New Board of Directors elected

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

AGM on Monday, October 19 at 7 pm

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.

City of Nanaimo response to 388 Machleary letter

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.

NOCA’s response to 388 Machleary Development Permit Application

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

388 Machleary Street Update

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!

Being a good neighbour in uncertain times

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

Broombusters & Nanaimo City Parks Reaching Out to You!

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!

Affordable Housing project proposed for old city

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.

New Board elected at AGM

Over 30 residents attended our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October 21.  Memberships were renewed and a new Board was elected.  If you haven’t renewed your membership, it’s not too late! Please consider becoming a member of NOCA and supporting your local neighbourhood association. You can print the application below and either scan it and email it to info@nanaimooldcityassociation.ca, pop it into the mail or drop it in our treasurer’s mailbox. Thank you!

Membership application

OCP Amendment Fails

City Council voted 6-3 against the bylaw to amend the Official Community Plan (as requested by the Molnar Group and recommended by city planning staff) at the Public Hearing on October 9, 2019.

The staff report presented for Council’s consideration, “an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment application to amend the land-use designation within the OCP from Neighbourhood to Corridor, to amend the text of the Old City Neighbourhood Concept Plan, and to concurrently present for Council’s consideration a “City of Nanaimo Zoning Bylaw 2011 No. 4500” amendment application to rezone the subject property from Community Service One to Comprehensive Development Eleven to develop a 175-unit multi-family development.”

Councillors Bonner, Brown, Geselbracht, Hemmens, Maartman and Thorpe voted against the OCP amendment bylaw.  Mayor Krog and Councillors Armstrong and Turley voted in favour.