Vernon's Council has Free-Thinking Councillors

"Accusations of anti-development policies are coming from within Vernon city hall," begins a Morning Star story titled Application spurs development debate (Rolke June 27/12).

Ya think?

Some councillors, O'Keefe, Nicol, and Quiring deserve credit for not buying into the new bureaucratic strategy that stymies development. 

Councillor Mary-Jo O'Keefe wonders why council is attempting to interfere in what has previously always been a market-driven process.
Councillor Patrick Nicol is concerned that accepting staff's recommendation to deny the development application creates artificial boundaries for developers.
Even Mayor Sawatzky sees the merits of recognizing that investors/landowners already considered the official community plan when they made their land purchases.

But haven't we all seen Official Community Plans change?
It's just a matter of when you bought your land.
And what successive elected officials have done to your family's investment plans with their "laws".

Coldstream is a prime example:  previous elected officials, over many terms, determined future growth would occur on the hillsides, protecting the valley bottom for agriculture.
Made sense to everyone.

Along come Mayor Garlick et al and suddenly there are tweaks to bylaws and official community plans, underscored by "no mile long subdivisions" (quote attributed to Councillor Besso).   They even want to create their own Town Center!  With the exception of Councillor Peter McClean, Coldstream's elected officials--buoyed by the urban vote--are now lockstep with any document created by the bureaucrats of the Union of BC Municipalities.

Obviously staff in both Coldstream and Vernon have fully adopted the North Okanagan Regional District's Growth Management Strategy, to which surrounding communities are signatories.  Hence they now only recommend approving new development in the city center and designated neighbourhood centres in which infrastructure already exists.


Staff philosophical similarities aside, Vernon's elected council actually considered WHO they serve--taxpayers--and defeated the staff recommendation that sought to stymie development to all but the newly-acceptable "Infill" corridors. 

Coldstream?
Nope...they've long since lost sight of serving their taxpayers.
Mayor Garlick et al are busy vying for the municipal poster-child position in Victoria.


"The opposite of a Wanted Poster," affirms Kia.