Trees, child care, rental housing and flood protection are just some of the topics up for discussion at this week’s round of meetings at Richmond City Hall.
All committee and council meetings can be live-streamed on the city’s YouTube channel.
General purposes committee (Tuesday, April 6)
The general purposes committee meeting will decide whether to endorse a target annual revenue of $30 million by 2031 for the drainage and diking utility, to help speed up improvements to Richmond’s flood protection program, ahead of projected sea level rise. The city’s current annual revenue for the drainage and diking utility is $13.4 million.
Finance committee (Tuesday, April 6)
An analysis found businesses in Richmond continue to carry a heavier tax burden than residential properties. While only 8.5 per cent of properties in the city are classified as “commercial,” they pay about 34.6 per cent of all taxes in Richmond. The analysis is one of the items on the agenda for the finance committee meeting.
Planning committee (Wednesday, April 7)
Richmond’s planning committee members will vote on adopting the proposed 2021 – 2031 Richmond Child Care Action Plan, under which the city would aim to add around 3,700 new care spaces within 10 years.
The owner of the Richmond Night Market is applying for a three-year permit renewal to allow the market to take place in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Market dates for 2021 are dependent upon COVID-19 and B.C.’s public health restrictions.
An agreement to secure 33 market rental housing units, proposed for a development at No. 3 and Williams roads. One hundred per cent of the development would be made up of rental units, including 8 studio units, 11 one-bedroom units and 14 two-bedroom units.
Proposed changes to the city’s Tree Protection Bylaw, including making homeowners replace all trees they cut down, a 2:1 replacement when new single-family homes are built, and increasing tree removal fines.
