It’s time to update the Cape Roger Curtis (CRC) saga. For those of you who don’t follow these things too closely, CRC is 630 acres on the southwest corner of Bowen Island. In 2004 a development company purchased it. Between then and now a ridiculous amount of time, money and human capital have been expended trying to determine just how the property should be subdivided. As of December 18, 2009 we think that we know what the outcome of five years of proposals, studies, debates, applications and negotiations have resulted in. The property will be developed in pretty much the same way that it was destined to be developed five years ago.
Before looking at the good and bad aspects of the approved subdivision a brief look back is in order. The original subdivision application dates back to September of 2004. However, at the same time the owners expressed an interest in negotiating with the municipality for a comprehensive rezoning of the property. So it took until 2006 for the Approving Officer (AO) of the day to issue a preliminary layout review (PLR). It said that the subdivision could not proceed until a number of conditions were met. The developers then revised their application and resubmitted it. But there was a problem. One of the conditions of the first PLR was that a new road access route had to be found to service the subdivision. The CRC owners thought that they could build a road into the property through crown land but the crown land people asked the Bowen Municipal Council if it was OK with them and council said “no”. The CRC application to construct a road through crown lands was subsequently rejected. This pretty much killed the revised CRC subdivision application because it failed to address a critical deficiency outlined in the first application.
By June of 2009 all attempts to negotiate a comprehensive rezoning of the property were pretty well abandoned and the CRC owners submitted a new subdivision application which largely ignored the conditions that the previous PLR had imposed. In July a new Approving Officer was appointed and everything changed. Instead of enforcing or amending the PLR the new AO proceeded to negotiate with the CRC owners and eventually gave outright approval for the subdivision. One example of how this change in approach affected the process is the requirement for potable drinking water. The PLR stated that the subdivision could not proceed until there was proof of water for each lot. The condition was amended in the final approval so that proof of water won’t be required until the ultimate owner applies for a permit to build a house.
While many question the wisdom of abandoning the work of the previous AO the fact remains that the AO has tremendous discretionary powers and the terms of this subdivision are now established. So it’s time to decide whether, on balance, this development will be positive or negative for the island. The first thing to look at is the overall density. Looking at the drawing of the final development plan you can’t help but be struck by how sparse the development is. 59 houses and their auxiliary buildings spread over 630 acres is not very much. One of the major attractions of CRC has always been the hiking trails and waterfront access. The subdivision plan includes public access to the beach, a waterfront trail and an extensive trail network throughout the area.
On the other side of the coin the plan funnels all of the traffic to CRC through Tunstall Bay, along Whitesails Drive. While the amount of residential traffic that this adds to the street won’t be a big deal, the construction traffic will be horrendous. The only mitigating factor is that the developer is required to complete road and infrastructure construction by November of 2011, so at least there is a defined timeline and the nuisance won’t go on forever.
So, am I happy with the plan? On balance I would say yes. I’m disappointed that the access road proposed from Thompson Road isn’t going to be built and I believe that clustered development with a few more lots and most of the lots on the water would have been more profitable for the developer and more ecologically responsible. But it has been five years and it was probably time to admit that a negotiated rezoning was beyond us. However there is one bit of housekeeping that we should attend to. Our Official Community Plan envisions an ultimate density of 225 lots at CRC. Because no second access road is going to be built, we should amend the OCP to enshrine the current 59 lots as the most that will be created at the Cape. It’s the least that we can do for the people of Tunstall Bay.
To take a look at the development plan go to http://www.bimbc.ca/files/embedded/DEV%20PLAN%20DEC%2010-09%20rev%205.pdf
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