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Elk Valley OCP adopted; Sparwood opposed
Despite an objection from the District of Sparwood, the Elk Valley Official Community Plan (OCP) was Oct. 3 adopted by the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Board of Directors.
“This OCP balances land management, community growth and the environment and I would like to thank the community for its participation and feedback over the last 13 months,” said Electoral Area A Director Mike Sosnowski. “I would also like to acknowledge the many hours of work put in by RDEK staff. These plans are comprehensive and complex documents that require a lot of time and effort to prepare, both on the part of the staff and the communities involved. I appreciate the time and energy everyone has invested to see this process to completion.”
The planning process began in September 2013. It replaces the 25-year-old Elk Valley Land Use Strategy and more recent 2006 Fernie Area Land Use Strategy and establishes a long-range vision for land use change in the rural parts of the Elk Valley.
“It was time to replace the old Land Use Plans with an OCP that reflects the community’s current vision and provides a direction and framework for future development in the plan area,” Sosnowski added.
Prior to approval, Sparwood Mayor Lois Halko told the board her municipality would like to see a one-month postponement of the vote in order for the district’s lawyer to establish suggestions for “modifications to the language” in the section detailing industrial and commercial usage of land.
Halko said the wording in that section could open the door for “widespread” industrial and commercial land use outside municipal boundaries, such as what was suggested last year when the regional government delved into home based business regulations, including major and minor businesses.
Regional chief administrative officer Lee-Anne Crane told the board that while “some of the wording may have been not fully developed, there is nothing in the bylaw that is illegal.”
Sosnowski argued against postponement. “We had a public hearing; it was well attended,” he said, noting the public was “very supportive. It is time for the decision to move forward.”
City of Cranbrook Mayor and RDEK director Wayne Stetski warned the language in the OCP, “the way it is written” may take the regional government “back on the road of major home businesses being allowed in rural areas.”
Halko, Stetski, District of Elkford Mayor and RDEK director Dean McKerracher and City of Cranbrook Councillor Bob Whetham voted in favour of postponement and again later against the passing of the legislation.
For more on the Elk Valley OCP visit the RDEK’s website at www.rdek.bc.ca or contact the Planning & Development Services Department at 250-489-2791 or 1-888-478-7335.
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
