The City of Courtenay has taken steps to smooth the planning and development process at City Hall.
Courtenay Mayor Larry Jangula says in a press release he met with CEO Ron Coulson of the Silverado Group of Companies after the company ran a full-page ad in the Oct. 2 Comox Valley Record outlining the group’s decision to withdraw an application for a 31-lot subdivision on land north of Ryan Road.
The ad displayed a letter from Coulson to City CAO David Allen, cc’d to Jangula, and suggested the future of his company’s venture is being controlled by a few ‘Johnny-come-lately” bureaucrats.
Jangula says he met with key members of the development community and City staff, and “I am pleased to advise that the City has implemented new procedures intended to improve and streamline the planning and development process at City Hall.”
Jangula notes a staff Development Application Review Team (DART) has been created to monitor and oversee development applications on a regular basis.
“After meeting with Mr. Coulson … I believe we are on the right track to reducing frustrations they have expressed and solving their concerns,” Jangula added in the press release. “I am confident these changes will provide the much-needed positive framework for results that were previously lacking. We trust the new process and oversight team will provide them with more certainty when seeking staff’s services in the future.”
“I’m very supportive of what Mayor Jangula is trying to do at city hall and the changes he’s trying to make,” Coulson said.
Jangula notes the creation of an Advisory Economic Development Committee has also been suggested. It would be made up of key City staff, representatives from the development community and professionals “to provide a mechanism for continuous process improvement and ongoing regular dialogue between these key community stakeholders.”