Land Request Moves Forward

Monday, August 27, 2007 09:02 PM

A request to Prince George City Council to have nearly 600 hectares of land removed from the Agriculture Land Reserve will be sent to the Agriculture Land Commission.

L&M Engineering had made the request on behalf of its clients. It thought the matter was pretty straight forward, considering the City of Prince George Staff had written L&M a letter just last month supporting the request be moved forward to the ALC “it is the Department’s belief the exclusion of the ALR land from the subject property will not significantly impact agricultural land. Therefore the Department will be forwarding a Staff Report to Council recommending a positive response to the ALC”.

City Staff say yes, that letter was sent, but another, a correction letter, was sent saying that decision was "premature."

The Development Services Staff report presented to Prince George City Council called for the request to be deferred until the industrial land study has been completed, a delay L&M says could cost half a year at least, and the loss of the 2008 construction season.

The firm says it makes more sense to have the matter sent to the ALC and while the Commission looks at the merits of the request, L&M can prepare for the next step, which would be an application to rezone.

It’s all about timing, and in this case, L&M’s Heather Oland says 6 months could mean missed opportunities linked with the Prince Rupert Port, the Airport expansion and the intermodal facilities of CN.

Councilor Brian Skakun agrees, saying it could take a long time to complete the industrial land study, "I don't think the delay in this case is acceptable."

Current Planning Manager Dan Milburn says there are so many applications coming before his department asking for lands to be pulled from the ALR for light industrial use, the time has come for some policy and support. "To justify these large exclusions, and to do that we think there needs to be appropriate policy support behind it."

The City's Grant Bain says the six month timeline outlined by L&M is "Grossly overstated. This is a 6 month process and we are five months into it." Bain says the final report could be put to Council at the end of October, and ready for the ALC's meeting in Prince George in late November.

Councilor Don Zurowski says he is not inclined to make a decision to withdraw nearly a thousand acres of land from the ALR without further information. He wants to wait the six weeks it will take to finish the industrial land review."It may not get all the consultation it needs, but in order to protect us from acting with too much vigour, it will get it back to us in a timely way and we have a chance to put some weight behind it we'll do it with intelligence and information."

Councilor Don Bassermann says six weeks can end a construction season and he would like to see the matter dealt with it as soon as possible.The Regional District of Fraser Fort George has already given its support for the exclusion of the sections of this property which fall within the Regional District boundaries.

Mayor Colin Kinsley says he believes the ALC can deal with the issues of the exclusion, and the city then can deal with the balance of the decisions that would need to be made. Kinsley quoted a report which shows there are only a few properties through Williams Lake north to Prince George that are out of the ALR and of the size needed for development. There is a demand, and Kinsley doesn't want a delay "I do appreciate the work that has been done, but time is of the essence. Lets make it very clear, this is not a 6 week delay, it is a delay that will carry to the end of November."

"I don't think we will cause any harm by sending this to the ALC at this time" says Councilor Sherry Sethen "We still have the decisions about land use."

Councilors Debora Munoz and Murry Krause and Don Zurowski supported holding back , but the Mayor says he is not about to be timid "All the checks and balances are still in effect, this transportation corridor is going at break neck speed and that's not comfortable for planners. I know something about horsepower, and about competition and second place is the first loser."

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Posted on Monday, August 27, 2007 09:02 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Runner46 on August 27 2007 9:47 PM

I am beginning to like the current mayor. "Second place is the first loser".....

Boy, would it be piss off to see Kamloops come out on top again.

Posted by: owl on August 28 2007 12:13 AM

"this transportation corridor is going at break neck speed and that's not comfortable for planners."

Here I go again .... going to the dictionary since people seem to sometimes forget what it means to plan and to be a planner.

To plan means to formulate a scheme or programs for the accomplishment, enactment or attainment of an objective.

The transportation corridor does not happen by itself. Someone, somewhere has been planning that integrated project. Sort of like the airport planning to extend a runway � it does not just happen. Those who plan do not need to be registered professional planners. We all plan. As with everything else, some plan better than others, or so it seems.

To say that a plan towards achieving an objective is going at break neck speed and that it makes planners uncomfortable is a strange notion to me. To tell that to the airport people would likely make them laugh if it were not so sad. I do not think it is planners who are stopping the process in that case, it is funders who are being cautious.

In the case of the City, setting objectives is done by Council. They set direction. Staff, including planners, will implement the processes required to meet those directions. So, I wonder whether it is just planners who are uncomfortable, or also Council. Whose responsibility is it to �keep their eyes and ears open� as to opportunities which may be about to arrive? I think that is one of the characteristics of a good community development leader. I typically would look for that in Council as well as some key staff and departments.

So where did this go wrong? Why is this City not ready to accommodate something which has been in the works for years? Why is this seat of the pants planning once again?

Perhaps it is not only infrastructure which is falling apart, but also city services such as planning. Is the City Manager, along with City Council, providing the right kind of resources required to do the work of planning this City properly? Is the planning department overextended as the fixers of potholes are overextended?

August is almost over. The new City Manager is 8 months into his new position and has had time to peruse what cards he has been dealt to manage the City�s business efficiently and effectively. I wonder when we will be finding out whether he is accepting the status quo, or whether he will be making some changes in attempt to improve such situations as the City finds itself in at this time.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on August 28 2007 7:23 AM

Going to the dictionary, when we should be going to work?

In case Owl missed it, location, location, location. PG has wanted to be a transportation corridor since 1912. Enough planning?

City Manager? I went down there to talk to him and he is on holidays. Seems Derek is settling in real well thank-you. PG isn't going to see "less is better" government soon.

Posted by: Palopu on August 28 2007 9:13 AM

Prince George has been a transportation corrider since 1912. Where have you people been. Are you all Rip Van Winkles.

We had two Railways interchanging at Prince George. BC Rail/CN Rail. They serviced North to Fort Nelson, South to Vancouver since the 1950's 1960's. The CN serviced Prince Rupert to Vancouver to Edmonton and Eastern Canada and the Continental USA, for the past 100 years.

The Prince George Airport has serviced the North for the past 60/70 years, and was especially busy in the mid 60's, with customs offices etc;.

We have Highways running from Prince George to Prince Rupert, Vancouver, Alaska, Edmonton, that have been here for years. What more do you need for a Transportation Corrider??

BC Rail and CN handled all the coal from Tumbler Ridge to Prince Rupert for 15 years. Approx 2 trains per day in each directions. The container terminal in Prince Rupert will in the first stage provide one train per day in each direction. Possibly increasing to 2 sometime in the future. This means in the next 5/10 years you could have as many trains running from Prince Rupert as you had running to Prince Rupert in the last 15 years.

All the lumber, pulp, and paper, plywood, concentrate, hydrogen peroxide, sulphuric acid, that have been produced in Prince George and the North Central BC have been handled to various destinations by Rail or by Truck, for the past 50/75 years. We are talking about in excess of 200,000 Rail cars and trucks per year.

So you have had a transportation corrider for the last 75 years at least, and the best you can do is increase it to some extent, if you can get some industry in the area to make something other than forest products. If not then overtime it will decrease.