In 2008 the District of Coldstream initiated the Coldstream Sustainability Initiative planning process with the anticipated outcome of establishing policies and practices that encourage greater integration of the economic, environmental and societal systems, all of which support our community as a whole. When considering "sustainable development" the location, composition, density and design of new development projects, commercial and residential, have a significant and cumulative impact on our community's ability to sustain a healthy economy, provide a reasonable cost of living, provide effective and accessible public services, protect our environment and ensure we all continue to enjoy a high quality of life.
The Sustainability Initiative is fully funded from a federal program called Integrated Community Sustainability Planning (ICSP). Phase three, of the five phase process, is to select an area that would undergo a sustainability review case study. Council chose to use the "Town Centre" for this review. The Town Centre, now commonly referred to as Central Coldstream, was originally included in the Official Community Plan (OCP) in 1998. The OCP identifies specific policies with respect to land use and the types of commercial, social, recreation, institutional, park and recreation activities that would be permitted/accepted in the "Town Centre" area.
Public consultation is an important and valuable part of the sustainability review process. In June of this year a public open house was held at the Coldstream Women's Institute Hall to gather comments and feedback as to what the community envisioned for the Central Coldstream area. The comments received from the open house re-affirmed the policies that are already included in the OCP. In an attempt to gain a more precise understanding of the types of services the community would like to see in this area, Council approved conducting a survey to solicit the public to gather this information.
The Survey is now available for the public to be completed and is located below. All surveys must be returned to the District office no later than October 22, 2010
* Survey - 150Kb PDF
* Draft Report - 4.24MB PDF
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1 comment:
Qestin 4a. of the survey asks if we would be willing to shop locally if the same selection and pricing were available.
Although I am sure most people would answer yes I just don't think that is realistic. A mall the size of Polson Mall has trouble filling up its storefronts and I myself will bypass Coopers because they are more expensive that some of the superstores in Vernon.
There is a recession on and people are watching closely what they spend. Starting a business in rural Coldstream at this time would be very risky even with tax breaks from the local taxpayers. I understand that some chains were contacted about setting up in this area and responded by saying it is too far out and underpopulated to consider setting up there.
I would also be interested to see what the property purchased by our city's director of development services Craig Broderick's family one month before the public open house sells for if rezoned commercial.
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