Engagement process update

The muddy waters of the Nelson recreation campus engagement process could be clarified Thursday night, particularly how it relates to the proposed housing project on the property, says the regional manager of recreation and client services.

Trisha Davison said at the Recreation Commission No. 5 meeting Wednesday morning in an update on the process that the goal of Thursday’s meeting (6 p.m., Prestige Lakeside) is to continue the educational bent of the project and talk more about some of the key things the regional district staff have heard so far.

“So there is some grand confusion about the housing project, so that will be a topic of conversation that the City of Nelson will be presenting tomorrow night,” she said, “as well as how recreation is provided, because there is a difference between the City of Nelson and the regional district model.

“More or less it is to help people understand where we are at and help people become educated and trying to provide insights into the project.”

Phase two is the crux of the project with an online residents’ survey that begins later today, followed by a perspective survey on user groups. Phase three (January) — entitled “a path forward” — will share engagement findings with the community and gather community reaction to the findings.

In February, the final report is expected to come out, to be shared with the recreation commission, RDCK board of directors and City of Nelson council.

The proposed project

An affordable accommodation project is being proposed for the regional district property adjacent to the Nelson and District Community Complex.

The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) board of directors approved a letter of support for the project on Aug. 15 — with the understanding that needs assessment/feasibility analysis work must be completed as the project progresses — after ensuring development on RDCK-owned land aligned with community need and was grounded in “solid reasoning.”

Called the Front Street Affordable Housing Project, it first took shape in Fall 2023 in response to the BC Housing call for affordable housing development proposals. Nelson Cares Society (Nelson Cares) and Share Housing participated in a series of meetings — facilitated by the Nelson Area Economic Development Partnership — to advance local projects.

After identifying possible locations for affordable housing — the City of Nelson owns five vacant lots at the corner of Front Street and Cedar Street — Nelson Cares made it known it was particularly interested in these lots which have a combined area of 0.26 acres.

In June, the City passed a resolution to provide $5,000 in financial support from the affordable housing reserve fund to Nelson Cares to support a “pre-feasibility study of 818 to 824 Front St. subject to the application being supported by the Housing committee and in consultation and support from the Recreation 5 commission.

The RDCK owns the land that the NDCC is located on — the total lot size is 3.76 acres — but there is an undeveloped portion of RDCK land adjacent to the City of Nelson lots, approximately 0.13 acres, which was of interest to Nelson Cares.

In June, conversations were initiated about a potential collaborative housing and recreational development that would combine the land into an approximately 0.39-acre parcel. One month later the Rec. 5 Commission passed a recommendation to support, in principle, the pre-development to determine the feasibility of a potential workforce/below market housing project.

Verbal update

Davison told the commission the engagement project has had three very well attended community meetings to date.

Through that starting point the regional district staff had a singular question that was put out to people to gather some initial feedback on anything that might be top of mind.

As a result, the regional district has received 425 submissions but no conclusions have been drawn nor has the data been consolidated at this point, Davison related, but it will be.

“But certainly we are paying attention to the commentary to-date that has been formed out of the public meetings … as well as the survey that will launch later today,” she said.

The regional district will also employ a “pop up” at the Nelson and District Community Centre (NDCC) between 12-4 p.m. on Thursday where people can ask NDCC staff any questions they might have, as well as promote the public engagement process and how people can get involved. The RDCK will be back on Dec. 4 at the Kootenay Co-op (12-4 p.m.) for another pop up opportunity.

There is a challenge thrown at the process due to the postal strike, said Davison, since one of the avenues of promotion the regional district would have used to remind people that the engagement was ongoing was through a mail drop opportunity.

“But we know there’s some wonderful buzz out there, so that’s really great to see and for all kinds of reasons. So, right or wrong or indifferent, they are there," she said.