To City Council:
Shame! Shame! Shame! on the mayor and city council for deferring the subject rezoning application. Except Coun. Cornfield who deserves kudos for being our sole voice of reason in council. Thank you, councillor cornfield for actually doing what you were elected to do by listening to and representing the citizens of Campbell River.
Over and over council members stated that they heard loud and clear from the neighbourhood, which they obviously didn’t. The recommendation from the city’s own staff was to deny this application. This afforded the developer to address council. Mr. Salisbury presented no new information in his presentation, other than provide admittedly deceptive photos. The developer asserts that one of the benefits of this development would be to enhance the Island Highway. I don’t see an unsightly development crammed into a relatively small lot as a benefit to the Island Highway.
Coun. Moglove states that this is not just an amendment to the OCP but a complete flip. This lot is not big enough for re- development. Councillor evans states that this is not what the neighbourhood wants. The whole neighbourhood and many supportive residents from other areas made it clear that we do not welcome rezoning and that this quiet neighbourhood is not ripe for redevelopment at this time. So why is council looking forward to another submission on redevelopment of this property?
You most definitely have not taken to heart the feelings of the neighbourhood. You have not alleviated any of the angst in the neighbourhood. You allude to being more transparent as a goal. However, you are very transparent. Only not in an admirable way. You have shown the developer and the neighbourhood that you are quite willing to approve redevelopment on this property and that this likely was already a done deal long before all of the formalities had been followed.
Once again shame!
No rezone!
Karen Khan