Couple turn to premier for help with development near new Cowichan hospital

A Mill Bay couple called on the premier for help this week to get a proposed 850-home development across from Cowichan’s new hospital off the ground.

Elaine and John Lichtenwald asked for David Eby’s assistance when he spoke at a Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting this week, saying they’ve encountered “four years of red tape” with the District of North Cowichan and hadn’t been able to connect with the province.

Eby later sent a staff member to speak with the couple. Elaine Lichtenwald has since talked to a provincial official, John Lichtenwald said later.

The couple own 31 acres on the north side of Herd Road near the Trans-Canada Highway. The site is 150 metres north of the $1.4-billion hospital under construction at Bell McKinnon and Herd roads, which is scheduled to open in 2027.

Prior to the latest official community plan, which was approved in 2022, the Lichtenwalds’ land was within the urban containment boundary, which designates areas suitable for growth. The updated plan, however, moved the urban containment boundary south of their property to Herd Road.

That new plan designated their land and others properties north of Herd Road as “future growth” areas, which means they would not be developed immediately.

Land south of Herd Road, meanwhile, is within the local urban containment boundary, which staff said could accommodate 6,000 residential units, with a build-out period of about 20 years.

Official community plans outline objectives and policies for land-use management and future development, but are not the same as zoning, which indicates what uses are permitted on a particular piece of property.

Other than the hospital, areas north and south of Herd Road are mainly zoned as rural, North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said Thursday.

When they purchased the site about six years ago, the Lichtenwalds believed it would remain within the urban containment boundary and that they would be permitted to develop it. “That’s why we bought it,” John Lichtenwald said.

The couple sought an amendment to the community plan to include their land in the urban containment boundary, so they could apply for rezoning to support their proposal, which along with rental housing includes a hotel, commercial space, offices and services, and light industrial development on the land, now largely empty fields.

Sewer and water services for the hospital could also link up with the project, called West Vista, the developers said.

The phased development would serve the hundreds of current and future workers at the hospital, they said.

The couple spent “millions” buying the land and are paying a large sum every month to service the debt, John Lichtenwald said.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding with RavenStone Construction, an Indigenous owned company, to carry out construction using band members in its workforce.

But in early March, the Lichtenwalds’ application for the OCP amendment failed in a three-three tie vote at a North Cowichan council meeting.

(Council normally consists of seven members but Coun. Debra Toporowski, a Cowichan Tribes member, was absent because she was running for a spot on the First Nation’s council.)

Councillors Mike Calijouw, Tek Manhas and Bruce Findlay were in favour of amending the plan, arguing the proposal would bring needed new housing to the hospital area.

Mayor Douglas and councillors Chris Istace and Christopher Justice were opposed, however, supporting a staff recommendation to deny the application. Staff said approving the application north of Herd Road could lead to fragmented growth in the district.

In the “area south of Herd Road, a mix of uses and densities are proposed to create a cohesive neighbourhood surrounding the new Cowichan Regional Hospital in the short- to medium term,” staff said.

For his part, Findlay said the West Vista land should have been grandfathered into the current area plan.

“This development offers most of what we need,” he said, pointing to housing, new jobs on site and medical offices.

“They are all needed to service the new demands brought on by such a massive hospital in our neighbourhood.”

The property is “literally a stone’s throw away from the hospital property if you have a good arm.”

The agreement to hire RavenStone as the builder would advance reconciliation, Findlay said.

Douglas counters that the previous council spent much of its term working on the updated plan with local residents and organizations, including advocates for retaining rural areas. The eventual decision had a lot of support and represents a compromise, he said.

Before new lands outside the boundary can be opened up for development, designated growth areas in the urban area to the south would have to be built out, he noted.

Douglas said significant development south of Herd Road is expected to happen once water and sewer infrastructure for the new hospital is in place, adding that he has met with local developers about their plans.

While some of the growth areas were reduced in the OCP, density was increased within the urban containment area where council anticipates development, the mayor said Thursday.

“We anticipate there are going to be many properties rezoned surrounding the new hospital south of Herd Road.”