Wednesday December 9, 2015 (Vol. 40 No. 98)
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Funds for Fiji: After returning home from a ‘lifechanging’ volunteer experience in Fiji, Elizabeth Tichelman is fundraising to help impoverished students there. i see page 11
Lance Peverley photos
Cyndie Richards addresses White Rock council and staff at a public hearing for a two-highrise project proposed for Oxford Street. Below, Mayor Wayne Baldwin listens to a resident.
OCP amendment that would allow two highrises on Oxford Street divides White Rock
Towers backed after 5-hour hearing Elegant Development image
Artist’s rendering of 21- and 24-storey towers. futility,� Richards said. A concern addressed by many, including Susan Watkins, was the location of the development on land adjacent to the water utility. Watkins said she felt the city had not done its “due diligence� in addressing the potential impact on the water supply. “These are issues that unfortunately have not been looked at or understood by the councillors that are now making the decisions for us,� Watkins said. “Unless we understand the difference between ground water and aquifer water, no one should be developing anything beside two well heads. Not one, but two.� i see page 4
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ect’s height, its location outside of the town centre – the city’s only area zoned for high density – and its departure from the OCP, currently under review. White Rock Coalition councillors – Lynne Sinclair, Bill Lawrence, Megan Knight and Grant Meyer – were criticized for accepting campaign contributions totalling $12,000 from Elegant during last year’s civic election. The timing of the hearing was also questioned, following the city’s purchase of its water utility for a yet-to-be-determined price from Epcor, which sold the lot to Elegant, pending rezoning approval. Eric Ross told council the project doesn’t fit with the past, present or future land use of the area and questioned why the city wouldn’t wait until the OCP review was completed. “With a new OCP underway, what’s the hurry?� Ross asked. “What’s the motivation for this urgency? Perhaps an investigation is necessary to find that out.� Cyndie Richards – who also read a letter in opposition on behalf of former mayor Catherine Ferguson – suggested during her own presentation that council’s mind was already made up on the matter. “The worst part about standing here in opposition is that I feel my efforts and my neighbours’ efforts are basically an effort in
A marathon public hearing Monday evening that saw both strong support and opposition to a two-tower development proposal in White Rock concluded with the majority of council voting to inch the project forward. By the time the hearing wrapped up just a minute before midnight – five hours after it began – council had heard from more than 70 speakers, many of whom spoke on behalf of others who couldn’t attend and a handful who spoke more than once. Emotions ran high among those speaking on the two bylaw amendments at issue – an Official Community Plan amendment and rezoning to pave the way for 24- and 21-storey highrises at 1454 Oxford St. Mayor Wayne Baldwin called for order on several occasions throughout the night, the first time just three minutes into the first speaker’s presentation, when audience members were shouting out from the crowd. “I understand that we’re all passionate about this and we all want to do the right thing, but this is not a WWF wrestling bout, OK?� Baldwin said. “This is a public hearing and we have to maintain decorum.� Those who spoke in favour – more than half of the speakers list – cited the need for affordable housing and a revitalization of
the city. Most praised the appealing design of the buildings, spoke highly of the proponents, Elegant Development, and lauded the retention of trees on the property as well as the developer’s promise to gift a one-acre parcel of land to the city for public use. Danny Zigich, with his wife and young daughter in tow, said he supported the proposal because it offered an opportunity for young families like his to find a “new place to call home.� “In a growing community, in a place that is gaining attention for its location, we have to be able to service the needs of the growing community,� Zigich said. Those in opposition spoke of the proj-
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Staff Reporter
Melissa Smalley
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