New season of events and activities
September is the start of a new season of events and activities. There are seven CBM community events in September. All but two are at the community centre. One exception is Pride Parade on Sunday, September 2. The other is Trivia Night on Thursday, September 13, which is held at Joyce on 4th. More details are elsewhere is this newsletter including the Community Calendar. More information is posted on our website www.cliffbungalowmission.com closer to each event. Join your neighbours and help make this another successful season.
Cannabis Information Session
You no doubt have heard that retail sales of recreational cannabis will be legal on October 17. We are aware of several applications for retail outlets in our community. You may have seen signs in our community for proposed locations. As this is something entirely new, we are holding an information session on Tuesday, September 25. A person from the City will be in attendance who will explain the regulations and the process for considering these applications.
Our community association did identify one significant concern in regard to the regulations. The initial regulations prohibited visibility into these stores e.g. windows would be required to be opaque. This is a major safety problem both to those wishing to go into these establishments and to those working in these establishments. We sent a letter to our MLA Kathleen Ganley who is Minster of Justice and to our two City Councillors, Evan Woolley and Jeromy Farkas. We have since received word that this regulation will not be required.
We are celebrating two Milestone Anniversaries this Year
We are celebrating 40 years as an incorporated community association this year. Incorporation date was November 29, 1978. We are also celebrating 30 years operating out of the former Cliff Bungalow School. We got into our space in September 1988. Our community centre is really the hub of community activity in our community. We are recognized as a happening community with many activities.
Proposed Development at 25th Avenue and 5th Street SW
Our community Planning and Development Committee met with the applicants on July 25. We expressed our concerns. These concerns reflected what we have heard from residents and in two previous community-wide consultations.
Ultimately there will be a Public Hearing of City Council to approve or not to approve the Land Use change that is required in order for what is proposed to be built. This means this will be a political decision. This could be this fall or in the new year. When the public hearing is scheduled, there will be an ad in a Thursday paper before the hearing. Anyone interested can submit a letter prior to the hearing and can speak for 5 minutes at the hearing. We will keep you informed as we find out when that is going to happen.
The current Land Use is M-C2 with a height limitation of 16 metres and a FAR (Floor Area Ratio) of 2.5. They are applying for Land Use District MU-1, which allows a height of 45 meters and FAR of 7.5, so around three times the current approved Land Use. While we support increased density and the Area Redevelopment Plan supports increased density, historically the number one development issue in our community has been height. This was confirmed during the review of the Area Redevelopment Plan and during the two community-wide consultations in recent years. This proposal does not respect this widely held position.
Looking for Some Good People for our Community Association Board
The next Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday, November 21. One of the things we need to do before then is to recruit some new people for the Board. One of the positions we need to recruit is Treasurer. The Treasurer has an important oversight role. The formal accounting is done by a contract person but an understanding of this would be an asset. We currently have a vacancy in the Vice President position. This is another important position. The person in this position could take on or help in any number of community activities. The third major position we need is a new person as Social Director. As you know our community is very active and we need someone to coordinate these activities. Think of this position as dealing with the fun side of community activities. We also could add one or two Directors at Large who take on special projects and help with others. Are you up to helping this community continue to flourish? If you are interested in exploring any of these opportunities, please contact me at [email protected].
