Mayor Keith Fielding proposed in May 2011 having a look at the impact of major developments on Peachland.
by Dave Preston
A massive amount of development is planned over the next two decades and how that development will affect Peachland is the subject of a report that will be made public Thursday.
The District of Peachland will release Economic Impact Analysis of Major Development Projects in Peachland by Van Struth Consulting Group and Eric Vance & Associates. The report will be downloadable from the district’s website Thursday and, one week later, be the subject of a public presentation.
It was 11 months ago that the New Monaco development went to public hearing. When Peachland council considered third reading of an Official Community Plan amendment to include the proposal, some council members balked at the sheer size of the development and the impact of it and other major developments.
Council decided to order an economic impact analysis of the major developments proposed and underway. That report was expected to be ready in December.
The district will make the entire report available on its website Thursday (April 12). The report’s authors will be in Peachland on April 19 to present it to the public.
- Excited
- Informed
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
I would really like to see the feasibility of having the seniors center built on Beach Ave. from a consulting firm. It’s one thing to say it’s going there just because the mayors friends would like it there, it’s another to say that it is truly the place for it to be built both economically and realistically. We all know this match is coming. Hey Dave, where did the idea originally come from to place the seniors center on Beach Ave. and what was their reasoning?
It’s not going on Beach Avenue, technically. The land for it is between Waldo Way (the back alley) and Hwy. 97 and between Fifth and Sixth Streets. The idea behind it predates Keith Fielding as mayor, although I believe he was on a committee set up by then mayor Graham Reid to look into seniors’ housing. I’d have to look back in my archives to find the reasons, but I remember a few of them: close to services, ability to go out and walk around, close to bus, close to recreational opportunities.
Edited to add: This topic has been raised several times. If you guys would like, I could go back through my archives (pre-PeachlandNews.com) and post all of the related stories I have on the subject so y’all have the information available. Let me know.
The only reference to the senior housing in this report was that it was a given that more units would be being built over time.
It would seem that the terms of reference given to the consultants avoided the question on the economic impact of the senior housing.
It has been labelled an esential service like fire, police and snow removal.
Whoever provided the terms of reference for this report either made a huge mistake or was politically motivated in this decision.
There was also no analysis done on the economic impact of moving the Library and post office out of the IGA mall and into the TNI development as the Charette established as the go forward action plan.
The Charrette supporters should be relieved that a quantative study on the impact of this and political interference into the free market was done. It would be pretty obvious that the Library and Post Office should go where it makes best sense to them and not to the downtown developers.
It will be interesting if Mayor Fielding agrees and follows the advice of the $50,000 analysis….. basically to be quiet and let the market decide on the speed of development while encouraging it to be done quickly.
The quicker development is done the better it is for Peachland.