“When we heard about the Eagleview Heights development, we were concerned that we were not getting the true facts, so we looked into it, and we were horrified. One hundred housing units on 4.77 acres, apartment buildings five and six storeys high, three-storey townhouses, and parking for 209 vehicles.”
(by Margot Grant)
Almost one hundred people packed a meeting room at the Garden Hotel in Gibsons July 10 to learn more about the proposed development at 464 Eaglecrest Drive, also known as the Inglis property. The meeting was organized by three area residents after local homeowners expressed fears about the development. By a show of hands, everyone at the meeting expressed opposition.
Current zoning for the 4.77-acre site is single-family residential. The Gibsons Official Community Plan (OCP) designates it for low-density housing.
TC Development Group of Vancouver, which bought the property in September 2016, intends to build 100 housing units. It has asked the planning department to create a “comprehensive development zone 3” — a zoning the town does not currently have — and has applied for an amendment to the OCP. Council will vote on first reading of the amendment on July 18.
Residents fear dramatically increased traffic and safety hazards for cyclists and pedestrians from the projected 209 extra vehicles. A lot of traffic to and from the development is expected to go through Abbs Road to School Road, and Oceanmount Boulevard, Eaglecrest Drive, and Shaw Road have no sidewalks.
Related: Letter to Gibsons council: “Please do not change the OCP for Eagleview”
Those at the meeting had a number of concerns: one cited the risk of wildfire, saying “it would be really dangerous to have three or four hundred people on 4.77 acres next to a large, dry forest.”
“I am terrified of the [lack of] stability of the bank they want to build on,” said another. “How are they going to drain that area? Already the underground springs are causing water to run down the bank. I have been told they will collect the water in ponds. Where are the geotechnical studies?”
“First we were expected to deal with the increased traffic from the George, and now this,” said a resident of Winn Road. “Not to mention the extra traffic from the 40 units of affordable housing project planned in the same area,” added another.
Several voiced fear of a decrease in property values. “Our houses and the neighbourhood will be less desirable with big high-rises behind us,” they claimed. “The town will end up with lower property taxes.”
Additional concerns included the aquifer water supply for the proposed development and a required sewage-treatment plant upgrade, which is also required for the development on Gospel Rock.
Moderator William Baker tried to be optimistic about council’s willingness to listen to neighbourhood concerns. “There are five people [mayor and council] who hold the future of our neighbourhood in their hands. They were elected to do what we want done, one hopes. They are really good people, we just need to let them know what the story is.”
However, the audience took a different view. “I have totally lost faith in this council, they do anything they want without consideration. Look at the George, the bicycle lanes on Shaw Road, Gospel Rock. They are out of control,” said one resident.
“I’m incensed. Somebody is just coming here to make money for him and his shareholders, and council lets them do it,” said another.
“We must demand real consultation with the public,” stated a retired civil servant. “Mayor and council must listen to us in a serious and sincere way. An open house is not a consultation: we have to insist on a totally transparent process. They work for us. Trouble is brewing if this gets through first reading.”
Baker asked the residents to attend the committee-of-the-whole meeting and the council meeting when the Eagleview Heights OCP amendment application is on the agenda. According to the town’s corporate officer Selina Williams this will be at a special council meeting on Wednesday, July 26, or sometime in September.
Baker called for volunteers with expertise in research, legal matters, finance, fundraising, and writing skills.
He proposed a neighbourhood association to assist council and guide the developer. “We want to keep the community the way it is,” he told the audience. “Eagleview is a precedent for future development. If this all happens, Gibsons will no longer be the town we came to live in.”
The group has a website and an email address.
More details about the proposed development can be found on the Eagleview Heights website.
Why did you choose to display images taken from the Chinese-language version of the developer’s website when the link you provide leads to an English-language version? Your post doesn’t explain this.
Earlier comments regarding the proposed development on Block 7 Gospel Rock suggested that the developer was building much-needed accommodation specifically for Sunshine Coast residents. That may or may not be the case; we don’t know. The developer of Eagleview Heights uses part of his website to try and attract out-of-country buyers. The Coast Clarion thought it was a good thing to inform the readers of this fact.