A proposed development in Spallumcheen’s southeast sector has become an election issue, but the Township says some of the claims circulating around it go further than the public record supports.
In a Sept. 11 “For the Record” statement, the Township said there is no municipal plan or commitment to increase Spallumcheen’s population to 15,000 people and no signed agreement committing the Township to the major development currently being discussed.
The distinction is simple but important:
A proposal is not an approval.
The Township says one development is considering a phased approach to residential development. Any future application would still have to go through the normal planning and approval process and be considered against infrastructure capacity, servicing requirements, water availability, environmental protection, emergency services and the financial effect on existing taxpayers.
That does not mean residents have nothing to ask about.
A development capable of significantly increasing housing or population would raise obvious questions about roads, water, fire protection, wastewater, taxes and the future character of a municipality whose own slogan is “Farming Comes First.”
But there is a difference between asking what a proposal could eventually mean and saying the decision has already been made.
The Township has also pushed back on claims tying the North Okanagan Wastewater Recovery Project solely to population growth. It says the regional project has other purposes, including the potential to provide reclaimed irrigation water during drought and reduce pressure on groundwater and potable water supplies.
For residents, the useful questions are narrower:
What exactly has been proposed?
How many homes could ultimately be built?
What infrastructure would be required?
Who would pay for it?
And what decisions would still have to come before council and the public before anything could proceed?
Those questions can be answered as plans, applications and council decisions move through the public process.
The claim that Spallumcheen has already committed itself to a population of 15,000 cannot.