Editor, The Times:
These are the words one will read as they pass through Blackpool and enter into Clearwater. Oh, how we wish this was the case.
Bear View Development is proposing to build an indoor shopping centre here in this beautiful tourist town of Clearwater. But just when Bear View Development is ready and wanting to get started, something ... or someone musters up a reason to postpone the matter again for several days to weeks.
First presented to Council in February, they now still sit stranded in May. Albeit the property that Bear View is proposing to develop the mall on is not currently zoned commercial and is in the process to make necessary changes to do so, time is of the essence.
BVD first applied to amend the OCP (Official Community Plan) and next apply for the rezoning. Without another property available of this size already zoned commercial in this area, BVD was forced to have to look elsewhere.
Somewhere in the years of planning and re-planning Clearwater’s OCP, it was decided that the best future for Clearwater consists of a commercial metropolis at the gateway of the Wells Gray Park. I’m sorry, but is this intersection not proven as one of Clearwater’s busiest traffic areas already?
Our OCP also indicates that the courthouse side of the highway should not be commercial and rather multifamily residential etc. How does that work when we are in the midst of constructing a new grocery store right there? Is a grocery store not commercial?
Whether you are talking to council, DOC staff, the TNRD planning department, our MLA or anyone that knows anything about an OCP, they would tell you that it is a living document. This means that it is meant to be looked at and reconsidered based on current situations.
In fact, although council has only just adopted the newly updated OCP in January, it has already been amended to accommodate other business opportunities within Clearwater! So why not amend it for Bear View? Let the people of Clearwater speak up at a public hearing and have their voices heard! Quit passing the buck, Clearwater council, and support positive development.
Carol Kuiper
Clearwater, B.C.