Planning and Summerland Hills
Dear Mayor Gregory and Councillors,
Re: Planning and Growth Concerns, and the Proposal to Incorporate the Summerland Hills Plan into the New OCP
We are concerned that the evaluation of proposed projects for Summerland has not in the past been done on a sufficiently comprehensive basis, and so we have developed a suggested set of Planning Criteria. We have applied these criteria to the Summerland Hills proposal. A copy of the suggested criteria plus the application of them to the Summerland Hills development is included in the attached document. We ask you to give this work due consideration.
We are very concerned about the proposal to incorporate the Summerland Hills design into the New OCP for Summerland. In our view this plan does not represent progress for Summerland. Rather, we see it as a retrograde step that will steer the community away from steady, efficient and compact growth, and towards rapid and expensive sprawl. Further, we believe that the long-term consequential costs of this development will impose a severe financial burden on Summerlanders in the future. We ask you not to incorporate the SH plan into the new OCP.
We would ask you to also consider the following points before approving any major planning change or development for Summerland.
Summerland desperately requires that a fund to be established to finance future infrastructure when population growth demands it. This should come from DCCs. Current residents should not have to raise money on demand, when the need for infrastructure was created by developers who will have taken their profits and departed. Increased DCCs would be an incentive for quality development, and may also assist the municipality to maintain control of the growth rate.
We have a problem of declining air quality. During the spring and fall burning seasons, the air clearance index must be consulted on a daily basis for any major burns, and there are many times when there are temperature inversions or quiescent air. Any pollutants such as wood smoke or vehicle exhaust remain trapped. The increased population will not limit pollutants to burning season and cannot be expected to shut down when the clearance index is low. We can expect to have higher incidence of respiratory illness and asthma throughout the valley, directly related to population growth. We are not on a flat plain or in a maritime zone. We are in a deep mountain valley that is protected by inversions through many months of the year. It is the inversions and cloud cover that protect our fruit industry from winter low temperature injury but they also trap pollutants and particulates.
Our water supply is also a major concern. Climate change studies are shifting into high gear and Summerland would be foolish to grow quickly when making promises on water licenses and allocation. Runoff will decline and will occur earlier in the season, and the demand will increase both for agricultural and domestic consumption. Extrapolated conclusions are always risky, but the trend is very real and if we commit to serve an expanded population with inadequate assurance of a water supply, it will be a very costly mistake. We must have a drought management plan that deals with new development. If we go into a drought situation the insurance companies which sell to home owners and the agricultural community need to be assured of adequate water available during peak irrigation periods and fire season. The two go hand in hand
We are willing to meet with you at a time of your convenience to discuss these thoughts further.
Yours Sincerely - Board Members
Re: Planning and Growth Concerns, and the Proposal to Incorporate the Summerland Hills Plan into the New OCP
We are concerned that the evaluation of proposed projects for Summerland has not in the past been done on a sufficiently comprehensive basis, and so we have developed a suggested set of Planning Criteria. We have applied these criteria to the Summerland Hills proposal. A copy of the suggested criteria plus the application of them to the Summerland Hills development is included in the attached document. We ask you to give this work due consideration.
We are very concerned about the proposal to incorporate the Summerland Hills design into the New OCP for Summerland. In our view this plan does not represent progress for Summerland. Rather, we see it as a retrograde step that will steer the community away from steady, efficient and compact growth, and towards rapid and expensive sprawl. Further, we believe that the long-term consequential costs of this development will impose a severe financial burden on Summerlanders in the future. We ask you not to incorporate the SH plan into the new OCP.
We would ask you to also consider the following points before approving any major planning change or development for Summerland.
Summerland desperately requires that a fund to be established to finance future infrastructure when population growth demands it. This should come from DCCs. Current residents should not have to raise money on demand, when the need for infrastructure was created by developers who will have taken their profits and departed. Increased DCCs would be an incentive for quality development, and may also assist the municipality to maintain control of the growth rate.
We have a problem of declining air quality. During the spring and fall burning seasons, the air clearance index must be consulted on a daily basis for any major burns, and there are many times when there are temperature inversions or quiescent air. Any pollutants such as wood smoke or vehicle exhaust remain trapped. The increased population will not limit pollutants to burning season and cannot be expected to shut down when the clearance index is low. We can expect to have higher incidence of respiratory illness and asthma throughout the valley, directly related to population growth. We are not on a flat plain or in a maritime zone. We are in a deep mountain valley that is protected by inversions through many months of the year. It is the inversions and cloud cover that protect our fruit industry from winter low temperature injury but they also trap pollutants and particulates.
Our water supply is also a major concern. Climate change studies are shifting into high gear and Summerland would be foolish to grow quickly when making promises on water licenses and allocation. Runoff will decline and will occur earlier in the season, and the demand will increase both for agricultural and domestic consumption. Extrapolated conclusions are always risky, but the trend is very real and if we commit to serve an expanded population with inadequate assurance of a water supply, it will be a very costly mistake. We must have a drought management plan that deals with new development. If we go into a drought situation the insurance companies which sell to home owners and the agricultural community need to be assured of adequate water available during peak irrigation periods and fire season. The two go hand in hand
We are willing to meet with you at a time of your convenience to discuss these thoughts further.
Yours Sincerely - Board Members
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