The Qualicum Beach Official Community Plan (OCP), soon to be adopted, has residents objecting to council’s last-minute major amendment to the plan. Residents were taken by surprise at the last council meeting during third reading of the OCP, when a councillor made the motion to move the Urban Containment Boundary (UCB) to its maximum extension.
UCBs of cities or regional districts guide where urbanization shall occur, encourage compact communities, prevent sprawl, place limits on costly infrastructure services and aim to protect natural resources.
What has galled residents, leaving them feeling betrayed, is council’s rejection of public opinion resulting from a two-year public review process. Residents who participated in the review did not voice a wish to extend development beyond the UCB; rather, they expressed a preference for development within walking distance to the Village Core.
Residents familiar with local government’s relationship with the Regional Growth Strategy and UCB are particularly disturbed by one council member misrepresenting that relationship to the public. Aside from the prospects of leapfrog-style development, loss of rural areas and threat to Agricultural Land Reserves, residents no longer trust their local government.
Charna MacFie
Qualicum Beach
