Fred Pattje
City of Nanaimo Councillor
Fred Pattje City of Nanaimo Councillor |
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| Cable Bay Update
As many of you know, I have been opposed to the Cable Bay project for a long time and I have not heard anything to date that would make me change my mind. In short, I believe that the proposed Cable Bay Lands development is urban sprawl which should be avoided at all costs. Urban sprawl will have the following adverse effects on our community: 1. Cable Bay will undermine the revitalization of downtown which has cost taxpayers millions so far. We know that the downtown area will need roughly 8,000 additional residents to be successful and that the Cable Bay development would direct thousands of those needed residents away from the city’s core to its periphery.Nanaimo has already made a strong effort to accommodate Cable Bay Lands Incorporated. The previous Council changed the Urban Containment Boundary for them and rezoned their land from Agricultural/Residential to Resort zoning. The previous Council almost changed the municipal boundary to meet their needs but more that 8000 citizens took a stand and put a stop to it. Still not satisfied, the Cable Bay developers, together with Island Timberlands, recently came back to the city asking that 21 hectares of the forest company’s land be rezoned to "Resort" from "Heavy Industrial" to accommodate more housing, a 600 slip marina and a larger golf course. This proposal came before the Plan Nanaimo Advisory Committee in January and was rejected in February by this committee because: 1. There would be an insufficient buffer zone between the industrial area and the resort property. These are three good reasons in my mind to reject the developers’ proposed rezoning. However, City Staff recommended that Council reject the Plan Nanaimo Advisory Committee’s objections and proceed with motions to change Nanaimo’s Official Community Plan. City Staff succeeded in its effort and after a 5 to 3 vote we will now proceed to another public hearing on Cable Bay on April 2, 2009. During this process I came upon a map which indicates that the Cable Bay developers, presumably with the assistance of Island Timberlands, are also planning to have golf links and more housing at 1060 Phoenix Way (waterfront property between the Cable Bay Trail and Joan Point Park). This undoubtedly means that the developers are not going to be satisfied with the present zoning request before Council. It appears they will be back again to Council to ask that the 1060 Phoenix Way lands be rezoned as well. The Cable Bay developers seem to be slowly manipulating the process to achieve their desired land development goals. And they are doing this without having yet provided the citizens of Nanaimo with any clear, detailed master plan of their development. I urge you to attend the Public Hearing on April 2nd, in the Port of Nanaimo Center’s Shaw Auditorium at 7:00 p.m. and ask the developers why we should be expected to give in to urban sprawl, give up heavy industrial land and undermine our precarious downtown revitalization for their profit. Fred Pattje 250-758-7575 fredpattje@shaw.ca  February 13, 2009 dedication of the third, and last, portal on Newcastle Island, presided over by Chief Viola Wyse and Mayor Ruttan. More information  (This Website is checked and
updated frequently)
I Stand For:
My
core values are:
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Fred Pattje's
goals
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| Fred's last name is pronounced "patch-uh" |