25 years ago in the Undercurrent
In her column ‘Island News’ Laura Cochrane professed, “Whenever I read or hear about complaints regarding the development of Bowen Island and the criticism directed at so-called “developers,” I can but shake my head. Had Bowen not been developed in the first place would those complainers now be living on Bowen? I think not.”
20 years ago in the Undercurrent
Trucking company Jack Cewe Ltd. won an injunction in B.C. Supreme Court banning the Tunstall Beach barge blockade. Under the order, everyone who was blocking barge access to the beach were restrained from “mooring, placing, tying up or otherwise manoeuvring or anchoring vessels or other floating objects in Tunstall Bay” so as to interfere with Cewe’s boats. Cewe’s company was barging gravel via Tunstall Bay on behalf of Cowan Point landowner Ted Rogers. Cewe said the blockade had cost upwards of $10,000 damages to his company but as the defendants were listed as John Doe and Jane Doe, the ability to recoup those costs would be unlikely.
15 years ago in the Undercurrent
The Bowen Island Royal Canadian Legion was slapped with a 30-day suspension of its liquor license as well as a permanent restriction on the number of live music events it may feature. The liquor control and licensing branch judged the local branch had been operating more as a community hall then as a veteran’s club. President Richard Goth was to appeal the ruling saying that the decision by the liquor control branch was based solely on the outcome of a one-person campaign to shut the legion down. This person’s campaign included the claims that the number of live-music events held throughout the year had doubled in just over 5 years from 10 to 20 and that with these events came rowdiness and parking lot profanities. Goth said that this one-person campaign was the only neighbor that opposed the Legion’s presence in the neighbourhood. Most of the neighbours understood the necessity of holding these events in order to continue to help the Legion produce revenue.
10 years ago in the Undercurrent
Wolfgang Duntz asked the municipal council for help in opening a “venue of communication to find out what are the desires” of the community in regards to Cape Roger Curtis. Representing the owners, he said that his application for 60 10 acre lots, which complies with the land-use bylaw was a ‘very boring, unimaginative plan.’ He added that his immediate intention was to develop only 10 of these lots and that he was looking to council to appoint a committee to evaluate community interest. However, in an email, members of the Cape Roger Curtis Trust Society voiced concerns about Duntz’s sincerity about entering in to a dialogue with the community. “We don’t think that slapping a subdivision request down without any substantive plans and without development permit applications show any real intent to engage the public.”
5 years ago in the Undercurrent
Bowen’s CAO Hendrik Slegtenhorst informed the Undercurrent that a decision on the subdivision application from the developers of Cape Roger Curtis had no fixed end date. Slegtenhorst said that he still had some question for The Cape on Bowen Community Development Ltd., but, “the current process will not take one minute longer than necessary”.
