Update. . . District council gave the first two readings to an Official Community Plan amendment Tuesday that will incorporate the Sustainable Downtown Peachland Plan into the OCP. A public hearing on the OCP amendment will be held in the future.
by Dave Preston
Council will consider Tuesday incorporating the Sustainable Downtown Peachland Plan into the town’s OCP.
The plan is the result of a charrette process that was conducted in late 2009 and early 2010 by the UBC Design Center for Sustainability. It was released to the public and reviewed by council in June of last year.
Downtown Peachland is already covered under the Beach Avenue Neighbourhood Plan. If council gives final approval to incorporating the Sustainable Downtown Peachland Plan, the area will be covered by two separate sections of the OCP.
“There is some overlap…
- Excited
- Informed
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
The nice thing (from a developers/council perspective) is that there were so many ideas on the table at any given time in the process that they can do what they bloody well please and rightly say: “well it was discussed in the Charrette”.
I’m sure that the University folks are have a good laugh every week in the bar about this social engineering experiment that they’ve foisted on us.
The thing is that the Mayor and Council are using the Charrette process to avoid having real community input on specific plans (like the proposed Seniors’ highrise). While this avoids their having their names in news today, it just about guarantees a swell of voter anger come re-election time.
Just you watch…
Sanity?
The 5M in real estate holdings that the district has assembled in downtown Peachland that will be the Districts contribution to attract Provincial and “private” money to build a subsided seniors housing.
What $5 million is being talked about here?
Very true. Participation is relevant. And it was two polls in one, and therefore perhaps somewhat self-affecting: It could be skewed by interpreting “Was council on the right track by not going taking it to referendum?”
I know that I am often frustrated by the want to participate and contribute with the need of other daily factors. I’d love to attend a few council sessions, or take in some more of the public meetings but these things seem to all be scheduled in the past. I wish I had participated in the Charette process but I was working out of town. Regardless, (and fortunately), I like what they came up with.
As far as moving the library downtown, there’s a good poll question. Would the library benefit?
The Charette process recommended the subsidized senior housing.
It did not at all cover whether 5 million of the District’s tax dollars should be spent on it.
At no time have I seen or heard any politician or city planner come out and say that subsidized Senior housing is the top priority for Peachland and 5 Million dollars should be spent on it and all other more standard responsibilities of the municipality (sidewalks, road repair, community centre expansion, water and sewers) are less important.
The fact that Peachland has 5 million dollars accumulated for subsidized seniors housing while the water bills and special levys are being doubled and tripled is astounding.
The people involved in the Charette process were not bound by mundane things like setting priorities and allocation of limited and finite tax payers dollars. What sort of analysis would identify subsidized seniors housing as a top priority? Is there a scramble up and down the valley of Municipalities making this the prime (if not only focus) of the Munipicality’s discretionary spending
I did not see the people contributing input to the Charrete clearly identify that the sidewalks on Princeton, the expansion of the community centre , and the burden of developing the water system should be done with tax increases. They did not clearly state that the extra $5 million the District has hidden away should be funneled off to subsidized Senior housing… for the poor old people in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver who would love to spend their last years living cheaply on some of the best real estate in Canada.
Now that the Charette has been approved and accepted there is no need to really look at the hard facts if that is what Peachlanders want to spend their tax dollars on. It has already been so decreed by the Charette process.
Shenanigans!!!!
The same poll overwhelmingly asked for a referendum. That is if you say that 15 votes for referendum or 25 votes on council being on the right track on poll open to the world has any significance at all.
“Are these moves what Peachlanders want?”
I feel that the answer of the majority is “Yes”. There was a poll recently on whether council was on the right track with seniors housing. The Charrette process was, by its nature, a public consultation. Whether you participated or not is curious, but there has been ample opportunity for feedback. These things have not been thrust arbitrarily onto Peachlanders.
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The Charrete recommended that the Library be moved downtown from the IGA mall and that the senior housing be built.
Are these moves what Peachlanders want?
This just seems a political move to say that the people agreed to these and there is no further need to discuss specifics. costs and budgets etc.