Village of Pemberton (VOP) council voted to approve the Hillside Development Standards report presented at its April 21 regular council meeting.
Planner Joanna Rees' report was created with several goals in mind, including to avoid development on unstable or hazardous sites while protecting wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation options, managing storm run-off, considering projects' visual impacts and complementing Pemberton's hillside character.
While creating the standards, staff analyzed existing policies in Squamish, Kelowna and Nanaimo.
The report notes that the standards are intended to be used as best practices as opposed to being regulatory, adding that they will generally be implemented during subdivision and rezoning stages in an application.
While the standards themselves won't be directly enforceable, Rees notes that council can create policies and bylaws to support the guidelines such as: incorporating the goals and objectives into the Official Community Plan (OCP); creating a Hillside Development Permit Area (DPA), which would consolidate existing DPA policies that apply to hillside areas and could allow the Village to require applications materials such as a landscaping or grading plan; creating site-specific hillside zoning, and; updating Hillside Road Development Standards, including adding technical standards regarding retaining walls and site grading.
After public consultation, which included a survey, a letter from the Pemberton Off-Road Cycling Association and Pemberton Valley Trails Association, request for comments from hillside strata managers, and an email from Stewardship Pemberton, the planners amended the document with some changes, such as including habitat protection and preservation in the landscaping section, as well as adding a trail-preservation section.
Council identified creating hillside standards as a priority in March of 2019 and saw draft guidelines at Committee of the Whole and regular meetings in November.
Manager of Development Services Lisa Pedrini said during the meeting that her department has already taken the standards into account when considering relevant applications.
"When we are reviewing subdivision applications, at the initial development services review, we will be using the guidelines, basically, to make recommendations based on how subdivisions are being laid out," she said. "As well, when we receive development permits for environmental protection and land constraints ... we also will be using the guidelines to review that application.
"It is a very useful tool, even though at this point, it's not regulatory."
As an example, Pedrini noted that the department is looking at an application for preliminary site grading and is applying the guidelines during its analysis of the application.
Cycling Network Plan approved
Council also voted to approve the Village of Pemberton Cycling Network Plan on April 21, which has been in development since October and was supported by the Provincial BikeBC Infrastructure Fund.
Victoria-based Urban Systems Ltd. was selected to put together the plan, which eyes making cycling a "safe, attractive and convenient transportation option for people of all ages and abilities" in the Village.
The five steps of development included: assessing the village's current cycling conditions; holding a "day of learning" with stakeholders from the Pemberton Valley Trails Association, Pemberton Off-Road Cycling Association, Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, the VOP operations, administration and development departments, as well as interested members of the public; preparing a draft of the network and policies; engaging the community; and creating a final network and policies.
The plan recommends 45 segments be improved into one of three options: a neighbourhood bikeway; a section with buffered and painted lines; or a multi-use path. Sixteen sections are defined as high priority and are recommended for completion in the next five years, while 17 are defined as medium priority and targeted for completion in five to 10 years. The remaining segments are low priority and can be done in 10-plus years.
In addition to upgrades to paths and roadways, the plan also includes recommendations for bike parking and other end-of-trip facilities such as bike-repair stands, changing rooms, showers and storage spaces.
The total project cost is estimated at $7.39 million, with high-priority sections comprising $1.02 million of that total.
"These cost estimates are based on retrofitting an existing right-of-way with a bicycle facility or installing a new multi-use pathway on an existing Village-owned property with minimal additional surface preparation and grading required," the report stated. "Any required land acquisition, structures, traffic control devices and further engineering studies have not been included in the cost."
In addition to using VOP funds, the report suggests other funding sources include: leveraging transportation improvements through the development process; tapping into provincial and federal programs such as the Active Transportation Infrastructure Funding program; the Federation of Canadian Municipalities-managed Green Municipal Fund; ICBC's Road Improvement Program; and community groups and programs.
"This should be implemented through an opportunistic approach, so a variety of funding mechanisms will likely be required for the plan's implementation," Rees said in her presentation.
