincial wide standards that could be used in Prince Rupert as development prospects improve.

"We now know that there are Master Municipal Contract documents that are pre-done for a lot of British Columbia municipalities. These are used widely throughout British Columbia municipalities, it's kind of the Gold Standard and we would like to adopt them as our standards and specifications moving forward.  We are looking at Development in the community and we need to make sure that all of it is done through the right standards" -- City of Prince Rupert Approving Officer Richard Pucci

City Manager Rob Buchan provided some further background to the topic, noting of the extensive work on modernization that has been done by staff on the proposed changes to date and how it would set the stage for a supplementary standards plan for their desires for the downtown area, highlighting how it is part of the renewal process that Council and staff wishes to take on.

"I just want to acknowledge the amount of work that went into this, this is a significant modernization and a significant effort by staff to bring this forward. It's also the first step in getting it so that we can bring a Supplementary which would be for our downtown standards. So we had to upgrade the base subdivision bylaw before we could contemplate developing standards specifically for our special character areas of the downtown. So this is a part of the renewal effort that we're working on" -- City Manager Rob Buchan

The discussion on the future got sidetracked somewhat as  Councillor Cunningham focused some of his concerns related to past issues on laneway access and other neighbourhood themes and if the proposed changes was a revise of that. 

Mr. Cunningham speaking to the days of the past of  maintaining standards on lanes noting how the City had stopped doing that during the tough years of recent civic history. 

That was a topic that they discussed extensively in the fall, when they were considering a Local Services Taxation plan, a project since then that they apparently have shelved for now.

In response towards those comments, Mr. Pucci observed that there have to be general standards in place, though noting of some discretionary elements that are available on issues of note, the Operations Director observing of the varying levels of concern where those areas may be. 

He followed up on the theme by highlighting how the proposed changes were more towards new developments that may be coming to the community in the future.

For his part Councillor Mirau thanked staff for their work and noted of the satisfaction he finds in repealing and updating outdated bylaws, noting as to how it was one of the recommendations of the Small Business Development Action plan years ago.

Towards the bylaw under consideration, Mr. Mirau asked for some clarification on themes of Development  Agreement and a few of the elements of the new wording toward that area, particularly focused on the inclusion of the need for security in the amount of 125% of the estimated cost of the required works.

The City Manager picked up the theme of Development Agreements and outlined how the new bylaw would work towards  development and creates a formal mechanism for it. 

"One case is when a developer wants to get titled lots, first for marketing purposes and the subdivision isn't completed or won't be completed in time. So it allows the development industry to advance their timeframe for actually selling parcels and we allow that to happen before final subdivision occurs,  before all the work is done I should say, by use of the Development agreement. We have certainty that the works will all be done in time because we have the quality. But the formal mechanism to allow all of that to happen is the Development Agreement"  -- City Manager Rob Buchan

He also provided some background as to how the Prince Rupert model compares to communities on Vancouver Island and the Lower mainland.

"I can't answer how it actually compares in the region I can say that the 125% is absolutely common standard throughout Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. And it's based on making sure that the city isn't short if there is a failure of the developer to complete the works. They provide an estimate of the works but there can be cost escalation, there can be unexpected costs. The 125% ensures that the taxpayers aren't left holding the bag on that" -- City Manager Rob Buchan

Once the discussion was exhausted Council then carried the motion with the first three readings.

You can review Mr. Puuci's report to Council below, the full documentation towards the Bylaw can be reviewed from the City Council Agenda package.

click to enlarge

You can review the discussion to the topic from the City's Video of Monday's Council Session starting at the 30 minute mark.

More notes on the Monday Council Session can be explored from our Council Timeline feature.

A wider overview of Council's work on planning themes can be reviewed here.

While background on some of the past Council Discussion themes is available here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.