Let the building begin.

The three remaining members of council voted in favour of rezoning amendments which will allow for development of a 33-acre parcel of land between Heathmont and Elm Streets to begin.

After a standing-room-only public hearing on August 10 in which many community members and nearby residents of the proposed development asked questions and voiced concerns, council felt the residents’ concerns were heard and many concerns were addressed by Luke Mari, a planner with the engineering, planning and consulting firm R. Radlof & Associates.

Radlof is putting together the proposed plan for Thompson Creek, and asked for some changes to be made to an earlier zoning plan developed by another company.

The new plan will rezone some areas of the property for small green spaces to allow residents to walk to and from the bus pick-up for the Mt. Milligan Mine, and will change some of the residential zoning across the development, which would eliminate the lots allocated for mobile homes, changing them instead to single family dwellings,

There will also be an area allocated for commercial zoning, which will be used as a parking lot where mine employees can park their vehicles to catch the bus to and from the mine.

Changes to the zoning were a condition of sale of the land to Thompson Creek from the District of Fort St. James and now Thompson Creek will be able to proceed with the subsequent steps of the process, the submission of a more detailed development plan and requests for the required development permit or permits.

Council did not put any conditions or covenants on the development at this stage, and passed the zoning changes as-is.

Homes in the development could be built by or even before 2013.