Sechelt council asked staff at its Sept. 8 meeting to develop a five-year renewal of the business improvement area (BIA) bylaw for the Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA) using the existing bylaw boundaries. The current bylaw expired this year. It collects funds for the operation of the SDBA from properties included in the bylaw area.
Corporate officer JoAnne Frank noted the SDBA executive has asked that in any new version, commercial properties that do not have an active business be charged the same levy under the bylaw as a property with one business licence. This was being done, she said, to ensure that empty storefronts are levied the tax, which was not the case with the past BIA bylaw.
She also explained that the bylaw would be presented for three readings and then subject to a counterpetition process where impacted property owners can object to the bylaw. If the number of objections received does not meet an established threshold, the bylaw will be sent to council for adoption.
Frank noted the SDBA’s business promotion scheme, a description of how the funds will be used, will form part of the bylaw. Council requested that staff invite the SDBA executive to deliver a presentation on the scheme when council gives first consideration to the bylaw.
Grizzly Lane
The meeting also saw three readings of a bylaw to designate a previously unnamed road in West Sechelt as Grizzly Lane. The property at 6737 Norwest Bay Rd. would have its address changed to be on the new road.
The owners of that property applied for the naming to pay homage to their encounter with a 19-year-old 850-pound grizzly bear at the site in 2016. The lane is a spur route off Acorn Road, created by the development of the Bounty subdivision earlier this year.
