Correspondence from Doug Foord re: Council Meeting and Eagles Nest

From: df@icic.us df@icic.us
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2020 2:37 PM
To: Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca
Cc: Jennifer Kay jennifer@town-square.ca
Subject: Council Meeting and Eagles Nest

Dear Mayor Screech and Members of Council,

We are pleased to see the report from staff outlining the options for advancing our application and understand that while we are unable to participate in the Council meeting on Tuesday evening, we are encouraged to provide our comments to you in writing.

We believe our application has significant merit to proceed to the next step in the decision-making process as it is consistent with the Official Community Plan and has benefitted from a significant amount of public input. Over the past 2 years, development plans for our site have been considered at 4 Committee of the Whole Meetings, we have held 3 community meetings and 3 meetings with neighbours in close proximity. There have been a total of 10 meetings where the public has had an opportunity to voice their opinions, and our plans have been shaped with this input. Most recently, we had the opportunity for an additional community presentation with the View Royal Community Association on Thursday, May 7th. The Association very successfully coordinated and hosted the meeting using the online platform, Zoom, allowing us to present the project virtually, and answer questions that were submitted through the Association.

The current application reflects what we believe to be a balancing of site planning considerations, neighbourhood input and broad community benefits offered through implementation of the OCP. The application's consistency with the OCP does give Council the opportunity to waive the requirement for a Public Hearing, to allow the project to proceed to a decision at this time. We respect and value community input and do not feel proceeding would undermine the democratic nature of the land use planning process, as the Local Government Act allows Councils to waive a Public Hearing when an application is consistent with the OCP.

If this option is not elected, we are encouraged by the staff recommendation to proceed with scheduling an electronic public hearing and believe the technology exists to allow for members of the public to provide their input, while respecting physical distancing requirements that are likely to be in place for some time. It is important to establish a new protocol for proceeding with land use decisions and the Provincial Government's Ministerial Order provides the necessary guidance and direction. We support the use of technology and are ready to participate however Council elects to proceed.

Moving forward with the decision-making process is important for all stakeholders, as development is a key component of our local economy and offers long-term benefits. Local businesses in View Royal are feeling the impacts of the pandemic and the sooner we get Eagles Nest under construction, the sooner we can provide them with a much larger customer base, providing support for commercial vacancies to be filled, for new businesses to open with the knowledge that the customer base has been greatly expanded. In the short-term, the two years of construction prior to occupancy offers employment and the labour force on site will provide much needed business and revenue to local shops and services.

We encourage Council to move forward with the decision-making process in the most expeditious manner feasible, and look forward to the establishment of new ways to continue the dialogue around development applications.

Can you please advise if it is possible to attend the meeting this evening to listen in online or will it be recorded?

Thank you,

Kind regards,

DOUG FOORD
PRESIDENT / CEO
Invictus Commercial Investment Corp.
Real Estate Development Division
www.InvictusCommercialInvestment.com
Direct: 778-350-2620