The Columbia-Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) asked Revelstoke City Council if they had any concerns about the proposed large resort development at Shelter Bay. And they did – a long list of them.
At a December meeting, city council opted to send the list of concerns to the regional district in response to a referral request from the CSRD for the proposed Shelter redidential development by Shelter Bay Lands Ltd.
The list is a request; council doesn’t have the jurisdiction to make demands about areas outside of city limits.
The requests focus on the impact the development could have on the city, especially negative impacts, such as the impact on resources that could cost Revelstoke money.
The list includes:
- a request for an updated shared use agreement to reflect the impacts on city facilities like the community centre.
- a request for a traffic impact analysis, including a look at impacts on the ferry service and regional transit.
- a request for mitigation of impacts on wildlife in the area.
- a request for an environmental impact analysis.
- a request for a study into the impact on emergency services, such as the cost of providing police services to the remote location.
- a request for planning around housing diversity, with a focus on issues such as absentee ownership and property crime prevention through design.
- a request for bolstered regional planning including consultation with the city on issues like land use, parks, transportation, the environment and the economy.
Mayor David Raven noted his dual role as the CSRD chairperson, then wondered if the requests were overstepping council’s jurisdiction somewhat. “A number of the items that we are commenting on are very legitimate in that they are impacts on the city, but a number of the other ones are actually impacts on an area outside of the city,” Raven said at the Dec. 11 meeting. “Why are we worried about wildlife?”
Coun. Chris Johnston noted the referral response had limited authority. “[We can] suggest that they look at these things. We can’t make them do it,” he said.
Council opted to send the referral as presented. The planning department report was first approved by the advisory planning commission.