Vol. 26 No. 58
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COMOX VALLEY RECORD
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July 22, 2011
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NEXT GENERATION
Barney Bentall’s son is looking forward to Filberg Festival. ■ B1
WORLD OF PAYNE
AFTER THE FIRST choice was spurned by the Department of National Defence, the Vancouver Island Health Authority is now looking at another Ryan Road location for a Comox Valley hospital. PHOTO COURTESY GOOGLE MAPS
If at first you don’t succeed, try another site Scott Stanfield Record Staff
Proponents of a regional hospital to be based out of the Comox Valley are considering option No. 2 near North Island College because the Department of National Defence has nixed the first choice of sites at Ryan Road across from Crown Isle. In January, the Vancouver Island Health Authority announced its preferred location for the new hospital. However, the Ryan Road site across from Crown Isle falls within an area about four kilometres in radius around CFB Comox and the airport that restricts the height of structures to fewer than nine metres, deeming the location unsuitable for a hospital, VIHA announced this week. DND is responsible for zoning around the Comox Valley Airport because it is classified as a
New location near college military aerodrome, according to Transport Canada. “The problem in many ways has effectively gone away,” 19 Wing Cmdr. Col. Jim Benninger said. “There’s certain zones around an airfield to ensure safe and effective ops of military and civilian aircraft. Like any fence, you put it somewhere, and it happened that the first site was within our outer limit and the second site is not.” Benninger agrees it is peculiar the discrepancy was not figured out before VIHA chose the first site. Since March, the regional health authority had been trying to secure a variance on the height restriction but was informed last week that DND denied the request. “It’s also funny that there are some structures that were built
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that were issued contrary to the title deed on the land and building permits issued by the municipality,” Benninger said, noting nearby buildings that exceed the nine-metre limit. “Ultimately it’s all about safety,” he said. A call to Silverado Land Corp. at Crown Isle were not returned. Courtenay Mayor Greg Phelps notes the possible “trickledown” effects in areas like Crown Isle and the Raven Project, where the city had pre-zoned for eight-storey developments. “We would have to look at what impacts that would have on all of these,” Phelps said. Despite the setback, VIHA expects preliminary work, including designs, will be transferrable to a new location at the south side of Lerwick Road near Ryan
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Road, about one kilometre from the first site. “There are no height restrictions at the property adjacent to NIC,” VIHA communications officer Val Wilson said. The project is expected to continue on schedule. “I don’t see this as any sort of setback,” said Phelps, who notes VIHA hired a consultant team to help with site selection. “It’s something that could happen in any sort of real estate deal.” College president/CEO Dr. Jan Lindsay and VIHA president/CEO Howard Waldner met Tuesday to discuss the potential use of land. The budget for the North Island Hospitals business case is $3 million. VIHA had considered 22 possible hospital locations in Cumberland, Courtenay and Comox before shortlisting to six sites. VIHA then shortlisted three sites
... see VARIOUS ■ A2
EMPLOYEE
PRICOINNG
A Sechelt fighter on Saturday night’s mixed martial arts undercard at the Comox Valley Sports Centre could be in for a world of Payne. Andrew Payne of the host CVBC is set to make his MMA debut against Jean Allard (0-1) of Phoenix Rising in a 185-pound bout. The 28-year-old Payne hails from Newfoundland and is a Material Technician at 19 Wing Comox. He has been in the Valley for over a year and loves the West Coast.
...Full story on page ■ B11
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