By David F. Rooney
With the public information meeting about the proposed highway mall set to be held next Tuesday, Councillor Connie Brothers attempted to convince Council to postpone the public hearing which is to follow that event until January.
Brothers believes Council is moving too fast on the highway mall issue and that so much information is being amassed that she and the rest of Council need more time to study it.
“I wanted to bring a motion forward to put off the public hearing and the third reading with respect to the Trans-Canada Highway development to January,” she said at the beginning of the meeting.
Brothers also wanted a discussion regarding the format for next Tuesday’s public information meeting, which runs from 7 pm until 9 pm at the Community Centre. You can hear Council’s discussion at about the 35-minute point on the video.
The City assembled all information regarding the proposed mall in a binder that is accessible to everyone who wants read the paper version. You can also click here to view it online.
Meanwhile, Hillcrest Hotel General Manager Norm Langlois appeared before Council to express the concerns of the Revelstoke Accommodation Association regarding illegal vacation rentals.
“What we’e asking for is a level playing field,” he said in a presentation that begins at the 3-minute mark on the video below.
He said a recent RAA survey suggests there are approximately 65 illegal vacation rentals operating in town. RAA realizes that increasing numbers of vacation rentals are applying for business licenses and it welcomes their decision. “With entities becoming legal and contributing to licensing fees at (5,200 per year plus S10 per room) the city could generate $512,000 to $520,000,” Langlois said, “and, if you consider fines of $5,250 to $5,500 per illegal rental, it could be $516,000 to $532,000 in fines alone.”
Peter Nielson of RMR’s Sutton Place also appeared before Council to report that the resort is unveiling an 11-acre terrain park with 20 jib features and a range of jumps. While skier visits last winter were down by about 5%, lift ticket sales during the summer were up about 4%. Extensive summer brushing has improved many runs and RMR has acquired an additional snow cat, which should help improve the quantity and quality of grooming this winter. You can watch his report starting at the 17.05 point on the video.
You can activate the YouTube player below to watch Council’s discussion of Brother’s motion to postpone the hearing, starting at the 44-second point and the :
