The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) board of directors this morning shut down a 15-site campground application for a property on the corner of Jim Smith Lake Road and Laidlaw Road.

The board defeated third readings of Bylaws No. 2670 and 2671 (Jim Smith Rd. / Durning), which if passed would rezone the subject property from RR-2 (Rural Residential, Small Holding Zone) to C-4 (Recreation Commercial Zone).

City of Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt was the lone director to support the rezoning, which captured area residents’ attentions.

A public hearing was held June 28 in a crammed full RDEK boardroom in Cranbrook, with 123 in attendance. A host of area residents and people from elsewhere spoke out during the one hour and 40 minute hearing.

Electoral Area C Director and board chair Rob Gay said he heard plenty at the hearing from the 65 people who presented views (29 for; 36 against). The RDEK also received more than 500 written submissions.

“It’s nice to get that much feedback. We rarely get that feedback,” he said, noting 146 people expressed support and 316 were against it.

Gay pointed out that despite being considered ‘rural,’ Area C has about 4,000 residents and isn’t rural in some areas, such as across the road from the proposed campground.

He then urged the board not to support the application.

Pratt said he visited the site and supports the application. “I think it’s going to be a nice little campground,” he said, suggesting too much is being made of the proposal.

“We’re talking 15 sites,” he said, adding he sympathizes with people who don’t want change but “there is a need.”

Pratt said a lot of people speaking against the campground don’t live near the actual property and their comments are “irrelevant. I would pay attention to the immediate neighbours, of which a couple who were fine with it; some weren’t. And I think the reason there was so many letters is because somebody took it upon themselves to make it a real issue. It almost became a vendetta to stop it.”

As for traffic concerns, he repeated, “Again, it’s 15 sites! It’s a few months of the year and I could live two doors down and have a birthday party with 40 vehicles there and so I mean it’s not a big deal on the traffic side.”

Electoral Area E Director Jane Walters argued encroachment of recreational businesses and industry into rural areas goes against why most residents opted to plant roots in rural East Kootenay.

“Most of us live in the rural areas because we have chosen to live that lifestyle and we don’t want to have campgrounds in my or their backyard,” she said. “We don’t want other people coming into our properties and we don’t want their dogs coming into our properties and we certainly don’t want their quads coming into our properties.”

Electoral Area B Director Stan Doehle said he related to what Walters said, being a Baynes Lake resident.

“This is small but it’s still a campground in a residential setting and the neighbours aren’t happy about it. We live it at Baynes Lake. The residents aren’t happy. I don’t know why we even contemplate putting a campground in a residential area,” he said.

Electoral Area F Director Wendy Booth said there are several campgrounds in the area around her home and she never hears of complaints.

However, the proposal before the board does not meet key requirements as laid out in the RDEK’s campground policy. “That’s a key point. We have a minimum size and this one doesn’t meet that size,” she said, noting that is why she wouldn’t support third reading.

City of Cranbrook councillor and board director Tom Shypitka said this morning’s decision is the most difficult he’s made since being elected.

He commended the applicant for his time and effort and said he also visited the site and found it “very well laid out. It looks great. As far as the need goes, I believe there is a need.”

He suggested Durning could be reaching “a niche” in camping. He also argued traffic wouldn’t be that much of a problem.

However, “there is the other side. This is a radical change from what the OCP intended. And the public outcry, as chair Gay said, is two to one. It’s been very emotional and I’m so very much on the fence here but I think because of what’s been shown in the public hearing; that was really helpful process,” he said, admitting he could not support the third reading.

Gay repeated that such a response to rezoning application is rare and “when 300 people take the time to oppose something and yes, some live farther and some live closer in – what your public and my public is telling us is that rezoning is not appropriate.”

City of Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick pointed out he is a strong advocate for small business but he sympathizes with property owners who purchase rural parcels to live a rural lifestyle.

As for where people are from in terms of public hearings, McCormick argued, “The reason they are weighing in on it is because they looking at ‘this could happen next door to me. If it happened once it is going to happen again and increase the level of uncertainty in residential areas.

– Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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