Grace Doherty,
Box 507,
Cumberland, B.C.
June 26, 2011


Open letter to Cumberland Village Council:

Re: New town being born in the Comox Valley

While not surprising, it has been interesting to read about a new Comox Valley "community" advertised on web sites and in the media: It is variously described as" the new hub of the Comox Valley" that will "redefine the Comox Valley and central Vancouver Island"; " self-contained"; and "sustainable".

A promotional video has numerous clips with voice-overs implying ("It is a complete community…") that this exciting new live/work community already exists and is wonderful.

Donating property for the Discovery Centre was a stroke of marketing brilliance, the company now having a landmark structure in the middle of the first stage of the proposed development, possibly even bearing its name. I only wish that sharp business acumen had been matched by that of our elected representatives. A negotiating team was hired, but after you had been meeting with company representatives for a year!

The president of the realty company unveiling the vision for this mega development claims that the property is the most developable in the province. I wonder then why he has only purchased the one parcel after all these years? Despite a comment that the property "… used to belong to a logging company", as of his June 14th presentation here, all but lot 5 still did!

Potable water is of concern with this and other large developments proposed for Cumberland in the coming years. While other developers large and small have been subject to a moratorium on new water connections, you granted an exemption to this policy for Lot 5.

You also adopted a policy giving minimum output requirements for wells to be considered for inclusion in our municipal system. Now that a well on the land in question has failed to produce at that minimum rate you are considering (June 27th) lowering the minimum requirement to the predicted output of this well and granting DCC credits for what it produces.

You accepted the argument that the adjacent portion of lot 5 would be ancillary to the Discovery Center and delayed the $1 million amenity payment previously agreed to- a payment acknowledging that the tax revenues from this project would not cover the future costs of servicing. On top of that you waived DCCs for commercial development for two years. I can't share your excitement about tax relief and fixing our aging infrastructure just yet, Mayor Bates.
At a time when many communities are limiting or prohibiting drive- throughs, you, our council passed a bylaw, specifically allowing them on portions of this one development.

The majority of you Cumberland Council have worked hard over several years to push through every concession asked for by this realty company, rebutting any questioning or skepticism from councilors or members of the public as "anti-development".

And for what? A mosaic of potential developments by any number of developers. The "for sale" signs are up, the artistic renderings only conceptual and the permitted uses extensive. Realtor Marty Douglas' first example in a list possible projects: a car dealership. The web site's suggestions include gas stations and mid-size box stores.

In 2005 there was praise for Cumberland's unique OCP from the president of this company, since then decimation of that OCP, and now a distancing altogether from Cumberland. Footage of mountain biking, forest trails, boating on a lake, great evening entertainment, and "quaint local shops" make no mention of Cumberland nor do the maps showing the location of this proposed "community". It has been billed to investors as a "new town" between Courtenay and Cumberland! Even you, Mayor Fred Bates, were recently quoted as saying that the proposed development will not detract from the downtown core because "it won't be visible from the Village". Excuse me, but it will be in the Village, albeit in a car-dependent, urban sprawlish sort of way.

Sadly but fittingly, the only sign welcoming visitors to Cumberland is not at our Village boundary, but on Dunsmuir, just west of the project lands. That will likely need to be moved further west yet to accommodate an access road through the BMX track and a portion of our Village Park. It will be moved closer, I guess, to that quaint shopping area some of us current Cumberlanders are proud to call home.

Council, I believe we have been used. I put the responsibility for this squarely on the shoulders of those of you who supported this project - supported it to the extent that it made me wonder many times whose interests you were representing as you voted to pass each zoning and OCP amendment bylaw.

Sincerely,


Grace Doherty