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DOI approves Highland Crossing
By Stephanie Stevens
It was a case of all or nothing.
One of the decisions on deck at the District of Invermere (DOI) council’s regular scheduled meeting Dec. 10 was development variance permit (DVP) for Highland Crossing Phase Two. The development includes a road which will run directly behind Fieldstone Glen and the residents have been very vocal about how it will affect them.
Members of the community had addressed the council at their November 26 meeting, and were in attendance again Dec. 10.
Resident Victoria Gordon addressed council during the first public question period.
“With my mobility issues, my only source of sun and fresh air is on my deck… and that road is going right behind my deck,” she said. “There will be gas and fumes and dust… I am not making a complaint; I am begging you (to move the location of the road).”
Doug Kipp also expressed concerns, noting that two of units at Fieldstone Glen will have “continuous lights shining in their windows.”
“The road is a major problem and it would go somewhere else,” he said.
But while the members of council took the Fieldstone Glen residents’ concerns regarding the road seriously, there was no way to change the road location without denying the DVP altogether as there has to be public access available to Highland Crossing.
The only other point of access to the development would be on and off 7A Ave. (locally called Beach Road), but the long standing unofficial (but clear) policy of the DOI has been no further traffic added to the busy road.
Councillor Gerry Taft noted there could be an argument for the road surface to be designed to minimize dust, adding that with it only being a 15-unit development, the traffic would not be as heavy as on a main road.
Director of Development Services Rory Hromadnik said there were definitely “engineering tricks” that could be employed to reduce “accidental trips” down the road, which would be on DOI property.
Other issues with the development previously brought up, including parking and drainage, had been addressed by the developer and council voted unanimously to approve the DVP.
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