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Silverdale development will move forward once district staff satisfied that all conditions met

Mission council approves zoning, OCP changes, but adds restrictive covenant
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Mission council has approved – with conditions – a rezoning request and change to the Official Community Plan (OCP) that will eventually allow Polygon Homes Ltd. to develop 66 compact single-family lots and 160 townhouse units in the Israel/Bench neighbourhood in Silverdale.

The 16.01-hectare development site is located immediately west of Nelson Street and consists of five properties – 8279, 8289, 8387 and 8455 Nelson Street including Parcel A, a District of Mission-owned parcel.

While the project has been approved, a restrictive covenant on the titles of the properties has been created.

The covenant’s principal restriction on the lands is that “no building permit or subdivision approval will be issued” until Polygon has satisfied the engineering department’s engineering servicing conditions.

READ MORE :Proposal moves forward

The covenant was created after several council members, and members of the public, raised concerns about servicing the area, road safety and many other issues.

Coun. Carol Hamilton said although well-managed development is needed, she is making her decision on a risk assessment.

She said the restrictive covenant is going to lock down the development until Polygon has complied with the issues council has asked for.

“If Polygon does not adhere to all the conditions that we put on, we can then roll back the zoning to what it was before. We have tools in place to move forward with this application,” Hamilton said.

She also said servicing is another question that has been asked of Polygon, to maximize the gravity-fed sewer and allow other homes to hook into it. Hamilton said she supports adoption.

Coun. Pam Alexis also supported final adoption for many of the same reasons as Hamilton.

“I know that some people feel that we should just leave this for the next council to consider, but I don’t believe, in the question of fairness, that that is a valid opinion. I believe it would be unfair to the developer if it was left hanging, to start all over again with a different council,” Alexis said.

She also said it would be unfair to the next council to make a decision on an issue the present council was overseeing.

“On that basis, fairness – and as Coun. Hamilton has also said about risk management – I believe we’ve got that under control, I’m in favour of adoption.”

Coun. Jim Hinds addressed the concerns some people had about making changes to the OCP.

“The understanding of some people is that the OCP is a document that can’t be changed. It’s actually written as a living document. It changes as the circumstances around it change,” Hinds said.

He said it is not unusual for an OCP to change.

“I’m supporting this. We’ve been waiting for something to happen on the Silverdale lands. We’ve been waiting for years.”

Mayor Randy Hawes also supported adoption, noting district staff have the engineering expertise that council members do not.

“Leaving it at third reading and waiting to get a report back on all those technical items that none of us here are qualified to really judge, well, that’s for professional staff, that’s what they do.

“I’m quite happy to say let’s adopt this and no construction starts until such time that the engineers for the proponent and our staff come to an agreement that everything has been met satisfactorily and then we’ll move ahead.”

Adoption passed by a 5-2 vote with Couns. Danny Plecas and Jenny Stevens voting against.



Kevin Mills

About the Author: Kevin Mills

I have been a member of the media for the past 34 years and became editor of the Mission Record in February of 2015.
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