by Julie Andres
Bowen Island Undercurrent, Dec 7, 2007
The Cape on Bowen Community Development Ltd., formerly Cape Roger Curtis Joint Venture, held its third informational open house at Cates Hill Chapel last Saturday. The planning team, Ekistics Town Planning Inc., have refined their plan to incorporate community feedback gleaned from previous meetings. One of the questions that has been on the minds of those interested in the development was addressed specifically: the number of units proposed for the ultimate build-out is in the neighbourhood of 1,000.
The open house comprising two presentations drew between 150 and 200 people in spite of snowy weather. “We were happy with the way things went this weekend,” said project coordinator Mark Sager.
Morganne Keplar has been involved in many volunteer activities on Bowen Island over the years, including the Bowen Community Housing Association’s Affordable Housing Strategy Committee, was favourably impressed. “This is a good opportunity,” she said. “I think the developers are doing their best. It’s hard for people to trust developers. Sometimes they are completely thoughtless. I don’t see that here. These guys are leading edge.“
Earlier in the week the Cape group met with the mayor, members of council and several municipal groups (including the Advisory Planning Commission, the Trails Committee and the Civic Facilities Working Group). Sager said that the meeting was not productive. “We got off on the wrong foot,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, because they (owners Don Ho and Edwin Lee) are open and willing to give up the best that they have.“
Sager traveled to Switzerland earlier this fall to meet with financier Jonathan Chait, owner of a large parcel of land adjacent to CRC and Tunstall Bay. Tunstall Bay residents have been strong opponents of using Whitesails Road to access the Cape. “We now have a handshake deal to put a road through the [Chait] property,” said Sager. “It’s an old logging road.“
Sager also met with members of the Cape Roger Curtis Trust Society earlier in the week. He said that the meeting was very positive and he feels that they will find a balance that most will be happy with. “Our maps are now looking very much the same.” Both plans preserve a large amount of the Cape for parks and all waterfront is left in its natural state.
Over the next few months Sager and his team will refine the plan further. A public hearing is slated for February and rezoning bylaw readings and adoption are projected for March.
Archived materials
Posts
- Fall 2009 update
- Legal Opinion on CRC Subdivision Application
- Parks Canada Initiative – Fall/Winter 2009
- Disappointment: The Owner’s New Proposal for Cape Roger Curtis
- Cape Trust Society praised for quality of work
- Fifty-eight-lot subdivision application for the Cape shouldn’t be on the table
- Cape Roger Curtis Trust Society Launches Wild Coast Plan 2
- CRC Plan Beyond Comprehensive
- Bowen agleam in red and green
- Wild Coast Plan 2
Documents
- Why environmental inventories are insufficient for conservation planning: Comments on the 2008 PGL report on CRC
- Four-legged friend or foe? Dog walking displaces native birds from natural areas
- Mitigating and adapting to Climate Change through conservation of nature
- CRC writer ignored biological issues
- Cape Roger Curtis Biophysical Summary
- Overview Environmental Inventory
- Success Stories Show Park at Cape Roger Curtis Not Impossible
- Council Resolution Defining the Public Interest in Cape Roger Curtis
- Follow up from Dr. Karel Klinka’s Assessment of the Cape Roger Curtis Property
- Ecological Assessment and Considerations in Developing the Cape Roger Curtis Property
Letters
- CRC Trust Society makes clear its position
- Trust Society comments on Neighbourhood Plan of September 2008
- Trust Society Comments on Ekistics’ Preliminary Neighbourhood Plan and Implementation Options
- CRC Transportation Study Points to the Need for an OCP Review
- It’s all in the numbers-–hundreds of houses are just too many
- Council encouraged to instate DCCs
- Developers should be held to task
- Walk Your Talk Inside and Outside
- CRC developers upped ante unacceptable
- Transparent or veiled?