By Erin Knutson

The City of Fernie is on its way to becoming a municipality that can provide accessible housing for its citizens as it embarks on a development approvals enhancement project to help remove barriers to construction and permits.

“The city’s Development Approvals Enhancement Project is now underway, working to streamline the way development and building permit applications are processed and approved,” said city staff.

According to City Manager of Planning Derek Cimolini, who is working with McElhanney Ltd., the firm awarded the contract, these funds will help expedite the process.

“City staff underwent a grant application process from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) for funding towards the Local Government Development Approvals Program (LGDAP) in 2021,” he said.

The application was successful, and Fernie was awarded $171,875 toward the project.

“This UBCM grant-funded project aims to remove barriers to attainable housing by accelerating the construction of homes people need,” said Cimolini.

Cimolini is working with McElhanney Senior Planner Brad Elenko through a four-phased approach, including stakeholder input, public engagement, First Nation’s consultation, planning engagements, and consulting with biologists, engineers and other experts to ensure its efficacy as it’s rolled out.

Key components of the project include enhancing customer service through technology and automation and developing a handbook or guide for community use.

“We want to redefine the process after determining how it works; the handbook will be developed with internal staff and community. We want to create useful tools for everyone in the community after a careful needs assessment,” said Elenko.

The ‘Let’s talk Fernie’ hub is accessible for public input.

In addition, a series of in-person workshops have been completed, and one-on-one interviews, online surveys, and questionnaires to strengthen data collection are part of Elenko and the city’s communications strategies to enhance this initiative.

“Collaboration and working closely together to get things done, meeting with local housing societies and determining what constraints exist and how we can build that into the process are what we are determining,” said Elenko.

The city was officially awarded the contract in June 2022, and the work is gaining traction.

“I applaud everyone on their openness and candor. This is a great first step in an interactive process, so thank you for that,” said Fernie Mayor Nic Milligan.

e-KNOW file photo

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