Michael Corneliusson told the members of the council, elected in 2011, that he spent the morning writing a fifteen page list of their achievements, and thanked them for their hard work over the past three years. Colleen O’Neil followed, and actually stated what she considered to be the council’s main achievements: improving the relationship between council and municipal staff, approving both Belterra and Arbutus Ridge, increasing the amount of park land on Bowen by three percent, creating both the Municipal Finance Committee and the Community Grants Advisory Committee, and so on. After these, and several other statements of thanks, council moved on to add one more achievement to the list before saying their goodbyes: unanimously voting to pass the rezoning of Lot 2 through fourth reading.
Members of council discussed and debated the wording of the two bylaws that require amending – the Land Use Bylaw and the Official Community Plan – at their October 24 meeting. This Monday, with the approval of the Islands Trust, no major changed were necessary and the rezoning passed with little discussion.
Councillor Tim Rhodes says he feels the completion of this rezoning is something to be proud of.
“Wolfgang [Duntz], Daron [Jennings] and I all ran for council with promises to get a community centre built,” says Rhodes. “While I am disappointed that there is not a shovel in the ground after three years, we have made progress. We have rezoned the lands for community purposes and for sale, and with that we might actually be able to afford to build something.”
Rhodes says that part of the struggle he, and other members of his council faced when it came to the task of getting a community centre built was a lack of experience.
“We had a rookie mayor and only two members of council with experience,” says Rhodes. “One of our mistakes was passing the community centre issue back to a committee. It had already been through at least three committees, and when we established the Community Centre Implementation Committee, we struggled for seven months to find a way to build something we could afford. But we were getting way ahead of ourselves and didn’t get anywhere, which is why Daron and I resigned.”
Rhodes says that after some time on the table at a Mayor’s committee, they realized that the first step in getting a community centre built had to be a rezoning.
“Our planning consultant developed the rezoning proposal using input that came out of a decade’s worth of community consultation,” says Rhodes. “And in the end, both the location and the uses of the land in question resemble what was being talked about a decade ago. I feel with this we can say we’ve fulfilled the promise that we ran on, and also the promises made about re-couping the investment on community lands when they were purchased.”
Following a number of other decisions made, councillor Rhodes and offered up words of thanks for staff and goodbyes. The the subdivision of lot 2, as well as prioritizing the community amenities to be built, will be left to the next council.
