Skip to content

City of Revelstoke takes steps attempting to protect Jordan River area

They will be updating the neighbourhood plan and looking at other options
20894211_web1_200206-RTR-jake-jay-gravel-pit-meeting-map_2
More than 50 people attended the community meeting hosted by Grusky Layco of Jake-Jay Construction and voiced their concerns about the proposed gravel pit near the Jordan River, on Jan. 28, 2020. (Jocelyn Doll/Revelstoke Review)

Next in the Official Community Plan updating process for the city of Revelstoke is the Columbia Park and Westside neighbourhood plan.

Though originally farther down the list of neighbourhood plans, city council voted to prioritize this area in order to address concerns about a proposed gravel pit next to the Jordan River on Westside Rd.

In response to a letter submitted to council by Revelstoke resident Virginia Thompson, council made a motion at their Mar. 10 meeting to bump Columbia Park higher on the list as well as have staff look into other options for protecting the area.

“That would speed up the process as far as getting that whole area looked at as far as how we should deal with zoning and the OCP and that sort of thing,” said Mayor Gary Sulz.

Last December Jake-Jay Construction was granted a two year temporary exploration license for a section of Crown Land on Westside Rd. next to the Jordan River.

The license does not allow them to extract gravel or to remove trees. The company still has a long list of assessments and test they have to compile before they can extract gravel.

Long before the temporary license was issued, there has been ongoing opposition in the community against this proposal.

READ MORE: ‘This river is a treasure’-Revelstoke resident opposes gravel pit proposal near Jordan River

Last July, city council submitted a letter of opposition to the Ministry of Forests that included a petition with 150 signatures.

READ MORE: Revelstoke City Council opposed to proposed gravel pits north of town

Then the community voiced their opposition at a public consultation meeting hosted by Jake-Jay in January.

READ MORE: Backlash continues as proposed gravel pit near Revelstoke granted temporary licence

READ MORE: Q&A with province after meeting on proposed gravel pit near Jordan River

Though the decision is ultimately made by the province as the project is located on Crown Land, zoning and a communities’ official community plan is part of the process, said Dawn Low, CAO for the city.

At the moment city staff are creating neighbourhood plans for Johnson Heights and Arrow Heights as part of the Official Community Plan update.


 

@JDoll_Revy
jocelyn.doll@revelstokereview.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.