Fraser River Bench Lands Gets Green Light

By 250 News

    
Plan of Fraser River Bench Lands Neighbourhood.

Prince George City Council has given the green light to another residential  development.  This one is the  Fraser River Bench Lands Neighbourhood.

Located along the west side of the Fraser River, the  new neighbourhood  would have a mix of residential, parks, trails and some neighbourhood commercial.

The rezoning application before Council  involved 23.5 hectares for  the construction of phase one of the development.

There were two issues that had to be dealt with, one had to do with noise.  Some Councilors had expressed concern that residents of this new development would be subjected to unacceptable  noise levels from the BCR site across the river.  Fortwood Homes had a special study done by Wakefield Accoustics.  That report  concludes that  noise levels, both pre and post construction,   would be well within the acceptable limits  set by CMHC and the CIty of Victoria’s Noise bylaw which is considered one of the most stringent in the province.

The City staff also noted in their report that some trees had already been cleared from the site and called for the company to present a tree planting plan.

Fortwood has provided that plan and Development Services says it now recommends Council approve the  rezoning.

Access to the subdivision  was raised as a concern.  Development Services, Dan Milburn says the  neighbourhood is designed to be developed in phases, and the first phase would have 194 homes.  Milburn says the current access  from Malaspina is considered adequate for the first phase, but once that phase is complete there would be  a review to see if alternate access would be necessary for the next stage of the development.

Fortwood  Homes hopes to have  the first lots available for sale in the  fall of 2008.  Fortwood Homes has also apologized to the City and to the public for the  tree clearing on the preliminary site preparation "It was the result of a misunderstanding with our contractor and we have taken full responsibility."

In approving the project, Councilor Sherry Sethen  said she's impressed "The way you have taken responsibility for the mistake, the scope of the project, I  believe this will be another jewel in our community."

Councilor Brian Skakun  is worried about the traffic,  in particular, all the traffic coming from Peden Hill and pouring on to Cowart Road.  He was the only Councilor to oppose the development.

The Mayor says the thing about this project that  he likes "is the capturing of the natural beauty of the river system, I wish we had done more of that a 100 years ago."

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