Staff from Bowen Island Municipality presented a plan for what the southern half of the community lands Lot 2 might look like if the proposed rezoning for the area goes forward. Roughly 60 members of the public attended the Open House, held at Cates Hill Chapel on April 14, with a handful of audience members stating their discontent with the plan and the process that brought it forward.
At the beginning of the meeting, the municipality’s planning consultant, Judy McLeod, gave a general explanation about the land and plans to rezone it.
“Back in 2005, Bowen Island Municipality bought a number of parcels of land that we call the surplus lands, or the community lands. These were a part of Crippen Park and became a part of the municipality’s land resources. The idea was to sell some of them to pay the money back that was used to purchase them, and also to use them for things that the community wanted, including housing and community facilities.”
McLeod explained that a Temporary Advisory Board (TAB) was established in June 2013 to look at the community lands and how they might be used. The board chose to focus on Lot 2 and the six acres in its southern portion. They developed a concept for the land, dividing it up into three parts.
The first part, as outlined in the plan, would be for a medical centre, but the medical centre would be in a building that could be up to four stories high and also house a retail space and apartments. The second part of the land would be dedicated to a “community campus,” including any facility that could come under the umbrella of a community centre. The third part would be dedicated to a townhouse development.
McLeod emphasized that this vision has been created as a draft concept used to determine possible rezoning for the land, and the zoning would simply be the first step in the development.
The property is currently zoned as “Passive Park,” and under the Official Community Plan it is designated as “Institutional/Village/Residential.”
McLeod said that to do any kind of development, the zoning would need to change, and to allow some of the proposed uses in the draft plan (such as permitting retail space) the OCP designation would also need to change.
When McLeod completed her summary, audience members stood up to ask questions and voice concerns. Will Husby demanded to know why council was taking this action now and what problems were being addressed. He also questioned why there was mention of the daycare centre moving, when in his conversation with Ann Silberman of Children’s Place, she did not express her interest in that.
“Well, I think it is happening now because it hasn’t happened yet, and it’s time,” responded McLeod. Dennis Vetter wanted to know why rezoning was happening before there was a plan in place.
“I’ve seen this council debate at length where to begin this process,” said McLeod. “It was finally decided that we needed to take this step in order to provide certainty and sell to a developer.”
André Chollat said he was shocked and dissatisfied with the process for the development of Lot #2.
“This rezoning is going to satisfy the developer first, to chose what they want to do. I feel ashamed about this process. We are going to mortgage the finances of the community for a water treatment plant that is going to serve one-third of it. We shouldn’t do it for an economic incentive, we should do it for a community centre that would serve the whole community of Bowen Island. Find a way to finance the community centre first, with a process that involves the whole community of Bowen Island.”
Chollat’s opposition was followed by a statement of opposition to the development of Lot #2 by Edna Thomson, who also wondered whether the plan was even possible given no geotechnical study had been conducted on the steep and rocky eastern slope.
Will Husby went on to further question the process of rezoning and developing the community lands.
“I’m really concerned, that this is going to be rushed through. That there will be not much chance for community consultation… is this going to be rushed through before the next election? Do you have a timetable?”
Mcleod told Husby that the only thing she could guarantee as far as a timeline was that she would submit a report on public comments to council by mid-May, and it would be up to council to decide how quickly things happened from there.
A more forceful response to Husby’s question came from former municipal councillor Wolfgang Duntz.
“I came here in 1980 and raised three kids. There was nothing here. Now there is at the very least a Children’s Centre, but now I have grandchildren and I would like to see them have at the very least, a modest community centre.”
Duntz added that the community lands were purchased close to 10 years ago with the assurance that they would be sold to repay municipal debt.
“So I would insist,” said Duntz, “That this be rushed.”
After a brief but heated argument, another member of the public stepped in, with a much calmer tone, to state that the reason people are so concerned is that the plan shows fifty-percent coverage of the lot, and too many decisions have been made without public consultation.
The meeting ended following a final note of conciliation by Pete Taggart.
“My wife and I have lived on the island for nearly twenty years and we think it’s the best place in the world to live, just like everybody else here… I would like to give credit to the people who must have busted their bums to come up with what we have here, I think they’ve done a very, very good job. Secondly, we hear some people saying we should have geotechnical studies, we should have water studies and so on – this all has to happen, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that at all, but I think its always difficult for staff to say “when do we have this first meeting?” If we have it today, than some of those things have not been done. When do you draw the line? Where do you start? And I think this has been a very useful session to begin with.”
If you were unable to attend the open house on the rezoning of Lot 2, you can still make comments on the proposal. Find the public comment form on the “News and Notices” page of the municipality’s website.
To view the background information, including draft bylaw amendments and background reports, please visit the “Current Topics” page on the municipality’s website.
