The following letter was sent to Sechelt mayor and council and copied to Coast Reporter for publication.
As a newly arrived resident of Porpoise Properties, I am deeply concerned about plans to change the zoning in the immediate area to allow for more industrial development, especially heavy marine industry on the foreshore.
My partner and I purchased our new home with the understanding that the existing official community plan (OCP) allowed some light industry expansion, but certainly not heavy marine industry along the waterfront, which has been described in the plan as sensitive and important wildlife habitat.
An OCP is a document that provides the basis for citizens to make informed decisions concerning residential acquisition and business planning with some measure of certainty.
I suspect that the proposal to rezone in favour of heavy marine-based industry is driven by the prospect of developing Sechelt as a staging and service point for the evolving run-of-the-river private power industry. Whether or not this is the case, and whatever its supposed merits (and in my view they are questionable), this amounts to opportunism taking precedence over the public interest. It does nothing to engender confidence in the civic administration of the District of Sechelt.
I urge you to do the right thing by the people you represent. Do not allow this rezoning to take place.
Michael Siddall
Sechelt
Editor's note: No decisions on rezoning or the draft OCP document have been finalized yet. First reading of the new OCP document has been given and a public hearing is being planned by the District for early fall.
