One of our community’s values, according to the collected data of community input, is to develop the city in a “manner that is sensitive to natural environment and enhances the small town character of the community.”
But the proposed new Official Community Plan goals and favored potential zoning changes work in opposition to this particular value.
Here are some highlights in first draft of the OCP that the community has supposedly relayed to consultants and city staff:
Downtown revitalization (no surprise here); waterfront revitalization (The Beach Club and permit for 80 condos on the beach is enough revitalization don’t you think?); expansion of the downtown core that now extends down to the waterline; higher density with buildings five stories tall and higher; future rezoning for higher density and more malls in various areas of the city; rental properties converted to strata ownership (odd, considering the lack of rental property); downtown waterfront can be three to four stories and higher; downtown waterfront used for residential and commercial (another odd policy because residents opposed residential on the waterfront); a goal to have more commercial near the foreshore and in community park.
Is this OCP the views of a cross section of the community that includes residents, or are we only seeing one sector of the community being represented?
C. Macfie
Parksville
