Is Kingsview on the Ballot?

The Kingsview expansion is not on the ballot for our local election in October, but it may as well be.

That’s because we can make an educated guess about how certain councillors are likely to vote, based on their history of consistently opening up rural areas to dense developments, changing the Urban Containment Boundary, and amending the Official Community Plan in order to do so. More about that at the end of this article.

Many of you living within existing Kingsview neighbourhoods, or along Maple Bay Road, are familiar with the negative impacts of the proposed expansion. For those of you who just travel along Maple Bay Road, Tzouhalem, Herd, TC-1, and maybe Lakes, you’ll certainly be slowed down by the additional traffic. Those not living or traveling on these roads, and residing further away in North Cowichan, must question whether the long reach of this mammoth plan to add hundreds of new homes will touch you too. The answer is yes.

FIRST, A QUICK SNAPSHOT

Vesta, the developer, applied for a 10-year extension of its Phased Development Agreement, along with an amendment to include the property within the Urban Containment Boundary. The goal is to construct anywhere from 622 to 809 additional housing units on the steep slopes of Mt. Tzouhalem, in high and extreme risk wildfire zones, next to the Municipal Forest. This will change the face of our community. Planning staff is writing a report that will come to council for consideration most likely after the local election.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES?

WILDFIRE RISK

As you can see in the red-outlined area above, the expansion would be surrounded by forest on two sides. This upslope, urban-wildland intersection represents the most dangerous and challenging type of firefighting. After climbing nearly 300 metres, fire crews may face a fire raging in the forest, without having the practice, training, or equipment to effectively fight it. There are no fire hydrants in the forest, nor roads to stage equipment to attack the fire. BC Wildfire Service may not be able to respond and be on the scene quickly enough.

It is questionable as to what water pressure will ultimately be available for firefighting in the area, given that many existing homes in upper Kingsview even now don’t have adequate pressure.

Roads for evacuation (down the mountain or over the top) are very few. At evacuation time, cars from up to 1,190 households will back out of driveways and pour onto roads at the same time, filling the exit routes. There are plenty of unfortunate examples in Canada and also California, where scores of people perished by flames/smoke inhalation in their cars. Studies have shown a direct correlation between the number of exit routes and the likelihood of people being trapped in their cars.

TRAFFIC

The new development, just like the old, will be extremely car dependent. People need to drive to grocery stores, work, etc., and the development has no public transportation. Adding to the challenge presented by the distance from the urban core, the very steep slopes of Kingsview/Nevilane discourage bike riders and walkers. That means more traffic will be generated in Kingsview versus more centrally located neighbourhoods of North Cowichan.

Up to 8,000 more cars a day will be traveling down Kingsview Road and onto Maple Bay Road, thence going south or north. Existing Kingsview residents already complain about traffic delays at peak commute times; they will have even worse traffic backups after the doubling of Kingsview households.

UNCERTAIN LONG-TERM WATER SUPPLY AND EXTREME WEATHER

Our current water supply is dependent on rivers and aquifers, and likely to diminish over the next ten years as less snowfall in the winter, and hotter and drier summers prevail. What happens when a slug of 600+ households are added?

Weather around the world is becoming more extreme. Reports of severe rainfall in a short period are more frequent. In Missouri recently, 12 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period; in other locations, half of an entire year’s rain fell within a day or two. No drainage system can handle that volume, including Kingsview’s storm sewers. Flooding of downslope properties and storm waters gushing down Kingsview’s steep slopes would be the result.

EXPENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE ( pipes and servicing for water and sewage, roads, snow removal, etc.)

The Municipality of North Cowichan has a $360 million infrastructure deficit. In great part, this is because developers generally have paid for a good chunk of the upfront costs, but not for costs that include long-term maintenance and repair. Infrastructure for more remote developments (like Kingsview) always cost more than projects that are centrally located and close to other services. The municipality should be contributing around $40 million a year to chip away at its deficit, but can only afford $7 million or so that ultimately we, the taxpayers end up paying.

With the steep and unstable erosion-prone shale substrate, plus water and drainage issues, infrastructure at Kingsview will be both expensive and risky. Mistakes were made for many years in under-charging fees that developers pay (not just for Kingsview); plus, correctly estimating future costs over a long construction period is very difficult. More fire department and police coverage is necessary for hundreds of more homes. If there are oversights in negotiations and estimations in construction agreements, how much more might taxpayers be on the hook for?

NOT AFFORDABLE HOUSING

The single-family homes at Kingsview will be priced well over $1 million, designed to attract households wealthier than the median households living in North Cowichan. Is that what we need as a community? No. We need affordable houses for people already here, along with more affordable apartments in central locations.

The areas within the Urban Containment Boundary have more than enough capacity to fulfill our housing needs for the next 20 years. There is no need to build homes in this rural, steep area.

THE OCTOBER 17 ELECTION IS COMING

Councillors Findlay, Manhas, Caljouw and Hogg have consistently voted for developments breaking through the Urban Containment Boundary and cramming dense housing into rural spaces. These bring more traffic, more pollution, bigger infrastructure deficits and dwindling rural lands. And in the case of Kingsview, we can add wildfire risks.

Is this the future you want for North Cowichan? Come October, you decide if you’re in support of their positions—or not.