New grant and CP discussions have City well on way with waterfront plan
By Nelson Daily Editor
A new grant for “Railtown” improvements and some progress with CP Rail on accessing some of their waterfront lands has the City’s Waterfront and Downtown Master Plan process well underway.
The City has acquired a grant to add new lighting, sidewalks and pathways at lower Baker Street, or Railtown. Work has already begun in the area and is expected to continue until October.
A press release from the City claimed they were “already working with CP Rail on a key recommendation of the plan: securing new linkages between the downtown and the proposed residential and light industrial zones along the waterfront.”
No timeline for the discussions were indicated.
Other changes underway include:
- current building owners are looking to add new housing units in the downtown core;
- new multi-family neighbourhoods have been developed and are being planned for the waterfront;
- the Chamber of Commerce is still working on restoring the CP Rail Station;
- the RDCK has found a new location for the Nelson Transfer Station.
The plan also outlined several other improvements, including:
- Enhance public waterfront opportunities. The plan identifies opportunities for completing the existing shoreline trail on the South Shore, and a possible new trail on the North Shore.
- Adopt design guidelines to provide direction for ways to relate new construction to heritage buildings.
- Enhance Cottonwood Creek and Railtown areas in order to improve connection between downtown and the waterfront.
- Red Sands Beach: the plan identifies a new City park at Red Sands Beach, which would act as the eastern terminus of the shoreline trail.
- Enhance streetcar network and look for opportunities to expand routes within downtown and waterfront areas.
- Create civic spaces. The plan identifies specific opportunities for neighbourhood gathering places, including proposed plazas in front of City Hall and on Hall Street.
- Explore the possibility of relocating the regional retail mall, which would allow this highly desirable waterfront property to be redeveloped as residential.
The final plan, adopted by City council last month, was completed by IBI Group from Vancouver, with funding from the Infrastructure Canada Gas Tax Fund.
The process included some public consultation with residents-at-large, stakeholder groups, a steering committee and City council.
The final plan builds on the success of past community planning projects, and incorporates new goals specific to sustainability principles of the Path to 2040 plan.
It is designed to work in concert with all of the City’s current initiatives, including the Housing Strategy, Active Transportation Plan and major infrastructure plans.
The complete plan can be downloaded from the City’s website at www.nelson.ca/waterfront-downtown-plan.
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