Summerland’s Urban Growth Area will be back before the public later this month.
At the municipal council meeting on June 22, council voted to rescind the second reading of the bylaw and replace it with an amended version.
The biggest change to the amendment is in the area formerly designated for the Summerland Hills development.
A portion of the land in the Summerland Hills area will be designated as agricultural and a smaller portion will be resource industrial. Most of the land will be designated as open land.
The agricultural land in the amended growth plan generated the greatest amount of discussion among council members, with some asking why the land designated as agricultural could not be zoned as open land instead.
The land in question is not within the Agricultural Land Reserve, said Mayor Peter Waterman.
Ian McIntosh, director of development services for the municipality, said the agricultural designation met the legal requirements.
Work on Summerland’s Urban Growth Strategy began in February, 2013, under the direction of the council of the day.
A report was presented to council in December, 2013 and municipal staff prepared an amendment to the Official Community Plan, based on that report.
The growth plan received considerable criticism and calls to preserve Summerland’s agricultural land.
As a result, the boundaries of the Urban Growth Area were revised.
Lands within the Agricultural Land Reserve were removed from the proposed area and a smaller portion of Victoria Road South was also removed. The Deer Ridge neighbourhood was kept in the growth area.
The revision reduces the growth area by roughly 50 per cent, McIntosh said in a report to council.
The Summerland Hills Golf Resort Neighbourhood Plan was removed and replaced with a combination of open land, agriculture and resource industrial.
Waterman said the amendments to the growth plan will bring some certainty to the area. He said a lack of certainty at present is affecting the development community,
Coun. Erin Carlson urged the public to attend the upcoming hearing.
Coun. Toni Boot said the agricultural designation is not the same as a zoning change.
The second reading of the amended bylaw was carried with Coun. Erin Carlson opposed.
The bylaw will go to a public hearing on Monday, July 27.