By MARKUS ERMISCHAug 20 2006 http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/
A fundamental disagreement between the City of Kamloops and the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) over the availability of developable land in the growing Tournament Capital could intensify tensions between the two. Essentially, the disagreement is this: The ALC, the guardian of the province's agricultural land reserve, argues that there is no shortage of developable land in Kamloops. Hence the ALC is extremely reluctant to release land from the agricultural land reserve for development purposes. This position was made clear in a recent ruling on a parcel of land adjacent to Albert McGowan Park. "The commission was not convinced that there is a shortage of developable land in Kamloops and note that several non-ALR areas are available for residential development. The fact that these areas might have challenges to development is not germane to the commission's mandate." According to the city's development services, Kamloops will face a shortage of developable land in the next five to six years, if not sooner. The ALC's last two rulings, which blocked two separate developments, have "basically hamstrung us in terms of community planning," said David Trawin, the city's director of development and engineering services. Mayor Terry Lake had made similar comments. And some of the few areas of land that are developable can only be developed at a great expense to Kamloops taxpayers. One such area is the northern part of Batchelor Heights. Right now, the area is a sagebrush-dotted, dusty piece of desert. To extend infrastructure into the area, including roads, sewers and water, would cost at least $100 million. Furthermore, the Overlanders Bridge would not be able to handle the increase in traffic. Another bridge downstream, possibly at Singh Street, would have to be built at the expense of taxpayers. A second area of developable land is Aberdeen and Upper Sahali. In fact, the Kamloops community plan has identified this area to accommodate 40 per cent of the growth in the near future. But there's a problem. Portions of Aberdeen lie on a slide area, which the city is de-watering with a pump system to secure the land's stability. In the next two years, Trawin said, the city may have found a permanent solution to dealing with the groundwater issue, which would replace the costly pump system. Trawin said his department is reluctant to approve additional developments in that area unless developers can prove that their developments don't increase the amount of water going into the ground, something that is difficult to achieve for single-family housing. Guy Mercier's failed proposal to develop the flat piece land adjacent to Albert McGowan Park would have been ideal from a planning perspective because city infrastructure could have been extended easily, said Trawin, and services such as public transit, schools and shopping are nearby. Other pockets of developable land are interspersed throughout the city boundaries, but they are small. Additional factors that restrict development, aside from the belt of the ALR lands encircling the developed parts of Kamloops, are the topography and environmental considerations. Grades steeper than 25 per cent are not suitable for development, said Trawin. And Kamloops has plenty of those. Other areas of the city are in the flood plain, near silt bluffs or within the fragile grasslands ecosystem. So what's the solution to Kamloops' land shortage? The ALC is not likely to modify its mandate or change criteria it considers when making a decision on the agricultural land reserve. Trawin said that given their mandate, he fully understands that the ALC has decided the way it has on the Tranquille and McGowan Park applications. To deal with the land shortage problem, Kamloops, albeit in a much more moderate fashion, has to follow the Japanese example and increase density. This means more in-fill in already existing neighbourhoods, such as the downtown, as well as encouraging more multi-family dwellings.
But Trawin pointed out that the city can't mandate people to live in condos.
In other words, tensions between the City of Kamloops and the ALC will continue in the foreseeable future as Kamloops keeps growing.
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