A proposed 21-property ‘hobby farm’ subdivision on the shore of the Illecillewaet River in the Greeley area got a lukewarm response from the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District’s Area B Advisory Planning Commission (APC) on Oct. 10.
The proposed subdivision sits between the CP Rail tracks and the river, and consists of 21 properties, all about one-hectare in size.
The APC meeting was the public debut for the proposed subdivision. The proponents requested support from the APC for their application to have the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) property subdivided.
The proponent is the Illecillewaet Development company, the same company advancing the proposed Revelstoke Adventure Park development, to be located next to the subdivision, on the other side of the CP Rail tracks nearer to Mount Mackenzie’s north side.
Lead proponent Jason Roe said the concept is to use covenants to create horse-friendly “hobby farm-type lots.”
The commission was philosophically divided; some supported the development, while others noted the properties were all about half the minimum two-hectare lot size spelled out in planning rules.
“If we are going to give you preferential zoning, why don’t we give it to the next guy coming along?” asked APC chairperson Mike Cummings.
Roe said the smaller lot sizes were needed for financial reasons.
In the end, the commission struggled to come up with mutually acceptible wording to express their limited support, agreeing to support the ALR subdivision application in principle, but to leave property size and zoning questions to be determined at a later stage in the process.
The ALR subdivision is the first in a lengthy, multi-step process that will include rezoning and CSRD subdivision applications. It will include public hearings.
Committee members also expressed geotechnical and flooding concerns given the subdivision’s proximity to the Illecillewaet River.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated the application was for an Agricultural Land Reserve exclusion, in fact, it's for a subdivision with the ALR. We regret the error.
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Here is the report considered by the Advisory Planning Commission: