Requests smoking area be moved
City of Powell River council will be sending a letter to owners of Town Centre Mall requesting that the smoking area at the north end of the shopping centre be moved away from the loading area for city buses. Although the current designated area is the correct distance from the mall’s doors, it was noted that the area was still within the six metres of the opening of bus doors and therefore a violation of the city’s smoking bylaws.
Gives development zoning readings
At its meeting on Thursday, March 2, city council gave first and second reading to changes in the city’s zoning bylaw that will allow for development of single-family homes near Oceanview Learning Centre. The development is notable in that a bald eagle’s nest is in its centre and the developers, following federal guidelines, redesigned the layout of the lots to provide the required buffer for the nest. A public hearing on the zoning amendments will be coming up, though a date has yet to be set. The development will also be the first in the city that includes a community amenity contribution from its developers to the city’s affordable housing reserve fund.
Supports students’ union campaign
Mayor Dave Formosa will pen a letter to BC advanced education minister Andrew Wilkinson putting the city’s support behind efforts of BC Federation of Students and Vancouver Island University Students’ Union to reinstate provincial funding for adult basic education upgrading courses. Representatives from the students’ union made a presentation to council’s committee of the whole meeting last month. Universities and colleges around the province began charging tuition for the previously free adult courses courses in January 2015.
Hears concession lease recommendations
City staff is recommending council approve a five-year lease renewal for the Willingdon Beach concession, but has reservations about the leaseholder’s plans to build a patio there to serve alcoholic beverages, according to a presentation by chief financial officer Kathleen Day. The concession’s long-term lease expired on December 31 of last year. Since then, the city has administered the lease on a month-to-month basis. If council supports establishing a patio, the city would have to amend zoning to allow for a restaurant inside the park, said Day. Staff told council’s committee of the whole that it does not support the sale of alcoholic beverages at the location due to the close proximity to the park’s playground and campsite.
