Another Official Community Plan amendment is up for debate tonight as council prepares to vote on third reading of a proposal to redevelop land next to the airport.
However, following the marathon session of two weeks ago, tonight's meeting is expected to be a much shorter affair with the proposed amendment allowing for a site specific change to the property at 4330 Giscome Road.
A public hearing on the application to redesignate the land in the Blackburn area from rural resource to service commercial takes place at 7 p.m. in council chambers.
Currently, the land - which is already hooked up to city water and sewer services - houses vacant and abandoned greenhouses.
"This application will provide a number of local and service commercial uses that are complimentary to adjacent residential," said planner Mandy Stanker in a report to council. "The proposed zone will incorporate uses that are low in scale, intensity and will provide a mix of employment opportunities for this area."
If council approves third reading, the planning department has also recommended that final reading be withheld until a traffic impact study is complete as well as a servicing brief to ensure the current city water and sanitary infrastructure can accommodate the proposed new uses.
Another OCP amendment being introduced tonight would allow the continued use of commercially zoned properties across the city.
The change is included in a rezoning application for Shooters Sports Bar on Ospika Boulevard to permit an indoor occupant load of 175 people.
The current occupant load of 125 people includes all patrons, staff and entertainers, a staff report explains, and the increase would allow for a "more flexible variation in staffing and entertainment without limiting patron numbers."
In the city's OCP, the Ospika Boulevard property - currently zoned as commercial - is designated as having a future use of light industrial. However, the document has a policy under the Neighbourhood Corridor section that lets properties already zoned as commercial when the OCP was adopted to keep their zoning.
The proposed change would remove that policy from it's current section of the OCP to the Future Land Use general section where it would apply more broadly.
Council will also be asked to authorize the closure of the railway crossing at Willow Cale Forest Road. The crossing was constructed in 1971 and the city acquired it as part of the 2007 Willow Cale Road dedication.
However there is also another level grade crossing at the intersection of Boundary, Pacific and Sintich Roads, immediately beside it. The federal Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities is recommending the closure of the former, and is offering a $20,000 to cover the costs to the city to do so.
