92 replies to this topic

[HarrisonGreene]

Are we expecting a new design proposal?

[2F2R]

Add it to the long list of proposals that go nowhere .... groan !!!

[DavidSchell]

Add it to the long list of proposals that go nowhere .... groan !!!

 

I have reached a few times to council asking why when a project seems to be going no where they are not reaching out to the developer and asking what can "WE" do to help move this along.

 

They like to talk about a housing crises, but appear to be more concerned with restricting car access to downtown business.

[Mike K.]

It’s an active proposal, but the developer isn’t in a rush. It’s a legacy project.

The design is very nice.

[Nparker]

It’s an active proposal, but the developer isn’t in a rush. It’s a legacy project....

All the more reason the city should be doing what it can to get this project moving forward.

[corvus]

What sort of action do you propose the city should take to "move this forward?"

[downtownlurker]

What sort of action do you propose the city should take to "move this forward?"

 

Agreed. The bias here always seems to be it is the city being the barrier at every step. Can we say that with absolute certainty for every single development proposal? There are a lot of steps/bureaucracy for sure, but this is just speculation. A LOT has changed over the last year. We've had a rapid BoC rate increases, and developers are re-assessing plans and changing projects to make them feasible in the current environment. I may be going out on a limb, but I would argue this Council in it's short time has been pretty good at putting it's money where it's mouth is to get housing built, with respect to what is in their control and within reason, whatever parking or other issues aside. Judging from what we've seen and how it has been positioned, I think this is an economically challenging project, in an environment that has changed dramatically since it was first introduced. But what do I know.

[Mike K.]

The City is a fairly big impediment, that is true. I’m working a few files right now and it’s not easy going, compared to other municipalities.

This is why council introduced the motion to put aside committee feedback over summer. Council wants things to move along without delay, which developers say is costing them huge sums in carrying costs as they navigate challenges on the planning side.

[Nparker]

If the CoV council is serious about impediments over the summer, then why are they not meeting after August 3^rd until September 7^th?

[Mike K.]

It’s ok to take breaks. City Hall tends to empty out in August. But we do have a problem with bureaucracy, to the point where even below market and rental projects are really dragging, but were supposed to have been fast-tracked.

[Nparker]

So if council was already going to be taking a 5 week break why was it necessary to suspend required committee processes over the same period?

[Mike K.]

It wasn't to suspend them to not accept their input, it was to continue moving forward while at least one major committee council hears from awaits a decision on recruitment of members, so effectively there is no committee at the moment, but council needs to hear from the committee. So they implemented a work-around to try and not delay projects.

[Nparker]

So council's 5 week break won't delay any projects?