Details set for Chapman Lake project AAP
Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors have approved the details of the Alternative Approval Process (AAP) to get voter input on a plan to borrow $5 million over 30 years to pay for the Chapman Lake expansion project. The project involves deepening the outlet channel from the lake to allow the SCRD to draw more water in times of extreme drought.
In total, 18,887 electors within the Sunshine Coast Regional District Water Supply and Distribution Service Area are eligible to indicate their opposition through filling out a special form. If 10 per cent of them (1,888) file papers, the borrowing cannot go through.
The AAP begins June 10, with a July 19 deadline.
Roberts Creek director Mark Lebbell said he wants to make one thing clear for residents: “I’m going to take every chance I can get to ensure that people realize that they’re not voting on the project, they’re voting on the funding for the project,” he said.
The SCRD says if the AAP fails, the money will be acquired through short-term borrowing instead, which does not require a public approval process.
Elphinstone director Lorne Lewis voted against going ahead with the AAP. He’s been consistently opposed to the Chapman Lake project.
For more information, check the SCRD ads in Coast Reporter, or visit scrd.ca
Ruby Lake Resort Expansion
SCRD directors have given first reading to zoning and Official Community Plan amendments that would allow the Ruby Lake Resort to go ahead with expansion plans that have been in the works for around a decade.
The resort owners are asking the SCRD to rezone District Lot 3988 from the current RU5 (Rural Watershed Protection) zoning to C2 (Tourist Commercial). That change would allow a campground on property that had been used for one in the past.The latest version of the application would see 6.6 hectares used for up to 30 detached tent platforms or sleeping units, a motel with up to 12 detached housekeeping units, 30 RV sites, an amphitheatre, a dining hall, spa, aviary, two staff accommodation units, agriculture, and auxiliary uses or buildings like a snack bar, reception desk and office, market kiosks, laundry facilities, a pool, and wildlife viewing areas.
The mix of tent platforms, RV sites and motel rooms would be limited to a combined total of no more than 30 units. The bylaw amendments still have to pass second reading before the SCRD sets a public hearing date.
Still waiting on Stone
SCRD chair Garry Nohr told the May 12 board meeting that more than two months after Transportation Minister Todd Stone agreed to put together a working group on BC Ferries issues, they’re still waiting for their first meeting with the minister.
The group includes regional district chairs who have been lobbying the province on ferries issues, members of the ferry advisory committees, and the First Nations Summit along with Stone, staff from his ministry and the Minister of Community Sport and Cultural Development, Peter Fassbender, and BC Ferries itself.
Draft terms of reference circulated at the Feb. 29 SCRD transportation committee meeting said the purpose would be “constructive and productive dialogue with the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and selected stakeholders regarding BC Ferries affairs and its impact on coastal British Columbians who represent 70 per cent of the provincial population.”
It also laid out two goals: “to achieve collaborative options that will ensure the sustainability of coastal communities as well as the ferry service,” and “to mitigate negative impacts to coastal community social and economic hardships.”
