NANAIMO CITY HALL BLOG

Archive for October, 2011|Monthly archive page

Trick or Treat!

In CITY FINANCE, CITY GOVERNMENT, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 31, 2011 at 11:06 am

Ron Bolin:  October 31, 2011

Tonight is the goblins big night and at tonight’s Council meeting, we can find a belated report and draft bylaw for first and second reading on the topic: “REVITALIZATION TAX EXEMPTION BYLAW 2011 NO. 7143”, which fills their bill.  It is appropriate that this is Halloween.  This bylaw proposes to make motels and hotels that spend at least $2 million in either approved construction or renovation free from property taxes for up to ten years.  In effect, they come to council with their goody bag saying “Trick or Treat” and Council can, at their discretion, give them a treat from those they collect from you and I. Read the rest of this entry »

Peering into the Abyss:

In CITY FINANCE, CITY GOVERNMENT, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 30, 2011 at 1:07 pm

Ron Bolin: October 30, 2011

Tomorrow will be Halloween when ghosts and ghouls return to haunt the living and to demand their pound of flesh.  Examining the city’s financial information is a similarly haunting experience.  While our Council and Staff continue to add to our existing infrastructure at a rate of hundreds of millions of dollars in the last few years, the City discloses an overall infrastructure replacement estimate of $1,800,000,000 dollars. Read the rest of this entry »

Inclusive All-Candidates Meeting at Beban Park on November 10

In CITY GOVERNMENT, UNCATEGORIZED on October 24, 2011 at 10:07 am

PRESS RELEASE

Inclusive all-candidates’ meeting slated for Nov. 10

 A coalition of Nanaimo neighbourhood and community groups is hosting an all-candidates’ meeting on November 10 at Beban Park from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m, with an informal canddiates’ meet and greet session followed by a structured discussion. CBC Radio host Mark Forsythe will be the moderator of the evening.

Read the rest of this entry »

E-Day, the 19th of November. Just another day?

In CITY FINANCE, CITY GOVERNMENT, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 21, 2011 at 9:37 pm

Ron Bolin: Oct. 19, 2011

One month from today on November 19, the citizens of Nanaimo (and those who do not live here but do own property here) will have their final votes counted in an election which will bring the 25th Council of the City of Nanaimo to office.  In the meantime we are left to evaluate the possible future performance in that Council of 22 candidates for Council seats and 4 candidates for Mayor.  If past experience is any guide, the public will receive very little understanding of their backers, their issues, their desires, and how they propose to implement their objectives, let alone pay for them.  Read the rest of this entry »

Planning and Sustainability continued

In PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 9, 2011 at 3:57 pm
Daniel Appell:  October 9, 2011
More on sustainability.
I liked your question, yesterday; Is there more then one guiding principle to urban design then efficiency?
Well. . . always assume that health and safety are paramount. I hope you understand that I’m always talking about urban design assuming that health and safety issues are resolved.
Also, I tend to assume John Locke’s principles of property ownership. However, there is enough evidence from other parts of the world to suggest that these principles are not particularly necessary. China, for example, can build efficient cities without liberal principals of ownership.
Also, the notion that fascism was a particularly good system for building efficient form not correct. Read the rest of this entry »

Nanaimo Vision

In PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 7, 2011 at 1:37 pm

Gord Fuller: October 7, 2011

I attended the Nanaimo Community Vision Rally on the 5th and was quite impressed with the turnout, 250 plus. While primarily a business oriented group there were also representatives of a diverse number of interests as well as curious citizens. The speakers were quite good and the message that comes across, to me, in looking at a vision for Nanaimo is INCLUSIVENESS and how we can get past the barriers of Left and Right, Corporate and Social, have and have not.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vision Rally Tonight! (Oct. 5, 2011)

In PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 5, 2011 at 12:04 am
Angie Barnard:  Oct. 4, 2011

WHO – Organizers

The four independent, non-partisan people who organized the event are Kim Smythe, Andrea Rosato-Taylor, Donna Hais, Angie Barnard.  To keep ticket prices to a minimum for the general public, we got sponsorship from businesses & organizations who we know personally & could mobilize finances quickly, and that supported our mandate for the rally.

