BOWDEN — A meeting held July 8 in council chambers to consider rezoning land — including the old Lions Community Hall — to allow 26 apartment units in that facility was invalid because the process to set it up was done incorrectly, according to chief administrative officer Greg Skotheim.
So the whole procedure will be done all over again.
On July 22, council will consider giving first reading to a bylaw to allow the proposed rezoning of that property. If first reading is passed, then during that same gathering, council will set a date for a public hearing on the matter to hear input — pro or con — on the proposal from local residents.
About 10 local residents came and voiced their concerns during the July 8 meeting. Those concerns were:
* That the development could attract low income residents, some of whom might commit crimes when the area already has a fair amount of crime.
* That there won't be enough parking available. That's already a problem, they said.
During an interview with Mountain View Publishing, Skotheim said the problem is that first reading was given to a bylaw to rezone the land during a Municipal Planning Commission meeting, instead of in council.
Skotheim said that problem will be fixed during the July 22 council meeting.
"We're going to start over again and we're going to do it the right way this time," he said, noting that if the rezoning bylaw receives first reading at that time, then a date for a public hearing will be set.
Skotheim was asked if the concerns raised by members of the public are still legally valid, given the fact that proper procedure wasn't followed.
"I don't know the answer to that question. You know, unofficially we'll take those into consideration of course," he said.
"It just makes sense to me that for sure we would take those concerns — and concerns we have coming forward in the future, we would take them forward."
