An isolated stretch of sidewalk across from North Central Plumbing and Heating in Smithers has many people scratching their heads.
The slab of concrete isn’t connected to anything on either end and was installed to comply with Smithers bylaws – triggered by any development permit worth more than $75,000.
While it’s not of use to anybody now, Mayor Taylor Bachrach says it’s a part of a longer term plan to build out sidewalks in town. He says the it will be linked up some time in the future, acknowledging how strange it looks in the mean time.
“This is the system that pretty much every municipality uses in order to expand their infrastructure. When the mall was redeveloped we required them to build a sidewalk and they did that, so we now have a chunk of sidewalk along the frontage road, same with the Smithers Lumber Yard.”
But developer Brent Weme just doesn’t see that happening, noting that businesses can file multiple permits below the $75,000 threshold to avoid the off site work requirements, “that’s not going to happen in the next 100 years.”
Bachrach says this is an issue that has been discussed in the past, but “to date, staff have not been able to identify any alternative strategies for building sidewalks” besides paying for them out of pocket.
Weme says he’s invited town councillors down to take a look at the lonely sidewalk and made a suggestion, “I explained to them that my preference would be, let’s put a value on this particular sidewalk, I’ll put money into a fund and then you use it where most needed” pointing to a spot next to the new Scotiabank and the lumber yard that could use one.
He says the stretch of concrete cost him $10,000, and would like to see the money better spent elsewhere in the community.
Weme says the councillors were lukewarm to the idea and did not seem eager to make the required regulatory changes for a system like that, but he’s hoping they will change their mind with all the recent attention.
Mayor Bachrach says he has engaged with staff on the issue, to look at new strategies “that we can use to improve the situation and alleviate those concerns.”
“It’s a conversation that’s been going on for awhile.”