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Weyburn city council’s ‘litmus test’ raises issues

Weyburn Review editorial

The first meeting of Weyburn’s city council since the civic election saw an extended discussion on a contentious issue that was not resolved before the election, namely the application to locate a liquor store beside Calvary Baptist Church on First Avenue NE.

Mayor Marcel Roy called this a “litmus test” for the new council, and in some ways it could very well prove to be just that, including the introduction of the concept of a “slippery slope” in municipal politics.

There were a number of issues tied up in the application for the development permit for the liquor store, including the fact that the developer wants to have a warehouse in the back. The name of this area was changed to “stock room”, but its use will still be to warehouse liquor products and distribute them to various licensed outlets in the city.

The big problem with this intended use is that it is not a permitted use, nor is it even a discretionary use for the zoning of that property. This aspect was not really dealt with by council, and by a 5-2 vote, the application for the development permit was allowed to go ahead.

Tied in with this stock room part of the development is that the back of the building will be used for delivery of products to, and from, the store.

The planning and development coordinator, Janine Fletcher, took great pains to state, over and over, that she feels this permit application should have been denied, and cited many reasons to back her decision up. One of the big reasons is that the city-owned buffer zone is in the back of this building, and the alleyway would be used by the big delivery trucks and is not built to a standard that can handle big trucks.

In addition to this issue, there were objections raised by two churches adjacent to this property and by a resident, and Coun. Dick Michel took note of these. He and new councillor Dr. John Corrigan voted against the permit, noting the many issues raised by the application and by neighbours, all of which seemed to go by the wayside to make this development possible.

Mayor Roy complained about having the buffer zone, claiming it was a relic of the 1970s that isn’t relevant any more, but Coun. Jeff Richards properly pointed out that the zoning bylaw is there for a reason. If it’s wrong, it can be changed, he said, but otherwise it needs to be respected.

All of the members of council supported positive economic development in their respective campaigns, but this permit application raised some relevant issues that cannot be ignored or overlooked.

As Coun. Richards said, if something needs to be changed, then change it, but you can’t just run roughshod over the bylaws that are in place to guide city council.