Letter to the Editor

My views on the proposed development of Galloway Lands in Electoral Area A adjacent to City of Fernie.

Although this proposed development is in Area A, it affects Area B where I live in several ways:

What happens upstream on the Elk River affects the South Country. The Elk River is the main contributor to the underground and surface water in the Baynes Lake-Elko area. We are affected by the accumulation of everything that happens upstream because we’re at the end of the Elk River where it empties into the Koocanusa Reservoir (pictured).

If it goes ahead, the proposal sends the message to other developers that the Elk Valley is open to developments with large, expensive homes with large footprints, in environmentally sensitive areas, despite sizeable community opposition.  Will South Country be next on developers’ radars? Will we be “fighting” this fight again and again?

The proposal doesn’t address affordable housing in any way.  That pushes the affordable housing issue out our way and we already have an affordable housing issue that we are grappling with.  Young families and others have been moving out here due to unaffordable housing prices in Fernie and it’s great to have an influx of new, young people to revitalize our community. But there is very limited land and housing supply and it’s gone up in price, too.

I cannot support the development as proposed for the above reasons as well as other reasons:

I share the environmental impact concerns very well expressed by so many qualified people and organizations already.

The developer says (threatens?) that the only other option for Galloway Lands is to harvest the timber.  Putting the land into a land trust (e.g., Elk Valley Land Trust) is also an option. There are financial returns to the landowner.  And what a legacy the landowner would leave in the Elk Valley and beyond.

The developer says that the Nordic Centre would have a permanent home. Does this imply that if the developer’s proposal and further requests of RDEK aren’t met, the Nordic Centre will be expelled? Is there a threat implied? (By the way, it seems to me that a land trust would be another way to give the Nordic Centre a permanent home.)

I’ve not seen that the developer understands what it means to engage with communities and people in the valley. For example, the developer could be working with affordable housing groups to invest in affordable housing in Fernie and other communities.

Another small but telling example is when asked for the link to a credible environmental study used to support their claims, the developer responded “Google it.” Not helpful. Not neighbourly. Not a good indication of respect for the community.

Growing the tax base is only one indication of a healthy community. Homes, sustainable environment, jobs, strong ties, mutual help. These and many other indicators are just as important. Tax base is important, of course, but by itself does not make for a strong community.

I don’t have the information to know how viable this proposal is financially. Will there be unaccounted for costs later that the RDEK will be asked (pressured) to cover because there are tax paying residents there and the development needs to be propped up with taxpayer dollars or it will fail?

I don’t have enough information to know how new or increased pressures on the tax base will be created. For example, increased use of public facilities and services in Fernie? Increased policing? Will there be a net gain or loss to the tax base revenue?

The developer says the proposal will create jobs. Do we need more of the jobs that will be created? There aren’t enough construction workers, tradespeople, etc. to go around now.

We all know people who can’t live here because they can’t afford it. Most recently, a banking representative at a Fernie bank said he’s getting married and can’t afford a home for he and his wife-to-be. He lives now with a roommate but that’s not going to work for a married person starting a family. He’s moving to Calgary. What will happen to banking services in the valley without staff? Banking is a critical piece of a community’s health and stability.

As someone said at the public hearing on May 3 in Fernie, this is a 1980’s style proposal. We can do better. Let’s change with the times.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit my views.

Karen Bergman,

Baynes Lake

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