The 2023 Annual General Meeting of the Christina Lake Waterfront Property Owners’ Society was held August 3, 2023 at the Christina Lake Community Hall commencing at 7 p.m. with 18 members present.
Directors David Merry, Tres Dergousoff and Mike Fairweather were introduced. Director Daniel Nocente was unable to attend
RDKB Area C Director, Grace McGregor, CLFD Chief Joe Geary, Kettle River Watershed coordinator Kristina Anderson and RDKB Senior Planner, Liz Moore were invited to give short presentations at the meeting, but sent regrets.
Motion to approve a quorum present – m/s/c
Motion to approve the agenda for the meeting – m/s/c
Minutes of the 2022 AGM are posted on the CLWPOS website. A summary of the minutes of last year’s AGM was reviewed. Motion to approve the minutes of the 2022 CLWPOS AGM m/s/c
Chairman’s Report
Section 22 of the June 29 Draft 3 of the RDKB Area C/Christina Lake Official Community Plan relating to the implementation of guidelines for Riparian Area Development Permit application was reviewed. Copies of the Draft OCP together with related maps were available for society members present. Some members had reviewed copies of this draft document prior to the meeting, available through the RDKB web site.
A member of the Society and also a member of the draft OCP review committed, Jennifer Horahan, was present at the meeting. Jennifer provided valuable insight to Section 22. Most importantly, she noted that in view of the absence of negative feedback received by the RDKB following the July 5 OCP review meeting, the draft document has been forwarded for review by other interested parties, including First Nations and the Provincial Government. There is accordingly a time constraint, not well defined, for concerned area C residents to provide feedback on Section 22 and any other section of the draft document of interest and/or concern.
Motion to approve Chairman’s report m/s/c
Financial Report
A new meeting incident insurance policy provider was kindly suggested by the Community Centre Society. The insurance was much reduced from the policy provider used for our 2023 AGM. Our membership dues for 2022-23 were accordingly above our expenses for the year.
Motion to accept treasurer’s report m/s/c.
Election of Directors
The following members of the society have volunteered and were elected to serve as directors of the society:
Tres Dergousoff
Michael Fairweather
David Merry
Daniel Nocente
The meeting concluded with general discussion related to a proposed motion that the board be instructed to write to the RDKB expressing concern with Section 22 of the draft Area C OCP relating to proposed Riparian Area Development Area permitting guidelines. This same issue had been raised some 11 years ago and resulted in the formation of this society.
The consensus of the meeting was that concerned members of the Society should write to our area C representative, Ms. McGregor together with other interested local and provincial government officials expressing concern with this proposed section noting that in view of the continued high water quality of Christina Lake, together with the limited opportunity for further foreshore development to which this new section of the OCP would apply, the hardship and cost which would follow from the adoption of this section of the OCP would greatly outweigh any future benefits that might accrue from its adoption.
The Chairman agreed to prepare a draft template to this effect.
Motion to adjourn the meeting m/s/c at 8:20 pm
Draft letter template dated Jan 11, 2024 and as approved by the board of the CLWPOS follows.
Please note that letters to staff of the RDKB and our elected representatives should be courteous and as factual as possible. Details of the proposed legislation may be reviewed on the RDKB website using the link ‘Join the Conversation’ and then follow the ‘Featured Projects’ link. The draft Christina Lake OCP is found by scrolling to the bottom of the page – to the bottom left corner to ‘Christina Lake Official Community Plan review’. There is a side bar to give you access to a pdf copy of Draft 5 of the plan. Be aware that it is a lengthy document. Thanks for your support.
To: Elizabeth Moore, srplanner@rdkb.com
Cc:
Chair, RDKB Area C (Christina lake) OCP Review Committee c/o RDKB Area C Director Ms. Grace McGregor, gmcgregor@rdkb.com
RDKB CEO Mark Andison, mandison@rdkb.com
Boundary Similkameen MLA Roly Russell, roly.russell.MLA@leg.bc.ca
Re: Draft version 5 of RDKB Area C Official Community Plan Bylaw no.1855, October 31, 2023
I am/we are a waterfront property owner in RDKB Area C, and I/we have reviewed the draft Christina Lake OCP proposal. I/we have concerns with the potential impact of Section 22 of the draft relating to the implementation of a Riparian Development Permit Area bylaw for Christina Lake.
The Christina Lake OPC is a complex and involved future-oriented document, and I/we appreciate that significant time and resources have been expended to build this draft document. From what I/we have learned after having been made aware and reviewing the proposal, I/we believe that the suggested Section 22 of this draft may impose significant hardship on all waterfront property owners–no matter whether they are lake, river or creek front owners–without providing significant benefit to water quality and existing flora and fauna at Christina Lake.
As a late addition to the OCP in the spring of 2023, Section 22 came into being without the correct and adequate amount of public engagement. I/we are aware of data which shows that a significant number of residents of Christina Lake–particularly those who are waterfront owners and the most impacted by this proposed section–are not aware of the impact to the quiet use and enjoyment of their property that these regulations will have. We feel that there has not been a large enough reach in engagement of the affected community. I/We have only learned of this initiative in the past few months, despite being an owner in the affected area for X years.
I/we urge you strongly to defer adoption of Section 22 into law to give our community additional time for further discussion in a more open, measured and thoughtful manner.
Accordingly I/we strongly request that Section 22 of Draft 5 of the Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 1855 Electoral Area C/Christina Lake, Dated October 31, 2023, entitled “Riparian Development Permit Area” be removed from this draft.
Please put you Name & address here
Christina Lake, B.C., V0H 1E2
