A look at what the City of Whitehorse will be doing in the week ahead.
Meeting rescheduled for election
Whitehorse city council has rescheduled a meeting set for Sept. 20 to Sept. 21. Council members voted in favour of rescheduling the meeting Sept. 13 when the issue was brought up under new business.
As noted in the resolution, the date change will “facilitate the participation of council members and staff in the federal election.”
The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 21.
Zoning changes for development applications approved
Whitehorse city council has approved changes to a portion of the zoning bylaw dealing with development applications. Council members passed third reading of the changes, approving a wording amendment put forward by Coun. Dan Boyd. The changes are aimed at improving and streamlining the development permit process while also creating more clear guidelines around site grading and drainage for properties.
Boyd argued a number of the requirements could be onerous for those working on smaller developments. He proposed a change under the information required that includes any other “reasonable” information a development officer may ask for in addition to the long list of specific information needed on a development. The bylaw had been set to not include the word “reasonable”. Most council members agreed with the change, many noting it makes sense that such a request would be “reasonable”.
Mayor Dan Curtis was the only member of council to vote against that amendment, though he was joined earlier by councillors Laura Cabott and Jocelyn Curteanu in voting against another proposed amendment by Boyd. That amendment – which was defeated due to a tie vote – would have altered wording to make certain requirements “as applicable”. Cabott argued there could be many different views what should be applicable in various projects. Other council members – including Curtis – argued they had not had sufficiant time to fully review Boyd’s proposal and, therefore would not vote in favour of it. Boyd was joined by councillors Steve Roddick and Samson Hartland with votes in favour of that amendment, but it was defeated due to the tie vote.
The bylaw ultimately passed.
Cemetary cleanup set
The City of Whitehorse is reminding residents that crews will be cleaning up the Grey Mountain Cemetary as part of its annual maintenance before winter. It is asking that people remove any personal items at the cemetary for safekeeping ahead of Sept. 22 when the cleanup is scheduled.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com
