The City of Cranbrook has revised its previous boundary expansion proposal from 2019, which now only includes three properties that want to be incorporated into City limits.
Last October, Cranbrook put forth a proposal to bring 18 properties into the City. Following their required consultation with the landowners, only two of the 18 were in favour of the boundary expansion.
(Supplied by City of Cranbrook)
“Given the results and in consideration of the Provincial guidelines that generally requires majority of the landowners to want to participate, planning staff has had multiple discussions with staff at the Provincial Ministry to look at potential options to pursue an alternative proposal,” reads the City Council report.
Since their consultation another property owner had since changed their mind and informed Cranbrook staff in August 2020 that they too would like to be incorporated, leading to the revised proposal to the B.C. Government.
“The revision addresses the fact that there’s three homeowners that want to be brought into the City,” said Mayor Lee Pratt. “Two of the properties are most likely going to result in subdivisions, and again it will be more houses built to provide tax base to the City.”
Those two property owners were both in favour of the original proposal. According to the City, they have both stated intentions to develop their parcels of lands and considering either mirroring the subdivision across 17th Street South or subdividing the land into five one-acre lots.
(Supplied by City of Cranbrook)
Mayor Lee Pratt said the revised proposal allows those that didn’t want to be incorporated to stay out of City limits while permitting those that wanted to join to be accepted, should the B.C. Government approve the proposal. As a result, the 15th Avenue cul-de-sac will remain unaffected for now.
“Those people, when they were asked to come into the City, of course with the increase in taxes, they were vehemently against it but the other people are fine, they want to be able to do it,” Pratt told MyEastKootenayNow.com. “They’ll still remain a cul-de-sac within the City but not paying taxes to the City, and eventually, down the road, that will have to change.”
Pratt did express some disbelief as to how 15th Avenue isn’t incorporated into Cranbrook, seeing as they aren’t “rural” properties in his view.
“The 15th Avenue cul-de-sac, it’s crazy, it’s surrounded by the City now, it should be in the City and eventually it will have to happen. Maybe the City’s just going to have to expropriate that into the City limits,” said Pratt. “I mean these people are right in the City, using all of the amenities the City provides, it’s not like the residents who are further out in Gold Creek that, sure they use the City and they drive on the roads and that, but they’re rural properties. 15th Avenue is not rural property.”
(Supplied by City of Cranbrook)
Continuing discussions with the B.C. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Cranbrook staff feel they proposal should be accepted, despite the uncommon circumstances.
“A revised proposal was drawn-up to include only those properties wishing to come into the City and the intervening roads and submitted to Province for feedback,” reads the Council report. “Provincial staff indicated while not conventional, staff did not have any major concerns in principle with the proposed approach.”
Cranbrook City Council approved the following motion to set the stage for the boundary expansion:
“THAT Council approve the City of Cranbrook proceeding with the proposed amended 4.8 ha, three (3) parcel boundary expansion proposal as shown on the attached map; and further, that staff be authorized to develop, sign, and submit the proposal to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.”
Following City Council’s approval of the motion, Cranbrook staff will now have to complete the required consultation with the RDEK, First Nations groups, and the Ministry of Transporation and Infrastructure to have their comments included in the proposal to the Province. If the B.C. Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing approves the revised boundary expansion, the City of Cranbrook would have to seek “Electoral Approval” either with a vote or an Alternative Approval Process (AAP).
MORE: Proposed Revised Boundary Expansion – 17th Street South (City of Cranbrook)
