City of Powell River councillors were requested to downsize properties on a Wildwood lot if it comes to the city for subdivision.
At the September 12 committee of the whole meeting, councillors heard a delegation from Jonathan Dyck, a Wildwood resident, who said he was appearing regarding the 19-acre Wildwood lot, which is bordered by houses on Chilco and King avenues and Columbia Street.
Dyck said the big picture is the role of city council, which is responsible to all the residents of the city.
“We want to make sure that development that happens is done at a sustainable scale,” said Dyck. “We want to think about what is the character of the neighbourhood, what is the vision, and what do we want this to look like.
“As far as what is the vision for Wildwood, we have an official community plan (OCP) that is up for review. We want to think about where we increase the density and how we provide the services that can sustain that density.”
Dyck said with the development proposal expected to be submitted, there is no requirement for consultation because of the current zoning.
“It would allow the developer to develop at a very large scale without any consultation or opportunity from the community, or indeed, from council,” said Dyck. “The impact of this scale of development, were it to be developed to its full potential, would be from 70 to 90 units, potentially, and would be a huge impact on the community.
“Given that the current zoning allows for that, it would have to come to the city’s approving officer, who potentially could deny the subdivision if it is deemed not to be in the public interest. Is a development of this scale in the public interest?”
Dyck said he would suggest this development is not, for several reasons. He said one reason is conservation, and that there would be devastation of an ecosystem, which includes some species at risk, and the development would vastly alter the character of the neighborhood. He said it would affect the people in the neighbourhood while construction is going on.
Dyck said one option is for city staff to obtain a legal opinion on cases like this. He said it was highlighted in a staff report that if council decided to downzone, there could be a potential legal challenge from the developer. He said it looks like, based on some of the legal precedents, developers don’t usually win on these kinds of issues, but it would be prudent to request further information.
Dyck recommended downsizing the zoning to half-acre lots, which would drastically reduce the number of new units and maintain Wildwood’s character. He said the owner was approached but was not amenable to having a conversation, looking at making some compromises.
“This means if anything was to change it would require action from city council,” said Dyck. “That is the main request from this delegation, that if there was a favourable legal opinion, that council would consider downzoning the lots, and consider an OCP amendment that could be fast-tracked because there isn’t a lot of time left for this particular proposal.”
City councillor and committee chair Rob Southcott made a motion that staff be directed to investigate a legal opinion, with the objective of encouraging the developer to discuss the development with stakeholders. The motion was defeated, with mayor Ron Woznow and councillors Earl Almeida, Trina Isakson, George Doubt and Cindy Elliott opposed.
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