After years of discussion and planning, a proposed international school in Townsite could fall through if PRSC Land Development, a corporation owned by City of Powell River and Tla’amin Nation, and Sino Bright School cannot find a way to definitively integrate agriculture into their plans.
City of Powell River’s committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, May 17, included a report from the city’s senior planner on a six-acre parcel of useable agricultural land near the front of the international school’s proposed site.
Council is now weighing the possibility of changing bylaws in order to support the exclusion of a 30-acre parcel, including six acres of farmable land, from the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).
The six acres are a deciding factor in whether Sino Bright is able to purchase the large parcel of land from PRSC. If PRSC is unable to have the land excluded from ALR, Sino Bright could walk away from the deal.
In 2007, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) did not support an application to exclude 245 hectares of PRSC land from the ALR to build an airport, residential developments, golf course and equestrian centre. The ALC found that the application lacked details on how the proposed developments would benefit agriculture and the city’s economy.
Sino Bright has already stated that it would partner with the community to provide agricultural space on the international school’s grounds. The school would be a valuable economic addition to the community and the six-acre parcel still has potential to be agricultural land in the centre of Sino Bright’s campus.
The current city council has already made it clear that the international school and its dormitories fit with its economic-development mandate.
Ever since Sino Bright announced, just prior to the last municipal elections in 2014, that it intended to purchase the large parcel of land in Townsite, the city has stressed that the development would positively impact the local economy, generating tens of millions of dollars and creating upwards of 100 jobs in the area.
It looks as though the corporation may have neglected an important piece in getting this deal done. Without agriculture as a highlight in the Sino Bright proposal, the entire deal could be in jeopardy.
Jason Schreurs, publisher/editor
