A long-awaited Sicamous subdivision is beginning to take shape.
The Old Town Road West subdivision lots were originally looked at for development in 2006, said District of Sicamous chief administrative officer Kelly Bennett, with a plan to divide the property into two larger lots. Since then, the marina was further developed and infrastructure was put in and the owners, SCG Investments Inc., want to split up the subdivision further, into six lots. Plans were discussed at the July 19 planning and development meeting.
A phased development plan has been agreed upon by the owners and the district, which breaks up the work of creating the subdivision into three parts. Firstly, the approximately 80-acre plot of land will be divided into six parcels, then development of Lots 6 and 6A will create an RV strata lot of about 389 spaces, and Lots 1 and 2 will be developed later. Nothing else is yet considered in this agreement, said Bennett.
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The work needs to be done with an accompanying bylaw which requires a public hearing before adoption, she confirmed.
There is already a subdivision application submitted for Lot 1, said Bennett, to build 39 strata lots for single family homes, town homes and triplexes.
A small parcel of land on the edge of Lot 1 with a house built on it already creates an “odd access point,” said Bennett, but the owners are working with the district on plans to create access through a strata road into Lot 1.
One of the lots to the south is dedicated as parkland, as the parks and trails master plan requires local governments to retain five per cent of developed land as parkland. Since the total area is about 80 hectares, Bennett said the park space needs to be about 4.2 hectares and will include the dirt road on the property with a lift station and maintenance, and a district-planned washroom on site. Also planned is added parallel parking and a parking lot at the end of the road and paving of the road. A planned 3.5-metre pathway will connect and go along the waterfront as part of the dedicated parkland.
Another future project is a pedestrian bridge connecting the Old Town area to the nature trail that goes into town, said Bennett, which all aligns with the district’s active transportation plan.
These allotments work out to around 4.8 hectares, a little more than is required to be dedicated undeveloped parkland.
No traffic impact assessment is necessary at this point, said Bennett, and the district is working with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to figure out a plan for the highway corridor along the site.
“We’ve been stick-handling this for a while so I’m very excited to see this in front of the committee today,” said Bennett.
The committee agreed it was great to see these plans coming to fruition and members voiced hope council will give Old Town Road West Phased Development Agreement Bylaw No. 1047 first and second reading at the July 26 meeting.
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rebecca.willson@saobserver.net
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