A proposed development near Sicamous came back to the regional district board for a third round of discussion.
The property is located at 3410 Oxbow Frontage Rd., near Yard Creek Provincial Park. The applicant is proposing to re-designate the property from Industrial to Resort, and rezone from Industrial 2 to CDE8 - Comprehensive Development E8, allowing the creation of a mixed-use resort and residential housing space.
These changes require amending Electoral Area E ‘s official community plan (OCP), as well as a zoning amendment.
The proposal received first and second reading from the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) board previously, despite staff recommendations to deny the amendments and bar the development from going ahead.
Read more: Proposed Shuswap development to prioritize cooperative living
Staff also recommended the board deny third reading at the Oct. 19 meeting for reasons unchanged from the previous two meetings. Staff maintain the proposed amendments are inconsistent with the OCP and uses supported by the current zoning, and noted the OCP “does not support creation of new shared interest developments.”
Staff said other uses in the surrounding industrial zone are vehicle wrecking, trucking yard, sawmill, aggregate extraction and processing and log home milling/construction, adding a residential site would not fit with the historical land uses.
A public hearing was held on Aug. 9, with notices sent to residents and tenants within 100 metres of the property, to determine the project’s community support. Staff said 84 people attended, around a third being residents of Malakwa and others coming from Sicamous and elsewhere in Area E. The majority of comments were in support, citing new housing was needed and a potential benefit to the local economy. Comments in opposition questioned how the affordable housing would be guaranteed available to anyone and not only purchased as recreational homes, and the rationale for proposing residences away from the Malakwa centre.
Divided into six different development areas, the proposed development would have 58 year-round single detached dwellings available for purchase on shared interest spaces, as well as 28 seasonal RV and seasonal dwelling spaces for purchase, 28 camping spaces for overnight camping and 12 tourist cabins. The camping spaces would not be for purchase and the number of lots would total 126.
Other uses for spaces on the property could include RV and boat storage, communal property amenities, management facilities and caretaker residences, said CSRD staff.
Electoral Area A director Karen Cathcart said the need for long-term housing is evident in every CSRD area, and staff agreed but said there were provisions and plans in place within the OCP to tackle the housing issue. The problem comes from this particular location, said staff, and its hybrid seasonal resort and long-term residential components, citing “unclear mechanisms” in place to ensure the housing remains affordable and to secure mortgages.
Sicamous Mayor Colleen Anderson said, although she couldn’t vote on the issue, Sicamous and Area E are closely connected and share some unique challenges.
“This project will deliver some attainable housing desperately needed,” she stressed, mentioning her own district and everywhere in between Revelstoke and Salmon Arm need a solution for employees who fuel their tourism-based industries and saying Sicamous supported the proposal. “OCP’s are fluid documents and can be amended… A public hearing with 80 people, that’s more than showed up for my election, that’s pretty substantial.”
She also said concerns about residential homes in an industrial area are likely unwarranted, as people will know what they’re buying into and what’s going on near the property.
The board members largely echoed Anderson’s support, with Area E director Rhona Martin acknowledging staff’s hard work and patience but defeating their recommendation.
The vote was to unanimously defeat staff’s recommendation and give both amendments third reading.
Bylaw No. 841-07 will now be sent to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for “consideration of statutory approval in accordance with the Transportation Act regarding development near a controlled access highway,” said staff. The bylaws will then be presented to the board for consideration of adoption.
Read more: Rezoning application for proposed Salmon Arm 55 complex going to council
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