Parksville residents have until Sept. 30 to speak their piece on a proposed development for a 140-acre parcel of land running along the Englishman River.
As part of their preliminary planning, District Developments Corp., a real estate development company, is seeking public feedback through an online survey, found at www.riversideparksville.ca, that outlines the future of the proposed development at 1465 Greig Rd. in Parksville.
The survey discusses possible concerns such as environmental sensitivity, flood management and wetland conservation.
During a summer presentation to Parksville city council, development manager Briana Mussatto said only 80 acres are developable and they would be looking to use the remaining 60 acres as a possible park, which may include community features such as trails and programmed open space.
“We’re looking at how to preserve and enhance the environmental areas which is wetlands and the floodplain,” she said.
READ MORE: Parksville city council approves development permit for 87 housing units
Mussattoo continued to say that the development company is investigating how to improve existing trail networks and connect to the existing regional district trail system.
“We know that this is very important for the community, which is why we’re looking at ways to maintain this connection and improve the trail system,” she said.
The proposed development will include up to 800 units of duplexes, four-plexes and townhomes, all built in different phases, and will be a mixture of for-sale and purpose-built rental units.
As part of their presentation, District Developments stated that the current rental vacancy in the Parksville Qualicum Beach area, as reported by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for the fall of 2020, rests at 1.1 per cent, which they stated suggests a continued strong rental demand.
They continued to state that the area has a combined population of approximately 29,000, which results in one of the lowest ‘rental units per capita’ rental markets in the province.
