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Westview development proceeds

Housing subdivision above Oceanview Education Centre takes step forward
oceanview
SUBDIVISION STEPS: City of Powell River council gave third reading to the rezoning of a Nootka Street parcel of land for 15 new homes next to Oceanview Education Centre. Chris Bolster photo

A 15-lot, single-family-home subdivision in upper Westview is one step closer to construction after City of Powell River council passed a third reading on the development’s rezoning application.

City council voted at its meeting on Thursday, April 20, to move to a final vote on the rezoning and to receive the results of a public hearing held two weeks prior. City clerk Chris Jackson reported on the hearing at the meeting.

“A number of people spoke,” Jackson told council. “It was more of a question and answer period than a true hearing.”

The land in question is a 5.85-acre parcel above Oceanview Education Centre zoned A2 Large Lot Rural. Land developer Darren Marquis told council he wanted to have the land rezoned as R1 Single Family Residential.

After the meeting, Marquis said his initial intention was to subdivide the land into 30 parcels to build energy-efficient affordable housing.

Marquis said it was not until neighbours identified an eagle’s nest on the property that the project changed to 15 lots with larger, higher-priced houses in order to provide a buffer for the nest.

“That changed the whole subdivision,” said Marquis.

Residents at the hearing brought up a range of issues to city staff, including the potential effect the development would have on the eagle’s nest on the property and that the development would create greater stormwater runoff, which the city should ensure is captured in the sewers. Issues of road repair and added traffic on local roads were also highlighted.

The rezoning will come back to council for a final vote once the developer submits a tree-management plan and provides the city with a voluntary contribution to its newly created affordable housing reserve fund.

Rob Krausz, who lives on the corner of Nutana Crescent and Quadra Avenue, was not present at the public hearing, but provided his thoughts to council in a written submission.

Krausz said after the meeting that moving forward with the rezoning was a missed opportunity for city council.

“I’m disappointed, but I’m not surprised,” said Krausz.

Once the process of city staff working with the developer has gone as far as it has, rezoning is a foregone conclusion, he said.

“I don’t think public hearings change much,” he added.

While Krausz said he is not opposed to sellers turning a profit on land, he does not think allowing a developer the opportunity to take land zoned for agriculture and converting it into residential is fair.

Krausz added that had hoped his letter to council will give councillors pause.

“This property represents a significant potential asset with regard to local food production capacity that the city cannot afford to squander,” Krausz wrote in his letter to council.

During question period, councillor Russell Brewer said solutions to housing affordability come from a broad a spectrum of approaches and rezoning agricultural land can be one of them.

“I look at all the different objectives and policies we have in place and try to come to a balance,” said Brewer. “I’m not going to land in the same place as my colleagues every time, but in this case, and at this point, that is the thinking that factored into my decision.”