COURTENAY, B.C- A developer in the Comox Valley wants time to gather more information, before proceeding with an application to build on land west of Courtenay.
The company, 3L Developments, has been looking to take a stretch of land between the Puntledge River and the Brown River, and construct a residential area. The organizations efforts to gain approval for the development have been ongoing since 2006, with the idea eventually leading to a court battle with the Comox Valley Regional District.
The court process ended with the CVRD being compelled by the court to examine the developer’s plans.
The parcel also holds the Stotan Falls, a popular spot for residents of the Comox Valley to go swimming.
In December, the CVRD indicated that the 3L application would be heard by the board in April, in order to figure out whether or not a change to their growth plan strategies would be a “major or minor amendment”.
A preliminary report was planned to head to the board in January, with a decision on the amendment coming in April.
However, a letter sent by 3L to the CVRD on Jan.9 put that process on hold.
“In the letter, they expressed an interest to put the process on hold until they gathered info they thought was needed for the CVRD and the public to make a decision on their application,” said Anne MacDonald, the general manager of planning and development services for the CVRD.
MacDonald spoke with 98.9 The Goat last week on the matter.
“All applications to the CVRD are treated in a fair way, because we recognize that there is a fair bit of work that goes into the process to bring forward an application,” said MacDonald, at the time.
“We look forward to working with the developer and his representatives, once we are advised by 3L how and when they’re ready to proceed.”
When speaking with 98.9 The Goat last week, the company’s chief financial officer James MacIntyre stated the letter had been sent in a miscommunication between the CVRD and 3L.
However, according to Kabel Atwall, 3L’s project manager, this was incorrect.
On Tuesday, Atwall indicated the letter being sent was intentional, as the company wanted to gather more information for the CVRD board when it came time to make a decision on their application.
“We just told them through our lawyer that they had agreed that the application would be considered when we were ready to go forward with it, and that’s what happened,” said Atwall.
“We had told them that we didn’t want it to come forward at this point until we presented all the information and gathered all the information that we thought was pertinent for the board to make an informed decision on the application.”
As for when the application process will re-start, Atwall couldn’t say for sure, beyond saying it would be in the “next little while”.
On Wednesday, MacDonald said that the CVRD hadn’t heard back from anyone at 3L with the ability to re-start the application process. She had followed up with MacIntyre after reading his statements to 98.9 The Goat.
As of this publication, 3L’s application remains on hold with the CVRD.
