Fraser River Bench Lands Phase One

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 03:58 AM

The Fraser River Bench Lands Neighbourhood has received the first two readings for the rezoning needed for phase one of the development

The application for the rezoning needed for the first phase of development of the Fraser River bench lands has been given first two readings by Prince George City Council however, it will still be a while before the actual public hearing will take place.

City staff say that since the Fraser River Bench Lands plan was adopted, there has been some tree-clearing on the property. The clearing, say staff was “in contravention of the City of Prince George Tree Protection bylaw and development guidelines established by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for riparian areas” As a result, staff say the applicant will be responsible for a replanting plan for all those areas disturbed by tree cutting, in addition to providing securities to cover the costs of the work.

Staff say Fortwood Homes has been advised of the contraventions and was sent a letter outlining the steps that will have to be taken to “rectify any environmental damage and bring the property back into conformance with the City of Prince George Tree Protection bylaw.”

That is why City staff recommends the final approval of the application be put on hold until all the outlined requirements have been met.

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Posted on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 03:58 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 15 2007 7:16 AM

There a good example for any would be developers. Before you make an application to city, get it engineered and then start bull dozing the site. Don't talk to anyone.

When you have all the problem areas cleaned up, go to council for rezoning because that is the exact point that they have to start with.

It is the cheapest an most effective way to keep control of the development and the costs. In this example the developer has to go backwards, so he should have spent the money first. This development stuff is for people with very deep pockets in any case.

So for you little guys, fix it up the way you want it first, then go for permission. It's the only way to make it work.

Posted by: owl on May 15 2007 8:46 AM

It is simple ... wait till the trees are 50 years old and they can talk about development again. This is not only the city, it is also the province that is involved.

Remember, this is a questionable development in the first place which in any other modern city in North America would not have seen the light of day before a FULL, environmental assessment was done on it.

Posted by: owl on May 15 2007 8:54 AM

Of course we have the same going on with the Pellet Plant - Biopacific Energy - on the Willowcale Road. They have the plant ready to go, but no permit for air emissions. The environmental study of the effect is just being reviewed now. In that case the city likely thinks it is off the hook because the MoE issues the permnit, not the City.

Think of the pressure there is on on the MoE to issue that permit given that a huge plant has already been built. So, the city is complicit in that one .... yet they are down the neck with Fortwood, not that they shouldn't be. But being consistent would be nice.

Posted by: ICEMAN on May 15 2007 9:35 AM

oops someone cut trees without the proper permits OOPS THEIR BAD!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: owl on May 15 2007 11:10 AM

I wonder if the faller was a certifed faller. If not ... oops, they are REALLY bad.

And how about the load restrictions for the truck that took them away? Hopefully they went by a weigh scale on the way to the log yard. Would not want to be caught flaunting a provincial law.

Did the driver have a license to drive the rig?

Let's see, which law do I abide by ... there are so many .. it is hard to choose ...

darn, where is that dart board with the laws written on it .. and my handy dandy darts???? I only have six darts, and more than a dozen laws ... so can't get them all .....

;-)

Posted by: Chadermando on May 15 2007 7:09 PM

Shut em down. Make em wait until University Heights is filled out first and then let them re-apply in ten years time.

This is a stupid backwards development anyways building major residential investment right next to major industrial park lands. How dumb is that. City planning at its best or not.

On a related note did anyone notice in the recent numbers out of the Vancouver Construction Association showing that only a third of one percent of all their construction is for industrial development, with 2/3'rds residential, and nearly 1/3 commercial. I'm not sure that is a sustainable mix, but you got to envy them for being able to pull it off.

IMO it shows that wealth creation via industry is not happening in Vancouver, and that their economy is much different than ours with the Lower Mainlands mainly based on immigrant dollars to the region where as ours is more based on the resource economy.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on May 15 2007 11:55 PM

"..ours is more based on the resource economy." It's funny you should mention that. Most people on council, the city administration and the majority of "stop everything" whiners don't know what keeps the lights on in this town.

I'm not a control freak, so I say if they want to build it, go ahead. Me and owl should be on council so we could cancel each others votes out.

Posted by: owl on May 18 2007 3:47 AM

We seem to do fine together on the other group YDPC. We seem to vote the same way most often .....

;-)