Zoning bylaw rewrite special council meeting hears resident concerns

After two years of work, including community coffee meet-ups, an open house, mailouts and various other outreach methods, Revelstoke’s zoning bylaw rewrite is in the final stretch. But there’s still a ways to go before Revelstoke’s largest zoning rewrite gets a yay or nay.

Community members still want answers about Revelstoke’s parking future and protecting historical buildings and neighbourhoods. Those topics were the main focus during a Thursday, Feb. 20 special council meeting that was open to the public to get one more chance to voice feedback, questions and concerns with council members and city staff.

“I do walk around town, but I still have two vehicles I have to park somewhere,” one resident shared, adding that a property near their home is frequently used as a seasonal rental and tenants all bring their own vehicles to town even if they too mainly walk or bike around Revelstoke.

“I don’t think walkability is a reason to make no consideration for parking,” they added. 

While concerns around future parking developments, questions about why some properties were zoned the way they were and other community comments were the focus of the evening, some attendees took time to thank city staff for the culmination of two years of work.

“You’ve done outreach with the public in a way that the Chamber has never seen in this capacity that we know of from the City of Revelstoke,” Caroline Lachapelle, Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce executive director said, addressing thanks to Paul Simon, Revelstoke’s lead planning and development services staff and his team for numerous emails, meetings and more with Revelstoke’s business community while working on the zoning bylaw rewrite.

“It’s really great to know that after many years of the public asking for transparency, this type of behavior is now a standard in the city of Revelstoke.”

After a collective two hours of community feedback and council follow-ups, Mayor Gary Sulz asked Simon how to best address issues and possible solutions. Simon advised council to put forward individual resolutions that staff and council could then address and strategize for before voting on each one.

“We’re only at first reading right now,” Simon said. “It’s a good time to make some necessary changes if council deems it appropriate.”

Depending on how extensive the list of amendments are, another public hearing could be triggered for a later date before the zoning rewrite bylaw is up for the final vote.

Coun. Matt Cherry put forward a motion to push back the next time the zoning bylaw rewrite is on the council agenda, aiming for an end-of-March deadline. Cherry commented that he would need at least another month to work through possible amendments with staff before the zoning bylaw is brought before council for the next reading. 

Council voted unanimously for the motion, giving staff and council another month to work through community feedback. While Sultz notified the public that council can no longer accept additional submissions and information regarding the rewrite from residents, comments and questions can still be directed to Simon or to the general city communications email to be forwarded to staff members.