By Steve Hubrecht
Radium residents have some pointed questions as evidenced by last week’s public consultation sessions on the ‘draft directions’ of the village’s Official Community Plan (OCP).
The OCP update has been ongoing for nearly a full year now. Earlier this fall Bluerock Planning (the consultants working on the project) presented an early draft version of where the OCP may be headed.
The draft covered a wide range of topics, including where growth envisioned in the village’s housing needs report could happen; tighter regulation of short-term rentals (STRs); and revitalizing the Highway 93 strip.
The village held an open house on Tuesday, Dec. 3, and a virtual open house on Wednesday, Dec. 4, seeking feedback on the draft.
The in-person open house drew 25 attendees, and the virtual open house about a dozen. At the virtual open house Bluerock representatives Fraser Blyth, Jonathan Schmidt, and Amy Clarke explained various aspects of the draft before residents had a chance to speak their minds.
Several Radium STR owners asked about the STR regulations suggested in the draft, and the planners responded that those stem from concern voiced by community members during public consultation earlier in the year. One – named only ‘Tanya’ in the virtual forum — said she felt STR owners were being unfairly blamed for the housing situation in Radium.
Another couple, Darwin and Kathy Baker own a condo in Radium, which they rent as an STR, but they hope to move to the village as permanent residents in several years time. Kathy pointed out that short-term rentals for vacations have been a part of Radium for decades. Radium chief administrative officer Adrian Bergles conceded that was true, but noted the situation has changed substantially in the past 10 to 15 years, owing to online platforms such as AirBnB and VRBO.
He elaborated that while some resort municipalities, such as Tofino, have taken a hard line on STRs, “in this case (Radium’s draft OCP) there’s an attempt to find a middle ground that works.”
“We know there are challenges,” added Schmidt. “There’s always going to be trade-offs with any solution.”
Columbia Valley realtor Ross Newhouse said he feels some of the changes outlined in the draft OCP are long overdue in Radium, but was curious why land that he owns on Madsen Road, which he explained already has high density zoning and could accommodate up to 300 units, is not mentioned in the draft plan.
Schmidt said “there’s nothing in the OCP that writes off your property,” but he and the other planners indicated that the slopes on Madsen Road (which runs almost parallel to Highway 93, to the south) could present challenges. Bergles noted that 300 housing units would be a “unique development.”
Newhouse agreed it was unique, but in a good way, and pointed out that it would help with density infill and that houses built there would easily be within walking distance of downtown.
The village has launched a survey, running until January 2, for those wishing to provide feedback on the draft presented by planning consultants. You can find the survey at radiumhotsprings.ca/ourpathforward/.
Blyth said after feedback from the survey and the consultation sessions, planners and the village will further refine the draft, which will then come back to council for adoption. “We’re hoping for adoption early to mid next year,” said Blyth.
