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Council moves forward with DVP amendment

Development variance permit now allows construction of a garage
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Jeff Rushton’s development variance permit has now been amended by council to allow for construction of a garage. (Eddie Huband photo/Lakes District News)

The Village of Burns Lake council approved an application from Jeff Rushton to amend his development variance permit. The permit will now allow for the construction of a garage.

Rushton initially made a plea to council in a Sept. 28 meeting not only apply to amend the permit, but also for council to waive the subsequent $300 fee associated with doing so due to miscommunications that taken place.

In the first permit application, Rushton had applied for the construction of a carport, which he decided to change to a garage after being told that a building inspector would have authority to approve the change. Upon doing so, he was told by council that he was in violation of his permit, and was not permitted to build a garage.

Rushton was denied the refund, but council motioned go forward with the application process to allow for neighbours to make a comment on the change from a carport to a garage.

In the most recent council meeting on Oct. 12, council approved the amended variance permit after receiving no push back from the neighbours.

VBL drafting new heritage protection bylaw

The Burns Lake Native Development Corporation (BLNDC) is requesting they be allowed to complete an exterior revitalization to the building known as the ‘Old Hospital’. The building was designated a heritage building by Village of Burns Lake Bylaw 443, 1979.

The issue is that the bylaw is referring to repealed legislation, meaning that it isn’t a working bylaw. Essentially, what this means is that if council chose not to rewrite it, then no construction work could be done on the building.

The village in theory would need to amend the bylaw, or adopt a new bylaw, to exercise its authority with respect to heritage protection and establish a procedural framework for permitting alterations.

This would allow council to define its wishes with regard to heritage conservation. Once the new bylaw is in place, BLNDC will be able to determine if their proposed project fits within the new guidelines of the bylaw or if they would require an alteration permit.

As a result of the discussions, council motioned to rewrite the bylaw.

Change the Non-profit Society Recovery Grant

Village council has made changes to the non-profit society recovery grant to allow for more applicants.

$45,000 still remains un-allocated in the relief fund. Council had discussions in a Sept. 28 meeting on how to put the remaining funds to good use, due to the fact that there has been a lack of applications.

READ MORE: Non-profit society recovery grant surplus in Village of Burns Lake

It was decided that eligibility requirements will be expanded to include organizations located within the Lakes District that provide programming for Burns Lake residents, as opposed to only organizations that fall within village limits. In addition, the fund will stay open until either Dec. 31, 2022 or until the money is depleted, giving organizations that applied in 2021 a chance to reapply.

Organizations that are outside village limits will be allowed a maximum grant of $2,000


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Eddie Huband
Multimedia Reporter
eddie.huband@ldnews.net
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