By RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff Sep 26 2007
A developer is reconsidering his plans after Vernon council pushed his residential resort to the sidelines. Craig Stowe says he will have to look at his options after council voted 4-2 Monday to delay a decision on a 100-unit development on Eastside Road until the city’s official community plan review is completed in nine months. “I’m extremely disappointed it hasn’t been able to go to public hearing,” said Stowe, adding the proposal had the support of many residents in the Eastside Road area. City staff had recommended council support the application to rezone the former Paraiso Point campground from tourist commercial to resort residential, and that the matter go to the public hearing stage.
Despite council’s decision, Stowe believes some options may be available to him. “It’s zoned high-density tourist commercial now,” he said. Dave Pusey, a resident who has expressed concern about the proposal, is pleased with council’s actions. “The public has spoken and the OCP process will bear that out,” he said. “Anyone I spoke to is not interested in the lake house.” As for the prospect of high-density development going ahead under current zoning, Pusey says there is a covenant in place that only allows for a campground.
Councillors Buffy Baumbrough, Barry Beardsell, Pat Cochrane and Juliette Cunningham voted to delay Stowe’s application until the OCP review is wrapped up. “We’ve put a lot of resources into the OCP,” said Cunningham. “It runs in the face of the OCP when we’re trying to ram this thing through. If this is such a great plan, it will stand the test of time.” That was also the view of Baumbrough. “This council passed a resolution not to have further OCP amendments while the review is done and we all agreed to that,” she said. Stowe garnered support from Councillors Patrick Nicol and Jack Gilroy. “Something like this should go to public hearing. There are enough reasons both pro and con to go to public hearing,” said Nicol. Nicol pushed to have a decision delayed because Mayor Wayne Lippert was absent. “He should be given an opportunity to speak on this,” said Nicol. But Beardsell shot down that possibility. “It’s the mayor who sets the agenda and he allowed it to be on the agenda knowing full well he’d be in Vancouver at meetings,” said Beardsell. Cochrane wants the developer to abandon resort residential and just pursue a residential development.
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Sep 26 2007 EDITORIAL Council follows OCP process
It would be too easy to say the City of Vernon is anti-development after delaying a decision on a proposed residential resort in Okanagan Landing for nine months. If anything, this decision shows that council is committed to developing the community through a well-thought out process, primarily the official community plan. Considerable time and expense has already been placed into the OCP review. Once completed in June, it will be a blueprint for land use in Vernon. To allow for an amendment to the OCP while it is under review would undermine the process — a process that has involved extensive consultation with the public. And council, as a whole, acknowledged that earlier this year when it voted not to entertain any amendment applications until the review is done. To be fair to all other developers, the residential resort proposal on Eastside Road had to be set aside. It should also be pointed out that Mayor Wayne Lippert was missing Monday and there was a real possibility of a tie vote. If that had happened, the matter would have been legislatively dead and the earliest the applicant could bring it back was nine months. By delaying until the OCP review, the development proposal is still on the official radar screen at city hall. It will have to come back before council. Time will also allow the developer to consider the concerns of both residents and some politicians. That could ultimately lead to a project that all can embrace. In the end, slowing the wheels of the bureaucracy made sense on this occasion.
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