The town of Smithers might be leading the ‘lone sidewalk’ somewhere.
Councillor Greg Brown made a motion last night to connect it to the rest of town with a gravel extension from Fulton Ave. to 16th Ave.
“I thought to get the ball rolling…how do you build out the town and the infrastructure so that you don’t have stranded assets like this,” says Brown.
If the motion leads to funding and completion of any connecting sidewalk is yet to be decided.
Right now a bylaw has businesses paying for sidewalks in front of their buildings for any development permit worth more than $75,000.
The ‘lone sidewalk’ was North Central Plumbing & Heating’s compliance to that bylaw, sparking a flurry of controversy.
The small business task force is also looking to revamp the bylaw.
“We need a broader conversation…that slab of concrete (the ‘lone sidewalk’) has sparked a conversation about who should pay for infrastructure,” says Brown.