Directors Report of August 2011 Part 1

Hi
I have been a bit late and busy and that @!#%%&!! internet connection... Here goes what happened at the last Board meeting.
Denis
Local Elections for Regional Director
The following is the link to the CSRD’s 2011 General Local Election website page for your reference. Nomination packages will be available at the CSRD office from Friday August 26th, http://www.csrd.bc.ca/siteengine/activepage.asp?PageID=377.
The Board issued Development Variance Permit No. 800-19 for a property in Magna Bay. The applicant has applied to vary the setbacks from the front and side parcel boundaries so they can build a garage and add 348 sq ft of living space where a carport currently exists.
The Board gave first reading to Scotch Creek/Lee Creek Zoning (Halladay) Bylaw No. 825-25. The Lee Creek property owner would like to subdivide a 10 acre parcel into three parcels. The application is to rezone from Country Residential to Residential. The application will be referred to the APC, government agencies and the First Nation Bands in the area.
Electoral Area ‘F’ OCP Amendment (Lillico View Holdings Ltd.) Bylaw No. 830-1 and Magna Bay Zoning Amendment (Lillico View Holdings Ltd.) Bylaw No. 800-5 were adopted. A property in Magna Bay that received third reading for a rezoning was required to have an agreement in principle with adjacent land owner to go ahead. Adjacent land owner has agreed to provide access through their property.
The Scotch Creek Development (Osprey Landing) hearing was well attended with many people presenting information that the Board will consider. The large majority of people spoke against the proposal. There were people there who were in favour of it, but it would have been intimidating for anyone to speak in favour of proposed zoning changes. Some of the intimidation was insidious, such as clapping and cheering in favour of a certain speaker and some was blunt; cat calls and talking while the person is making his points known. Regrettably it prevents gathering balanced information from both sides of the issue, at public hearings. It is unfortunate but this confrontational climate often arises at public hearings, where there are strong feelings one way or the other, rather than it being a place where you can provide you views comfortably without the loudest over riding the other views.
Area ‘F’ OCP Amendment (Isley) Bylaw No. 830-8 and Magna Bay Zoning Amendment (Isley) Bylaw No. 800-16 were given 3rd Reading by the Board. The application was for a proposed campground in Magna Bay. There were concerns from some residents regarding the impact of the campground on their enjoyment of their property and Ross Creek Park. It is a concern, having commercial ventures being set up near public areas such as parks. These can be part of an attraction of the development and in such a case impact the draw of the area. The question arises; should public attractions be used as an advantage to a development? Should there be more, that business creations should/could dedicate to these areas? On the other hand do we stop all development because in one way or another they will impact public facilities? These are public use areas for the use of all.
There was a large support from many at the meeting for the campsite; it could offer jobs, needed campsites and increased amenities. Again it was an intimidating atmosphere for those speaking against the development, with clapping every time someone spoke in favour of the development. I have a large amount of admiration for those people who stood up and made their views known against the proposed changes.
The proposed campsite apparently ran into another hang up by MoTI. Apparently, MoTI has introduced new requirement providing an assessment to hazard area this requires access to a hydrologists and is an added cost and time drag to the proposal.