MUNICIPAL POLITICS
CBRM council news from Tuesday’s meeting.
CITIZENS ON THE MOVE If Rick McCready has his way, more and more Cape Breton Regional Municipality residents will in the future be employing human-powered transportation such as walking and biking.
The senior municipal planner, who oversees the CBRM’s Active Transportation Plan, provided council with an update on what’s been accomplished since its inception 10 years ago, and what new projects might be in the works.
In his hour-long presentation, McCready acknowledged recent successes, including the Whitney Pier Community Heritage Trail, Greenlink Trail system, Westmount Walking Loop, George Street (Sydney) bike lanes, paved shoulders on the SPAR Road and the establishment of the Maryann Corbett Trail. In terms of the next five years, he said proposed projects include paving the shoulders of the New Waterford Highway; sidewalks for the west side of Kings Road in Sydney River; building the Battery Park Connector from Open Hearth Park; phase 1 and 2 of the Sydney River Multi-use Path to Downtown Sydney; and phase 2 of Glace Bay’s Renwick Brook tunnel.
Other future possibilities include a rural trails strategy; Trans Canada Trail work from North Sydney to George’s River and the Devco Rail Trail (Gardiner Road to Tower Road).
MUNICIPALITY MARKS AFRICAN HERITAGE MONTH
Council has passed a resolution recognizing February as African Heritage Month.
Introduced by veteran councillor Jim MacLeod, the proclamation encourages CBRM residents to participate in related activities and celebrations, and to take the time to reflect on the story of Nova Scotia’s vibrant African community.
While the special designation is recognized internationally, it should be noted that many black immigrants came to Cape Breton after the establishment of Sydney’s then state-of-the-art steel plant. They mostly came from Barbados, Grenada, St. Vincent, Guyana and other Caribbean locations and settled primarily in Sydney’s Whitney Pier community.
The theme of this year’s African Heritage Month is “Our History is Your History”.
CROSSING GUARDS OFFERED FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT
Council has approved a tentative contract with the municipality’s school crossing guards.
The five-year deal includes a 50cent raise retroactive to July of last year. The proposed contract also offers annual pay hikes of two per cent, two per cent, one per cent and two per cent starting in July.
Once ratified by the union, the contract will see the crossing guards, who are under the jurisdiction of the Cape Breton Regional Police Service, make $12.93 per hour.
MINI HOME BAN LIKELY TO BE LIFTED
The CBRM’s ban on mini homes in certain urban areas may soon be coming to an end.
Council’s general committee has approved a staff recommendation that a public hearing be held to debate proposed changes to the CBRM’s Municipal Planning Strategy and its Land Use Bylaw that would allow for mini homes, also known as mobile homes or trailers, to be situated in urban areas where their presence would be deemed suitable.
Planning and development director Malcom Gillis told the committee that a public participation program on social media garnered 380 responses, 81 per cent of which considered mini homes as an acceptable residential dwelling building type.
Presently such residences can only be found in long-established mobile home parks, rural areas and in parts of Sydney Mines.
Council is expected to set a date for the public hearing at its regular monthly meeting next week.
CBRM CLEANING UP ANIMAL ODOUR AND NOISE BYLAW
CBRM staff has drafted a proposed bylaw to deal with smelly and noisy animals that are kept on municipal properties.
According to CBRM planning and development director Malcolm Gillis, numerous complaints about “persistent and incessant” odors and noises over the past few years have shown a need to introduce clear and effective rules governing the odours and noises of non-traditional pets. He said there is no present bylaw concerning animal odors and that both the Crown’s prosecution office and Cape Breton Regional Police Service have determined that the municipality’s noise bylaw is ineffective.
The draft proposal states that it is not to be authoritarian and that “with the adoption of this bylaw the CBRM is embracing the keeping of livestock animals anywhere in the municipality with very few exceptions.
Simply put, non-traditional pet animals can be kept on a property, but only if their presence does not result in offensive odors or excessive noise.
Violators will be fined with the amount increasing with the number of violations.
Council will schedule a public hearing on the matter later this month.
MUNICIPALITY TO INTRODUCE NEW RULES ON SHARED DRIVEWAYS IN RURAL AREAS
The CBRM’s planning and development department is looking to implement new provisions that would put an end to neighbourly squabbles over shared driveways in rural parts of the municipality.
On Tuesday, council’s general committee approved a motion to proceed with a public participation program on the matter.
According to CBRM planning director Malcolm Gillis, concerns over shared driveways include the fact that they are not constructed to any engineering standard and are not the responsibility of either the municipality or the province. He also noted that shared driveways can lead to civic address 911 emergency mistakes that are potentially dangerous and that current provisions requiring each new lot parcel to have the option of its own driveway are unrealistic.
Gillis explained that the high number of shared driveways in the CBRM is partially due to the long rectangular shape of Nova Scotia’s land grant system and the high cost of road and driveway construction.
Proposed changes to CBRM’s planning strategy, land use bylaw and subdivision bylaw include a provision that would require all property owners serviced by a shared driveway to enter into a maintenance agreement.
CBRM OWED $18 MILLION UNPAID PROPERTY TAXES
The CBRM is continuing makes strides in recovering some of the estimated $18 million in unpaid property taxes.
Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Campbell says municipal coffers are now beginning to benefit from the creation of a new position two years ago that focuses entirely on collecting taxes that are in arrears.
While acknowledging that some property owners will never pay what they owe, she says early intervention is helping others keep their tax payments up to date.
“It’s a lot easier to catch up on one year of taxes than, say, three years,” said Campbell. “And, we’re now seeing a significant number of accounts going on pre-authorized payments.”
Accounts owing must be outstanding for three years before they go to the tax sale process and they must go through three times before they go to the tax sale auction.
The CBRM held a tax sale auction in December when it sold off 55 of the 129 properties up for grabs.