City of Fernie Secures Grant Funding to Improve Development Processes

The City of Fernie has successfully secured $171,875 in funding through the Local Government Development Approvals Program to fund improvements to the development application and approval process, bylaws, policies, and communication tools with the goal of increasing the diversity and number of attainable housing units in Fernie.

Following the completion of the Housing Needs Assessment, Council approved staff’s application to this fund to review the Land Use Application and Fees Bylaw, Subdivision Servicing Bylaw, Zoning Bylaw, and to establish and improve formal processes for applications and their review and approval.

“We are excited to have secured funding for this important work,” says Mayor Ange Qualizza, adding, “We’ve seen record year after record year of building and development in Fernie. We’re proud of how staff have handled that challenge and recognize that updating these critical bylaws and streamlining our processes will help ensure we’re able to do our best to manage growth for the benefit of the community.”

This project also advances a Municipal Lands Disposition Policy to serve as a roadmap for developers to engage and partner with the City on projects that meet identified community needs.

“We are beyond excited to have received this grant funding,” says Manager of Planning Derek Cimolini. “Our team works hard every day to turn around applications as soon as possible, however, the volume of applications, paired with older bylaws and a lack of readily available information for prospective applicants often results in less-than-ideal timelines. The work to be completed under this grant will help us to streamline our processes, update critical bylaws and provide valuable education to the development community.”

Work on this project is expected to begin late 2021. The City of Fernie thanks the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for providing funding for this program and the Union of BC Municipalities for approving funding for this important project.