Plans to rezone the community owned lands between Senior’s Lane and the grounds of BICS will be forwarded to the Islands Trust for approval after being given third reading by council this week. The rezoning plans divide the 11.4 acre property into three parts, which could include a medical centre within a four-storey apartment building, a “Community Campus” which would include a town hall, various other community facilities, and townhomes. In order to make this rezoning happen, council needs to amend the Official Community Plan (OCP) and Land Use Bylaw (LUB).
Planning consultant Judy McLeod presented a report on how to move forward based on feedback collected at the public hearing in July. She told council that some members of the public, even those who were supportive of the plan overall, were concerned that public consultation about it was insufficient. More specifically, McLeod said that people pointed to the increase in density, the height of proposed apartment buildings, and the allowance of secondary suites within the townhouse buildings as being problematic.
In response, council agreed to limit the height of the apartment building to three stories, and eliminate the secondary suites allowed within the town home units. They also agreed to prioritize community facilities on Area 3 (where the community campus is planned) as opposed to such facilities having equal footing with a potential apartment building.
The final decision on the rezoning of this land will be left to the next council.
Mayoral candidate Murray Skeels says that as far as he is concerned, this week’s decision by council is for optics.
“They could’ve done it within the first three months of their term,” says Skeels. He adds that he has concerns about whether things like an intersection between the top of Lot 2 and the bottom of the community school’s land is even possible. “It is a very high density rezoning. If I were doing it I would have had a traffic engineer look at the plan right off the bat. I don’t think they’ve done their proper homework on this.”
Rather than large scale plans such as this one, Skeels says he prefers tackling one small project at a time.
“It is very complex, to look at a large piece of land and build roads and imagine how you can divide it up and make money off of it,” he says. “I think my approach is a little more nuanced, and I would prefer taking these things piece by piece. For example, we could look at one small piece of land and ask whether it might be possible to build a four-plex there, then get together with the local developers and builders and figure out how to take it from there.”
Mayoral candidate Stacy Beamer says he supports the rezoning of the Surplus Crippen Park lands that are now owned by the municipality, such as Lot 2.
“We need to create a measurable value in those properties, and it can only be done through this process,” says Beamer. “That said, I only support this process if we do it while looking at the big picture infrastructure needs within the Cove. Also, when we do choose to develop these lands, the developers should pay their fair share towards community amenities.”
