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One step forward and one step back

Regional district directors deal with two zoning bylaws at board meeting

Powell River Regional District directors moved forward with one zoning bylaw at the May board meeting, but sent another one to limbo.

Directors passed the third reading of the Myrtle Pond zoning bylaw, after no members of the public attended a public hearing on May 15. This was the fourth public hearing the regional district held on the bylaw, Director Stan Gisborne, who represents Electoral Area B, explained, and all the concerns from residents have been addressed. “That’s why we had no one there,” he said.

The bylaw covers properties that are on the Myrtle Pond water system, the only one owned by the regional district. The draft bylaw regulates both density and land use and its intent is to ensure that the wells supplying water to the community water system are not overused.

The bylaw now has to be approved by the minister of transportation and infrastructure before the board can adopt it.

Gisborne also reported on a public hearing held about the draft Traffe Road zoning bylaw, which was developed as a result of a petition received from Traffe Road residents concerned about a community care facility in their neighbourhood.

The zoning restricts land use and density in accordance with the provisions of the existing OCP (official community plan) for the area, which was adopted in 1989. However, the regional district is in the process of preparing a new OCP for Area B.

There were about 12 members of the public who attended the public hearing, Gisborne reported, six of whom made public statements. Residents expressed a range of concerns with the bylaw, he said. He recommended that the board refer the bylaw back to the planning committee and not consider it until the Area B OCP had been passed. “There are too many incompatibilities with the new OCP,” he said.

For example, Gisborne said, the bylaw does not allow secondary suites, but the draft OCP does. As well, the bylaw restricts, rather than supports, agricultural productivity on one large acreage. “The bylaw was prepared to prevent expansion of the wellness centre or building an industrial use or apartment in there,” he said. “It was not designed to prevent bed and breakfasts or to restrict a farm. We have to revise it.”

Directors agreed with Gisborne and passed a motion to send the bylaw back to the planning committee.