Two bylaws were discussed among Regina city councillors and administration at a special meeting Tuesday evening from Regina City Hall.
Council voted to approve the sign bylaw (Bylaw 2019-20), but the new zoning bylaw (Bylaw 2019-19) will have its final vote from councillors at their next meeting, which is scheduled for August 26th.
The zoning bylaw focuses on limiting what kind of businesses can establish on industrial land.
The discussion circled around restricting businesses from the service industry that could potentially be interested in building or expanding on industrial land such as restaurants, coffee shops and nightclubs.
The complexity of the bylaw was apparent during the special meeting, including a moment when council had a misunderstanding that saw them vote to pass the bylaw after what seemed to be a mix up.
After the confusion, Mayor Michael Fougere and the rest of council motioned to delay the actual third reading of the bylaw for their next regular meeting. The bylaw received its first reading back in the spring.
“We did not have a unanimous agreement to go to a third reading, which is why its going to the next meeting,” said Fougere. “The understanding was that we would not be doing all the readings [tonight], and so I asked for some leniency to have it go to next meeting.”
When it comes back to the table on August 26th, the zoning bylaw will only need a majority vote.
He added how he’s pleased they are through the process now, but that there’s a lot of work to do to understand what’s happening and to amend it accordingly.
As for the sign bylaw, it was passed by council in its entirety.
The sign bylaw puts restrictions on where businesses can post signage like portable signs, including a regulation that requires portable signs and billboards to be at least 30 metres away from permanent billboards.
There were also discussions on how some types of signage including digital ads may be distracting to drivers or can create clutter if a number of signs are bunched up in the same location.
While the mayor believes there are bigger issues than portable signs in the city, he hopes that business owners will be able to overcome the regulations from the newly passed bylaw.
“Hopefully they’ll adapt to the new environment and regulations, and if there’s a problem, then we’ll bring it back and look at it again.”
The bylaw now has to be submitted for ministerial approval from the province before it goes through completely.
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