Parksville council has voted against amendments that would have facilitated an 800-unit development at 1465 Greig Rd. near the Englishman River.
Third reading of an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment and a zoning and development amendment bylaw was defeated 6 - 1, with only Mayor Doug O’Brien in favour, during council’s March 20 regular meeting.
If carried, the amendments would have paved the way for the ‘Riverside’ planned neighbourhood project by District Development Group.
“The community has made it a simple decision for me to support the overwhelming opposition to this third reading with my ‘no’ vote today,” said Coun. Sean Wood. “According to some reports, the city had received 2,999 submissions about the proposal, of those, 2,986 were opposed. It seems pretty clear what the public feels like on this issue.”
Hundreds of people attended a public hearing in February, which lasted for more than three hours and highlighted concerns such as increased stress on the city’s water supply, urban sprawl, flooding, increased traffic, the area’s sensitive ecosystem — particularly the river—shrinking green space in the community and a lack of public transportation options. The March 20 council meeting was also well-attended by the public.
O’Brien said he was disappointed because Parksville’s strategic plan calls for housing for all and added the Greig Road development would have targeted middle income housing needs.
“Parksville needs workforce housing,” O’Brien said. “Many of our service industry workers cannot afford to live in Parksville. They cannot continue to commute to Parksville from their homes, located elsewhere.”
The neighbourhood was planned to consist of five development pockets with up to 10 different forms of housing, such as duplexes and apartments, but would not have included single-family units, according to a presentation by District in December.
READ MORE: Residents voice opposition to proposed 800-unit Parksville development at public hearing
District also proposed commitments that included rental housing as the first 100 units built, securing 53 acres of land as green space, a flood level agreement with 500-year floodplain, an updated traffic agreement after 400 units and securing public access to trails. Forty per cent of the 140 acres were planned for development.
“The proposed development, while it has many positive aspects, also contains negatives,” said Coun. Mary Beil. “Both our OCP and policy number 2.20 include goals of encouraging land use policies that reduce sprawl, preserve open space and create compact, walkable, bike-able communities. The location of this proposal flies in the face of these stated objectives.”
Beil added she believes it would not be prudent to encourage increased density on the city’s outskirts and there are areas in Parksville’s core that could be redeveloped.
Coun. Sylvia Martin said condos and apartments should be built closer to downtown where services are easily available and within walking distance. She also said she would support a lower density development in the area.
“My position is there should be no building allowed on a flood plain, period,” Martin said.
In addition to being home for many wildlife species, the area is a popular spot for people to enjoy the trails and walk their dogs, Coun. Joel Grenz said.
“People in our community want to ensure that a number of the benefits this property provides are preserved,” Grenz said. “We have folks in this community who enjoy the opportunity to walk this property and enjoy the healing benefits that nature provides.”