Several residents of the Selma Park area turned up at the April 18 Sechelt council meeting hoping to find out more about development variance permits for a large property between Nestman and Havies roads.
Van Ke Developments Inc. is requesting variations to the road standards for Nestman, Laurel, Havies, Betty and a new road that will run along the lower part of the property as they create a 66-lot subdivision.
The project has been on Sechelt’s books for about a decade, and the variance was discussed at the March 28 planning committee meeting.
It was raised again April 18 by Coun. Doug Wright, who does not sit on the planning committee, because he’d been hearing from residents who were caught by surprise that the variance was up for a vote.
“I’ve been getting a lot of emails and phone calls about this development,” Wright said. “It appears that there’s some concern over what’s happening with this development and the public doesn’t know what’s going on.”
Coun. Noel Muller, who chairs the planning committee, said because of the type of application there was less public notification and public input than there would have been for a zoning or OCP amendment, despite the size of the project.
“We’ve seen a lot of these come forward in the last year that more or less fit with the existing plan, in terms of existing zoning, and fit with the overall vision of the way development is going in Sechelt,” he said.
Council went on to approve the variances, opening the way for the owners to negotiate a servicing agreement, which will be needed before the final subdivision approval.
Sewer access will be part of that process, and Coun. Darren Inkster said questions about the impact on the road system in the neighbouring areas will also have to be addressed.
“It will create an access road that we’ve been looking for through that area to join up Laurel to Nestman… What it will also do is create some traffic pattern changes,” he said.
