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RDEK to hear delegates, make recommendation on Galloway Lands today

The RDEK will be hearing 14 delegates on the issue, and make their recommendation for the board
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The Regional District of East Kootenay board of directors voted on Jan. 14, 2022 to send the Galloway Lands development proposal bylaw amendments application back to staff to address issues with the proposal.

The Galloway Lands development proposal is appearing today (May 12) before the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) for a recommendation on whether or not it should move forward.

The planning and development services committee meeting will be at 1 p.m. and can be attended via zoom at this link. The full agenda can be found at the RDEK website under ‘agendas and minutes’.

This is the second time the committee will be considering the bylaw amendments proposed by Reto Barrington of Handshake Holdings for possible first and second reading. The first time was in January, and it was sent back to the proponent to answer key questions.

There are 14 delegates who are scheduled to present before the committee on the issue, labelled by the RDEK as ‘Bylaw No. 3102 and Bylaw No. 3103.’

Delegates include proposal consultant Richard Haworth, environmental and engineering consultants for the proponent, and Barrington himself.

Following them will be: an environmental consultant representing the Fernie Snow Valley Community Association (FSVCA), which has pushed to defer the proposal for more information; a 9-year-old who is claimed in the delegate document to be against the proposal; George Greene of the Elk River Alliance, asking for the proposal to be deferred; Jay Zammit, president of the FSVCA, proposing a deferral or a rejection; a retired engineer who seeks more information on fire safety and emergency access; Megan Lohmann, president of the Fernie Nordic Society, which operates on the land in question and seeks more information and deferral for community engagement; Paul Samycia of the Elk River Guiding Company, who seeks deferral until impact studies on the angling community are done; landowners on adjacent property who request that first and second readings not be approved at this point for the sake of seeing government agency referral results, more evaluations of water quality and impact on Westslope Cutthroat Trout; Michael Boronowski and Bruce Lennox of the City of Fernie, which has generally expressed a preference in the past for other options to be explored for the Galloway Lands; Heidi Gravelle of the Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it First Nation of Tobacco Plains, who says they were not properly consulted.

Once the delegates have been heard, the committee will vote on whether or not to recommend the proposal for first and second readings.

The final decision will be made at a May 13 board of directors meeting at 9 a.m. The zoom link for that meeting is here.

READ MORE: Galloway Lands development proposal to appear again before RDEK board of directors in May

READ MORE: RDEK seek more information on Elk Valley Galloway Lands proposal

READ MORE: Galloway Lands proponent holds open house, critics unsatisfied but engagement continues

READ MORE: Petition opposed to Galloway Lands development proposal gains momentum

READ MORE: Galloway Lands property ‘of interest’ to BC Parks, says Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy

READ MORE: Residential development proposed for Galloway Lands, local organizations push back


@fishynewswatch
josh.fischlin@thefreepress.ca

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