Parksville residents will have to wait a little longer to express their opinions on a proposed 800-unit planned neighbourhood near the Englishman River.
Council postponed a public hearing, originally set for Sept. 19, after the city received correspondence from District Developments, which has applied for an official community plan (OCP) amendment and a zoning and development amendment bylaw to pave the way for the ‘Riverside’ at 1465 Greig Rd.
The letter, dated Sept. 6, from development manager Briana Mussatto, indicated a shortage of key consultants on Sept. 19.
“There are a few items that we are spending additional time on to ensure we can fully address any questions at the public hearing,” Mussatto wrote. “These include, but are not limited to, evaluating the recently released floodplain analysis as well as further developing a trail network plan and associated phasing.”
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The letter went on to say District is not concerned about any technical aspects changing the proposal, but it feels it owes the city and public due diligence in answering questions at the hearing.
The public hearing is postponed until further notice, according to a news release by the city.
Council directed staff to forward information to the Nov. 21 meeting for discussion by the newly-elected council on options for a rescheduled public hearing date.
District has requested council consider holding the public hearing on Dec. 5.
The developer wants to rezone the land to comprehensive development and change its OCP designation from single-unit residential and planned neighbourhood to just planned neighbourhood.
The plans call for half of the 140 acres to be developed, while the other half is preserved as parkland and environmental setback.
— NEWS Staff