ROBERT BARRON CITIZEN
An effort to revisit the decision to approve a controversial commercial development at Berkey’s Corner was unsuccessful at the Municipality of North Cowichan’s last council meeting.
Coun. Maeve Maguire made a motion to add a provision to allow no restaurant drive-throughs to the restrictive covenants on the development plans for the property now that Vancouver-based development company Hall Pacific has withdrawn from the project.
Maguire said that with the tight time constraints now off the project due to the development company’s decision to pull out, it provides an opportunity for council to take a second look at aspects of the project that it gave a green light to in March.
Hall Pacific had planned to begin construction of the commercial development, which would include a number of large chain stores and some smaller, more local tenants, in July and complete it in December, 2017.
The landowner has stated he intends to move forward with the project with another developer, but has given no timelines as to when it will proceed.
Adding the provision to the restrictive covenants on the project would have rescinded the third reading of the approval process, and triggered a requirement for another public hearing on the project.
Coun. Kate Marsh said many in the community have indicated they want some sort of development in that location, but not what had been approved, and she would like the community to have a further opportunity to explore better options for the site.
“This is one of our more densely populated areas and there’s lots of interest in the community as to how it’s developed,” she said.
But Coun. Tom Walker said council has already made a decision on Berkey’s Corner and it should stand.
“I don’t think it was such a bad decision, but there have been efforts to try and find ways to overturn it,” he said.
“I think we’d just be digging a deeper hole here.”
Coun. Al Siebring said council has the legal authority to “change the rules in mid game.”
“But do we have the moral authority?” he asked.
“We have talked about how important it is to provide certainty to the development community, and I think to go back on this decision now would give our image as a decision-making body a black eye.”
Council voted 4-3 to defeat Maguire’s motion.