OPINION: Last chance to speak up against urban sprawl

BY JAMES STEIDLE

Special to the News

Just a heads up for people who love Forests for the World, Shane Lake, and Ginter’s Green.

Even if you don’t, maybe you care about local democracy.

After Wednesday’s Official Community Plan public hearing that will be held at 7 p.m. at city hall we as a city will have no ability to speak against the clearcutting for housing development right up to the southeast corner of Shane Lake in Forests for the World.

We won’t have a chance to talk against the development of the steep, unstable slopes below the university.

With provincial changes to growth management legislation brought in by bill 44 in 2023, this Urban Containment Boundary suddenly becomes a powerful attack on local democracy.

Anything inside this Urban Containment Boundary in the Official Community Plan is open to rezoning for housing without the public’s input.  This includes hundreds of hectares of forests between the University and Bon Voyage. 

The forests behind UNBC full of trails and moose habitat can be razed with no public hearings.  The steep hillsides above Ginter’s Green owned by Ellora Developments, can be developed into housing with no public hearings.

Even the eroding bank above University Way will be open for rezoning to housing without public consultation.

This Urban Containment Boundary, which we’ve had on the books for a while now, didn’t have that kind of power a couple years ago. Rezoning land inside this urban containment boundary used to require public hearings. It was more just a rough guideline.

Not anymore.

While a public hearing will still be required if a development does not comply with the Official Community Plan, the new provincial legislation prohibits public hearings if the clearcutting is for residential development, even if that development promises to incur huge new costs on the rest of the taxpayers.

With the new power this boundary has to squash democracy and public engagement, it becomes critical for our city to redraw it now.

Wednesday is the public hearing for the Official Community Plan and while there’s a chance we won’t get through all the presentations tomorrow night, once the Official Community Plan is finalized, the public will lose its say over the future of a critical part of our city.

Come to City Hall Wednesday night at 7 p.m..  Send your thoughts to mayor and council.  Stand up for local democracy and the quality of life in our city.