Development plans are problematic

Dear Editor:

The Canadian Horizons company has proposed a housing development project on Spiller Road here in Penticton. I believe that the plans for this housing development need to be amended. I am not, however, suggesting that the project should not continue to fruition, but as it stands, the development proposal is problematic.

This a large-scale project has left out key elements regarding local environmental considerations. The project has been planned for several years, and through more than one company. During this time, the plans for the development have changed dramatically from the original and agreed-upon format.

To begin with, there was a 45-metre wide wildlife corridor that bordered the properties of Spiller Road. This preserved the value and the view of the Spiller Road properties while respecting an existing corridor frequented by the local Okanagan mountain elk, which is distinct and extremelylimited species. This corridor has been moved toward the centre of the development with only the narrowest of distance between existing Spiller properties, indeed a walking path.

Fellow Spiller Road residents and I had discussions with the mayor in 2014, who assured us that municipally supplied water would be coming to Spiller Road through this development, providing potable water and much-needed fire protection.

This has since been removed from the Canadian Horizons’ plan. That water, when available, is the right of every Penticton citizen and taxpayer. The size of the project was originally set at 112 lots.

This has since ballooned to more than

380. A massive, and in my view, unsustainable configuration. This crowding of homes and the reduction of the wildlife corridor is unwise, unsustainable and irresponsible.

I implore our current city council to reinstate the original format to the development plan, especially in light of the jump from 112 to 380 lots. Residents of Spiller Road have contended with the (frankly, inexcusable) lack of access to municipal water for decades, which has resulted in unmanageable fires due to a lack of access to hydrants. This puts everyone at risk.

I hardly need remind the situations or community has faced in light of wildfires, and the prospect that this risk will increase over time.

Please take action to amend the Canadian Horizons’ development plan.

Steven E. Boultbee

Penticton