You can get the impression that local governments never see a development application they don’t like.
Or that the City of Courtenay never tires of gobbling surrounding areas.
City council went against the grain recently with a wise, if obvious, decision.
Council unanimously denied an application for a single property annexation near the Little River ferry terminal.
The 24-acre property is between Anderton and Ellenor roads in Area B of the regional district.
Foundation Capital Corp., which owns the property, proposed a large housing project named Harbour View Landing. It would include a 150-plus-unit terraced condominium complex with rooftop gardens and a number of executive home lots.
Sounds great, except the property is far from any settled part of the city, as noted by director of development services Peter Crawford.
If the City annexed the property and approved Harbour View, would Courtenay taxpayers -- already faced with a huge water and sewer infrastructure bill — have to pay even a portion of the cost to stretch services from Ryan Road almost to Little River?
One reason the request made any sense at all is that the property abuts the huge Block 71 parcel previously annexed by Courtenay for a Raven Ridge development that never happened.
However, Foundation representatives didn’t help their cause by claiming they had support from area residents when Mayor Larry Jangula and some councillors had not heard that.
A representative for the developer also lost style points by claiming MLA Don McRae supported the project. Under questioning, the delegation qualified that by admitting McRae’s support was contingent on local government support.
In the end, it was an easy — but absolutely correct — decision on behalf of Courtenay taxpayers.
editor@comoxvalleyrecord.com