Coun. Amica Antonelli asked whether the report should be altered to consider cyclists who access One Mile Lake via Highway 99, and if council should try to negotiate with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) to improve the shoulder.
"The map shows that the preferred route is to take the trails through the forest and go on the east side of the lake, but I think that doesn't really acknowledge what a lot of people actually do is cross the highway without a safe crossing and then come up the highway," she said. "There are a lot of people who go to the beach via the boardwalk on the west side of the lake, but that doesn't function very well because there's not a lot of area to pass.
"I think it's important that in this plan, we acknowledge that a connection between Creekside, the Pemberton Creek area, and the One Mile Lake beach along the highway is really important."
Pedrini responded, saying it was by design that cyclists are discouraged from accessing the lake via that route.
"In our One Mile Lake Master Plan, we actually tried to avoid people using that connection across the highway," she said. "We did think about taking away that connection because there is no crosswalk."
Pedrini added that a connection across Highway 99 is possible, but noted that connecting to the former road leading to the back of the One Mile Lake Nature Centre would be a safer route.
Responded Antonelli: "While we may want people to use the east side of the lake, that's safest, that's not what a lot of people are going to do."
Coun. Ted Craddock added that highway access has long been an issue and pondered constructing a trail off of the highway to make the journey safer, especially if a crosswalk is later installed.
Coun. Leah Noble, meanwhile, asked if it would be possible to install an underpass at the Pemberton Creek bridge.
CAO Nikki Gilmore said the VOP has been in touch with MOTI for a decade regarding upgrading the bridge, but it's been cost prohibitive to this point.
"The answer was it would be roughly $1.5 million, only because the grade to reach the height of a new bridge would have to come from the PetroCan and Creekside and have quite a bit of an increase," she said. "I would suggest that the same would have to happen if we were to put an underpass under that. It would have to be even higher."
All told, council voted to approve the plan as presented, with Mayor Mike Richman praising the document's thoroughness.
"I like the fact that a lot of it is centred around the trail assets that we have and making them more useful," he said, noting that the VOP should keep an eye out for smaller grants to get some of the projects done.
Craddock added that he and other seniors often volunteer on trails, and that could be an opportunity to complete some of the work.
The full report is available here: https://www.pemberton.ca/public/download/files/114031.
Bylaw Dispute System
As the VOP continues to implement a Bylaw Notice Dispute Adjudication System, it approved a new policy for screening officers on April 21.
The policy allows for a screening officer to cancel a bylaw notice for several reasons, including if:
- the notice was issued to the wrong person;
- the vehicle involved had been stolen;
- an exception to the bylaw applies;
- the bylaw itself does not apply;
- the bylaw changed since the notice was issued and no longer applies;
- the person receiving the notice attempted to comply with the bylaw but faced mechanical issues or there was a data-entry error;
- the person broke the bylaw for a health and safety reason such as a medical emergency;
- the Village has inadequate evidence to prove that the bylaw was broken, the issuing officer relied on incorrect information when issuing the notice, the bylaw itself is ambiguous or poorly worded, or the notice was completed improperly; or
- if it is not in the public interest to proceed with enforcing the notice, such as if the person receiving the notice was permitted to act in contravention of the bylaw or if the person was in the midst of a personal tragedy.
Elysia Harvey, the VOP's Legislative Assistant for Corporate and Legislative Services, said during the meeting the screening officer tasked with any complaint will come from a relevant department.
"Staff members will be assigned as screening officers as appropriate," Harvey said. "For example, if there was a disputed bylaw notice related to our building bylaw, it would likely be the manager of development services or a building official that was appointed as the screening officer in that case."
Harvey confirmed that the bylaw enforcement officer issuing the ticket is prohibited from serving as the screening officer in the same case.
After Coun. Ryan Zant asked if there would be a wage increase associated with the duties, Manager of Corporate and Legislative Services Sheena Fraser confirmed that there would not.
"It's just formalizing the process that we actually have been using internally for the last number of years," she said.
Harvey noted that the VOP reached out to both the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and the Resort Municipality of Whistler about sharing the cost of an adjudicator if a dispute progresses beyond its internal system.
