Our Official Community Plan (OCP) update process is officially off and running. Looking over the existing plan, I realize that the world has changed a lot in the last 15 years but I wonder how many of the old assumptions that framed so much of the very earliest community plans will be accepted again without very much serious analysis. Many of the people who moved to Bowen Continue reading ›
Tagged CO2 Emissions, OCP
Crock of beans! Mule fritters! Monkey muffins! Buffalo bagels! Buffalo chips! Hot mustard! Hot sausage! Pony pucks! Beaver biscuits! Bull cookies! Pig feathers! Jumpin’ jompers! Suffern’ saddlesoap! Sufferin’ sheepdip! Great Caesar’s Ghost… Great Mother McCree… Hell bells! Busload of bushwah! Mule muffins! Road apples! Great balls of fire! Horse hockey! Pigeon pellets! Cow cookies! Great Caesar’s Salad! Horse hockey! Scuttlebug is as common as cooties in your skivvy!
What in the name of Sweet Fanny Adams… What in the name of Samuel Hill… What in the name of George Armstrong Custer… What in the name of Marco ‘BLESSED’ Polo… Where in the name of Carrie’s Corset… Holy hemostat!Jumping Jeosephat! What in the name of beelzibub is going on here!
Every summer, in the middle of July we are greeted with an announcement in the paper that water shortages are imminent and outdoor water use is to be sharply curtailed. On the face of it, one would assume that we are all on the same water system or all drawing our water from the same aquifer or that the potential shortage problems apply to at least most of the island. In truth, we have six major water systems with several smaller systems drawing from creeks, several small systems drawing from common wells, a number of properties drawing their water from creeks and shallow wells, numerous properties on individual deep wells that share small aquifers with their neighbours and a few homes that harvest rainwater. So the questions become; “Who do these water restrictions apply to and why are they really needed?” Continue reading ›
Tagged Municipal Hall, waterIn a world where more and more places are looking just like each other it’s nice to come home to Bowen and notice how distinctive our community looks. Looking from side to side as the ferry docks, Continue reading ›
Tagged Island Life, Municipal Hall, Snug CoveThe Cape Roger Curtis development saga has taken another bizarre twist. In 2004 the developers who had purchased the 630 acres at the south-western tip of Bowen Island applied for subdivision. Eventually their application was reviewed and the Approving Officer (AO) laid out a number of deficiencies, conditions and requirements. Subsequent to that rejection Continue reading ›
Tagged Cape Roger Curtis, Municipal HallLast week the Cape Roger Curtis (CRC) developers filed a subdivision application with the municipality. I haven’t seen it yet but I am very curious. As some of you may already know CRC is a 640-acre parcel of land on the southwest tip of Bowen. The developers who own it recently went to some lengths to have it considered for a very large comprehensive development. Since that proposal was turned down there has been some Continue reading ›
Tagged Cape Roger Curtis, Municipal Politics, Snug CoveMost communities fall into one of two camps. Either – we’re being overrun and need to enact policies that will curb undesirable development or – this town is dying, we need to attract some business. Bowen doesn’t really fit into either group. We’re considered in the wider world to be a suburb of metro Vancouver. Provincial and federal economic development initiatives deliberately exclude us and we’ve never had a very coherent strategy for attracting business so one could assume that we must be deliberately trying to discourage it. Continue reading ›
Tagged OCPOur Official Community Plan (OCP) update process is about to start. So I’ve been chatting with people who were involved in the process the last time around in 1992. Apparently things started off very well. Continue reading ›
Tagged OCPThe Cape Roger Curtis development was almost the biggest thing to ever hit our island. However, at their April 20 meeting our council rescinded the bylaw that would have made the Neighbourhood Plan (NP) possible. The developers will now choose whether to apply for a rezoning that fits within our Official Community Plan with up to 224 lots or apply for subdivision approval, which restricts development to lots that are a minimum of ten acres. This would result in the creation of somewhere between 40 and 58 lots, depending on who you listen to. Of course they could do nothing and let things die down for a while but nobody is betting on that.
Before moving on to more interesting things Continue reading ›
Tagged Cape Roger Curtis, OCPUrban sprawl is a fact of life and, while building up instead of out is today’s mantra, virtually all major cities continue to slowly eat up the surrounding countryside. Vancouver is a bit different. It has the U.S. border to the south, mountains to the north and ocean to the west. So, most of the sprawl has been to the east. However as commuting times to the valley increase the lure of potential profit to be found in developing our little island also increases.
Next Monday, April 20 our council will tell us whether they’ve decided to indulge the latest large scale suburban development scheme to hit Bowen or whether they are going to listen to the vast majority of Bowen Islanders and opt for a low-density development.
Tagged Cape Roger Curtis