WHO – Keynote speakers: Ken Melamed and Mike Harcourt

Learn how Whistler, BC took a hard look at their future after the Olympics and decided – between businesses, city hall and the community at large – what they would become ‘after’ being acclaimed as one of the top luxury ski resorts in North America. Mayor Ken Melamed shares how they plan to achieve sustainability and how they developed the “Whistler 2020 Vision” and a program called ‘iShift’. What role did each partner play, who were the real leaders in the process, who will carry that torch?

Then, hear one of the world’s foremost experts speak on the success and sustainability of cities in today’s world. Read the rest of this entry »

A surfeit of Vision

In PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 4, 2011 at 11:53 am

Ron Bolin: Oct. 4, 2011

On October 5, Nanaimo finds itself caught in the battle of the Visions (or hopefully it will be the confluence of Visions) as the Community Vision Rally competes for our time with the Vision for Regional Growth presented by the Nanaimo Regional District.  It is greatly to be hoped that participants in both events will share the Visions which come out of these meetings.

On a personal note, I find it hopeful for our future that an independent group of local business and professional organizations is sponsoring one of these events. Those who remember the Vision of the Conference Centre and its role in community development may remember several well-known speakers on the topic which were sponsored by another independent group of citizens, FPN, the Friends of Plan Nanimo. For a city to have Vision, its citizens must have Vision. Vision is too important to leave to a Council and some civil servants.  Please plan on attending one of these events and then keeping track of them both.  To accomplish our goals we will need a shared Vision, something all too often missing in Nanaimo.

This blog will look forward to comments on these events from those who have taken part in them.

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Vision Rally Read the rest of this entry »

Planning Cities

In PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 3, 2011 at 7:46 pm

Daniel Appell: Oct. 3, 2011

In advance of the Harcourt rally for a vision for Nanaimo, Wed. Oct. 5 @ the convention centre. I wrote out some thoughts on the process of planning. In Nanaimo there are three types of planners:
The schemers – a small number of citizens develop a list of wishes based on their particular small set of interests,  add a architect’s rendering or two to dress it up, and call it a vision for Nanaimo to sell it to the rest of the city. The idea is to get everyone else to pay for whatever it is that they want. They’re like children with a christmas wish list, and everybody else is supposed to play Santa Claus.
The Not-in-front-of-my-view-and-not-in-my-backyarders – this type doesn’t get active until they perceive a threat to their little corner of the city. Typically, they  are really only interested in being left alone. If there is a problem, let some other neighbourhood deal with it. For the most part, if there is a plan, they’re against it until its proven that the plan undoable. They’ll support only the undoable plans or the undoable parts of plans.
The city hall planners – like rats in a maze, they’ll go down any random corridor hoping to get to the cheese. Read the rest of this entry »

Nanaimo’s Recent Tax Sale

In CITY FINANCE, CITY GOVERNMENT, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT on October 1, 2011 at 9:13 pm

Ron Bolin: Oct. 1, 2011

It may be appropriate for the City to assist homeowners who live in their homes and have been unable to pay their property taxes for three years to give those owners an extra year to come up with those taxes by purchasing them in a tax sale.  But what about those who use the system as a means of relatively cheap financing for their business ventures?  I do not know which other of those properties the City saved from private sale are rental properties or speculative land developments.  I do know that two large pieces of the Cable Bay/Oceanview development are among them.  While it may be in our community interest to assist live-in homeowner citizens with an extra year at minimal cost, do we owe the same compassion to out-of-town landlords and developers?

The properties in immediate question are 1170 and 1270 Phoenix Way and lie immediately below Joan Point Park.  Read the rest of this entry »

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