City census details to be released
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on June 27, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com How many people call Lethbridge home?According to the City the answer is . . . to be announced on Tuesday afternoon in council chambers.
City Clerk Bonnie Hilford will provide council with a verbal presentation on the 2023 census results at its meeting which starts at 1:30 p.m.
The City conducted its 2023 census from April 1 to 23rd. It was the first municipal census taken since 2019 when results showed Lethbridge had a population of just over 101,000 people.
Hilford’s announcement will be perhaps the most newsworthy item of interest to residents on a fairly light agenda.
The census provides the City with data that serves various purposes. That information can be used to:
• Help the Municipality understand immediate and future needs.
• Plan for recreational spaces, community facilities, roadways, maintenance and equipment, emergency services, waste management, schools, infrastructure and more.
• Assess existing growth and service targets as well as long-term requirements for capital development and operational planning.
And it’s also used by various facilities, organizations, industry and social profit sectors and other levels of government.
In the consent agenda is a recommendation from the Cultural and Social Standing Policy committee calling for council to direct administration to provide it through that SPC with quarterly updates on the implementation of the Shelter Development Strategy.
The SPC is also asking council to have administration work with the province and any current or potential shelter operators “to identify capital and operational funding sources for temporary and permanent shelter development on City owned land that
will adequately address the needs of those who are difficult to house.”
Two bylaws will be getting first reading today. One is land use bylaw amendment for 1304 6 Ave. S., the purpose being to preserve the existing building as well as allowing a range of permitted commercial and residential uses.
The applicant wants to move an existing women’s clothing store to the property and preserve the building and its history.
The second bylaw to be addressed is No. 6408, a bylaw to amend Traffic Bylaw 5834. The purpose is to implement the harmonization of school and playground zones which was previously approved by council on May 16.
Two public hearings are scheduled for today at 3 p.m. after council conducts its business.
Bylaw 6402 calls for a land use bylaw amendment for a property located at 618 6 Ave. S. This will allow the single detached building at the property to be converted to personal services use to allow for a massage therapy spa business. Single Detached Dwelling would remain as a permitted use to allow for future flexibility.
A second hearing will be held about the property located at 1730 10 Ave. S. This bylaw amendment would change the land use classification from Direct Control Existing to Direct Control New.
The applicant, CONCEPT Investment Partners Ltd., wants to continue the uses allowed in the existing DC Bylaw 5211 and “carry over the purpose statement which only allows seniors to be housed at this location, as well as allow for a new set of uses to facilitate a mixed-use building.”
The applicant, in a letter to council, says the purpose of rezoning is “to facilitate a patient centred development in the former Sunrise/Seasons facility. . .it is the desire of the applicant to house different uses which focus on the possible patient and staff needs and requirement while also determining uses that will be an enhancement to the surrounding community at large.
“Currently the zoning is very limiting and the marketability of the current offering is limited or virtually non-existent. We have been engaging in discussions with short-term family stay operators for families with children who are admitted to the hospital; short/medium/long-term locum housing for doctors, nurses and administrators working at the hospital; daycare operators with focus on the staffing needs at the hospital; small scale food and beverage operators including smaller market operators; private clinics and other complimentary uses.”
The proposed Bylaw 6403 doesn’t align with the applicant’s vision for their property because it doesn’t carry over the purpose statement. Follow @albeebHerald on Twitter 4
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