Author: Joy Adams Bauer

Dear Nanaimo Old City Neighbourhood residents and businesses,

The Nanaimo RCMP Community Policing Program invites you to complete a survey that will help gauge levels of safety in our neighbourhood.  This survey is a first step in the Neighbourhood Safety Audits Initiative.  

Dates have not yet been set for the Safety Audits.  However, completed surveys will help to identify areas in our neighbourhood the audit should focus on.  Dates will be set in the upcoming weeks.

The survey for the Old City Neighbourhood can be accessed directly by entering this link into your web browser or clicking here: https://questionnaire.simplesurvey.com/f/s.aspx?s=d6403d38-a6fb-4494-9fe6-5911813e89d2

The survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes of your time and all responses to the survey will remain confident and anonymous. The Nanaimo RCMP Community Policing Program thanks you for taking the time to participate in this survey as it will further improve their ability to work with various neighborhoods in Nanaimo.

*if you would like a paper copy of this survey please call 250-755-3163

For more information on the Neighbourhood Safety Audits or to register for our Neighbourhood’s Safety Audit please go to:  https://www.nanaimocpvolunteers.ca/neighbourhood-safety-audits/ or call the Community Policing Coordinator at 250-755-3163 or via email at christy.wood@nanaimo.ca or christy.wood@rcmp-grc-gc.ca. 

BC Housing is proposing to build 51 new permanent homes with supports for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Nanaimo. These homes will be built at 285 Prideaux Street, which is currently home to the Community Services Building owned by the City of Nanaimo.

BC Housing invites input from residents of the old city on the design of the landscaping and the exterior finishes of the building. You can learn more at  https://letstalkhousingbc.ca/nanaimo-285-prideaux-street

The survey will remain open until January 6, 2021.

NOCA members elected a new Board of Directors at our AGM on October 19, 2020. Serving you for the 2020/2021 term:

Joy Adams Bauer, Diane Caldwell-Demon, Chelsea Challis, Erin Chaba, Anna Mosolov, Mayta Ryn, Barbara Schreiber

Mark your calendars for our Annual General Meeting to be held via Zoom on Monday, October 19 at 7 pm.  All paid up members will receive the Zoom invitation a few days before the meeting.  We are not charging membership dues for the coming year which means all current members will remain as members for 2020/2021.

Help elect your new Board of Directors, learn about development in the old city and about Re-imagine Nanaimo.

The City of Nanaimo has responded to NOCA’s letter of May 25, 2020 to the planning department re the development permit application for 388 Machleary Street. You can read the response here.

You can view the development permit application here.

Thank you to those neighbourhood residents who provided comments on the Development Permit Application for 388 Machleary Street.

NOCA sent the letter below to staff in the planning department who will consider our comments and communicate back with the applicant.  Once the application has been reviewed by internal departments at the city (including the Engineering and Transportation Sections), planning staff will follow-up in response to the questions posed in the letter.

NOCA’s response letter

The City of Nanaimo has informed NOCA that an application has been made for a development permit for the property at 388 Machleary Street.  The proposed development is a 14,484 m2 seniors congregate housing facility with 149 units.  The property is currently zoned for this type of development.

Additional information regarding the Development Permit process is posted on the City’s website: https://www.nanaimo.ca/property-development/development-applications/development-permits

According to the current CS-1 zoning, seniors congregate housing means “a residential or institutional facility which provides sleeping units or dwelling units for persons all of whom are aged 65 or older, one or more meals per day and housekeeping services, contains a common dining area with a capacity sufficient to accommodate all residents of the residential facility, and may contain accessory personal service and accessory convenience store uses.”

City planning staff do not anticipate any variances with the development. A variance is a permit required to vary things like building setbacks, height, or parking requirements.  The City’s review process will be focused on the design (form & character) of the building and site. This means NOCA may provide comments on the design (form & character) of the building and site.  You can find the application (including drawings and landscaping) online at https://www.nanaimo.ca/WhatsBuilding/Folder/DP001185

As a resident of the old city, you are invited to provide feedback on the design.  NOCA will collect the feedback and share with city planning staff. Please forward your feedback to NOCA by May 18th.  Thank you!

As we all learn how best to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic that has gripped our world, let’s remember to look out for one another.  The NOCA Board of Directors reminds you to keep an eye on your neighbours while remembering social distancing precautions.  Follow the advice of health professionals. Check the links below.

Public Health Agency of Canada

BC Centre for Disease Control

Scotch broom is an aggressive, alien invasive plant. It spreads quickly, crowds out native plants, & is a serious fire hazard. 

Broom removal isn’t that hard.  It is not that difficult to get rid of broom.  Most plants die when cut properly at ground level. Broombusters’ website gives all the information you would need to eradicate broom from your property and area.  You can do it!    www.broombusters.org.

The presence of invasive plants brings down property values & impacts health and safety.  Let’s do our part of minimize the impact of invasive plants in our neighbourhood!

The Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society (NAHS) has contacted the Nanaimo Old City Association (NOCA) about a housing project NAHS is proposing on Prideaux Street (close to Comox Road).

The Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society was recently bequeathed five small walk-up apartment buildings for seniors (62 units) in this area of the old city. The buildings are at the end of their lives and in very poor condition.  NAHS is proposing a 130 unit 6-storey building to replace four of the buildings on the east side of Prideaux, and a second 5-story building with 40 to 44 bachelor suites to replace the building on the west side of Prideaux.  These buildings would house a mix of tenants including low income families, singles and people with disabilities in the larger of the two buildings and single individuals in the bachelor units on the small site at 66 Prideaux.

NAHS plans to apply for funding from BC Housing in the spring of this year to fund the project.  The project requires an amendment to Nanaimo’s Official Community Plan (OCP) to rezone the properties from their current lower-density to a higher density, multi-unit residential. The OCP amendment is to have the NAHS parcels of land included with the adjacent Urban Node district to create a more contiguous land use area and shift the Urban Node District to the natural boundary of the train tracks and green area to the west. Comox Road is currently designated as an “urban arterial road”.

If funding is secured, NAHS will engage with NOCA, the City and BC Housing during the design and construction of the buildings.

The Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society presented their ideas to the NOCA Board on January 20, 2020 and received general support from the Board for the project.  The Board wishes to gage the views of NOCA members and residents in the old city about the proposal.  Please send any comments by January 31 to info@nanaimooldcityassociation.ca

Any questions about the project will be sent to NAHS for response.