By Steve Hubrecht
Efforts by the Village of Radium Hot Springs to address the growing issue of people living long term in hotels and motels in the community took a sharp turn last week.
Radium council adopted a bylaw amendment with new definitions of hotels, motels, short-term rentals (STRs) and tourist accommodations in late February. The new definitions are meant to make it easier for the village to ensure that different types of building codes are being followed where they ought to be.
But during the Tuesday, March 10 Radium council meeting, mayor Mike Gray used a relatively little known part of the B.C. Community Charter to ask council to reconsider its adoption of those new definitions. The part of the charter is section 131, and it allows a mayor to require a municipal council reconsider a matter on which it has already voted.
Gray wanted council to revisit the issue so that more Radium residents have a chance to give public input into the official decision making process.
“There are some people who have some important things to say, but who were not aware of their opportunity (for public feedback),” explained Gray. He emphasized he wants to make sure all residents have their say and, consequently, to “make sure we (the village) get this right.”
Council agreed to reconsider the issue, but not before a fair bit of procedural confusion about the ins and outs of a formal mayoral reconsideration request. The meeting even paused for about 10 to 15 minutes, while village staff attempted to clarify the issue and the exact legal status of the previous bylaw amendments.
The matter will be discussed further at a future committee of the whole or council meeting. Council also will decide at a future meeting whether to start the public consultation process for the new definitions over again, or whether to roll it into upcoming public consultation on Radium’s OCP update.
