Rezoning sees rare split vote at council
By Castlegar Source
More than 20 people showed up for a public hearing Monday night on the rezoning of a property on 21 Street just off Columbia Avenue.
The property is the proposed site of a new two-storey building to house J.J.’s Fashions, but residents expressed concerns that the street is too narrow to allow proper traffic flow.
“There were concerns about that, but the developer will be required to widen the road,” said Castlegar Mayor Lawrence Chernoff. “Some residents also felt they didn’t get adequate notification.”
Councillors Kirk Duff and Deb McIntosh voted to hold off on the third reading of the rezoning bylaw to allow staff more time to gather information regarding traffic flows and parking issues at and around the site.
“It’s just due dilligence to make sure we have all the information,” said McIntosh.
In a split vote, however, which is extremely rare for Castlegar city council, the two were rebuffed two-to-four and the third reading passed.
“We didn’t want to delay third reading because it might have delayed the entire project for a month or more,” said Chernoff. “This way, we still have time to get more information before the bylaw is adopted, but it shouldn’t slow the construction process.”
Council will consider the bylaw for adoption at their next regular meeting on Oct. 18.
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