A notice of motion brought forward by Coun. Gaynor Levisky during the July 13 council session was unanimously passed, which will allow for those maintaining plants/small garden plots at the Cochrane Cemetery to continue to do so until the bylaw is updated.
The NOM directed administration to suspend section 15.1 of the ‘Cemetery Bylaw 08/2010’ until a Cemetery Master Plan and bylaw update is finished.
Until this is completed (the plan will be before council this fall and if approved, is estimated to be implemented sometime next year) the town will not be removing any current plantings/landscaping or preventing people from planting in the cemetery.
Cochrane’s parks department had been instructing those maintaining plantings at the cemetery to comply with the bylaw (that states no plantings are permitted unless confined to planters and placed on the headstone) to remove their plantings by July 19; while some individuals have already complied, others have not — expressing a desire to maintain their plantings as part of the healing process, until the town’s beautification plan for the cemetery was underway.
While Mayor Ivan Brooker and Coun. Ross Watson expressed some concerns over the message sent by suspending a bylaw, the decision was unanimous as all councillors agreed that the decision was only temporary and would be unlikely to have any consequences that could not be easily rectified (through the removal of plantings upon plan implementation).
According to Suzanne Gaida, senior manager of community services, it is common practice in most municipalities to not allow planting in cemeteries and to require visitors to keep flowers in secured pots; this is because it is difficult to prevent the spread of plantings onto other grave sites and to control the spread of noxious weeds.
Two public hearings regarding land use bylaw amendments to Bylaw 01/2004 are to be held at the Aug. 4 council session.
The first reading for Bylaw 16/2015 was met with unanimous approval, as it clarifies setbacks for accessory structures (garages, sheds) from property lines should be 0.61m for multi-residential homes.
The first reading for Bylaw 13/2015— seeking clarity on appropriate private parking, private walkway and private driveway designs — was mostly met with approval.
The bylaw seeks to prevent people from parking on their lawns or to pave over lawn areas to accommodate additional parking needs and to ensure people are only parking on hard-surfaced driveways that would match the number of stalls in the garage the driveway leads to.
Widening of driveways would require a development permit.
Coun. Morgan Nagel expressed some concern that these bylaw amendments would be counter-productive to Cochrane’s problem with affordable housing.
Nagel felt that encouraging additional vehicle parking on private properties should be left up to the homeowner, who may require additional spaces to accommodate children living at home longer, roommates or the rental of accessory suites.
Council approved a request from Cochrane Society for Housing Options (CSHO) to use $60,000 out of its reserve fund (sitting at $68,000) to help secure the purchase of 13-two bedroom affordable housing units being built at the Sunset Ridge Trading Post site.
In order to retain the rental rates of the units at a level that meets the provincial affordable housing guidelines (at least 10 per cent below market value) CSHO will finance any outstanding amount for the purchase of the units through a mortgage; provincial funding covers a maximum of 70 per cent of the capital cost and CSHO has been actively fundraising to cover the balance.
The funding request from the town puts the non-profit in line with the maximum amount it can mortgage ($485,000 can be mortgaged and presently $485,197 is required, following the $60,000 from the reserve).
Total project cost is over $2.84M and, to date, CSHO has received $2,295,680.
The town has also agreed to include a property tax grant to CSHO based on the occupation date of August of around $460 per unit (totaling $5,980).
Coun. Jeff Toews expressed concerns over the need for CSHO to come up with ‘some different ideas’ and was reassured by chair David Gamble that a new five-year plan was in the works.
Coun. Mary Lou Davis said it’s key, moving forward, to ensure the right people are residing in the town’s limited affordable housing units (including the 21 HomeStead Building units and the additional four units managed by the town) — as these units are meant to be transitional and not long-term housing solutions.
Several councillors expressed a desire to have further conversations with members of CSHO to tackle the affordable housing dilemma in Cochrane.
The temporary washroom trailer deployed by the town July 8 for the summer months (north of the railway tracks, along Fourth Ave.) is now estimated to cost $11,000.
The original estimate was $15,500.
Councillors expressed a strong desire for the town to work with neighbouring businesses to ensure tourists and shoppers are aware of the location.
