Councillors who braced for a marathon public hearing session last night were instead surprised by the lack of interest.
On the docket housing projects and the city’s marijuana regulations.
Mayor Ken Christian says the legal cannabis issue drew flies.
“We had anticipated based on the public hearing we had back in December that there would be quite a long session with a lot of input. But actually last night there was only one speaker that spoke on actual changes to our business licence bylaw.”
Councillor Kathy Sinclair says she too was surprised.
“I went in there with an open mind ready to hear all of that but because we didn’t hear from anyone I felt comfortable going ahead with that change.”
The city is imposing a 16-hundred dollar application fee and a five-thousand-dollar business licence cost for prospective marijuana business owners.
Sinclair says the people who did attend were more keyed in on housing projects like Spirit Square.
“The bulk of the questions were regarding the properties on Royal Avenue, which were voted on last night to move ahead with five single family properties.”
Royal Avenue recently in the news due to a couple of police incidents including a stand off triggering some evacuations.