Last Night at Council - June 2, 2026
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
Councillor Stevens attended by Zoom
Council approved a Development Variance Permit for a property on Methuen Street, allowing an existing accessory building to be converted into a larger coach house (from 75 sq/m to 105 sq/m). The project is intended to support accessible, multi-generational housing and aging in place while adding to Ladysmith's housing options. – approved
Staff recommended putting a Notice on Title for a property on Morgan Road; due to ongoing Development Variance Permit (DVP) and Building Permit (BP) violations. The property owner explained he works away and has been trying to remedy issues, and asked for an additional 3 weeks to satisfy the requirement. Councillor McKay confirmed the cost to remove the Notice on Title was $400 and lay with the property owner, which she said was not a lot of money. Councillor Virtanen stated that he felt an additional month at this time would not pose a risk – recommendation approved – Virtanen opposed
Staff recommended actions related to abandoned encampments on Town property, including cleanup of two vacant sites and the development of a formal remediation protocol to guide future responses. Funding was authorized to support the cleanup efforts of $5000, and staff were directed to consider ongoing funding requirements in future budgets – approved
o Councillor Paterson recommended sending the Province the invoice thought he felt it wouldn’t be paid. Councillor Gourlay stated he felt that Province was already
doing a lot. – passed (Councillors Stevens, Gourlay and Jacobson opposed)
Fire Department hose, nozzle, and fittings of $75000 with funds to come from allocated surplus was approved.
Town received a letter from the Ladysmith Chamber of Commerce (CoC) Re: Urgent request for stakeholder meeting regarding unhoused and public safety concerns in Downtown Ladysmith.
o The letter sited many safety concerns many concerns including The Ladysmith Museum which had made 82 calls to the RCMP related to incidents in 2025 and 32 already in 2026, among other issues (letter attached)
o Requested that Town take a leadership role in bringing together all relevant organizations and agencies to discuss the issues, solutions and next steps.
o Staff presented that the CoC requested that ‘a’ Town organization facilitate a stakeholder meeting – which misrepresented what the ask was. Although the letter was available, no member of council seemed to be aware of the difference.
o Councillor Paterson stated that it was the responsibility of Council for the safety and well being of the businesses and residents of Ladysmith and suggested co-hosting
o Councillor Mackay stated she didn’t understand the intention of the meeting, and that ‘we’ (council) could not solve the problem of homelessness.
o Councillor Gourlay stated that the Town has limited tools to deal with homelessness, including Grants in Aid and Bylaw enforcement and that is not Towns place to address any criminality, that it was outside their jurisdiction.
o Staff noted that a report from the LRCA was coming before council on June 16. Councillor Jacobson stated she hoped that members of the LRCA were watching and could comment on the situation. It should be noted that Councillor Gourlay is now the operations manager of the LRCA so she knew clearly that they were aware.
o Councillor Jacobson put forward a motion that no action be taking before the June 16 presentation. – motion passed
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