-RDOS board to consider application again on Aug. 21-
OSOYOOS TIMES-August 20, 2008-
By Chad IngramrnOsoyoos Times
Just what will become of the Willow Beach Resort development proposal remains unclear.
The application for the1,088-unit housing development planned for the north end of Osoyoos Lake was denied third reading by the rural directors of the Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) in a 4-4 vote at an Aug. 7 meeting.
When the motion to give third reading to the required zoning and Official Community Plan amendments for the development concept failed to pass a first vote, RDOS Chair Dan Ashton, referring to Section 131 of the B.C. Community Charter, enacted his right as chair to bring the motion back to the table for reconsideration.
In between votes, Ashton telephoned Area G Director Joe Nitsch, who was absent from the meeting but reportedly favours the proposed development, in an attempt to swing the vote of Area G alternate director Duncan MacArthur, one of the four directors who voted against the proposal.
MacArthur did not change his vote when the board reconsidered the motion.
A vote was then made to postpone any further decision regarding the proposal to the board's next meeting on Aug. 21.
Neither Ashton nor RDOS planning staff could say whether the development proposal would have to be revised for another third reading vote.
According to Section 131 of the charter, reconsideration on a motion can be called once by the head of a council, either at the same meeting as the initial vote or within 30 succeeding days.
The fourth and final clause of the section reads that, If the original decision was the adoption of a bylaw or resolution and that decision is rejected on reconsideration, the bylaw or resolution is of no effect and is deemed to be repealed.
On Aug. 15, Ashton said that, while he couldn't foresee what would happen with the proposal, it will be handled legitimately.
Ashton would not speak to his interpretation the word repealed in Section 131 of the charter, saying that formalities of procedure were the purview of RDOS general manager of administrative services Tracey Batten.
Ashton said Batten was away on vacation last week and is on vacation this week as well.
With regards to the definition of repealed as it applies to the charter, RDOS Chief Administrative Officer Bill Newell said, I'd have to do some research on that.
Newell said a number of options would be presented to Ashton on how to proceed with the proposal.
He's the one that really has authority with rules of procedure, he said.
The first alternate recommendation by RDOS staff in the event the readings did not pass was to have the developer meet with staff to discuss possible changes to the proposed project's scale and density.
A decision on that recommendation was postponed until the next meeting.
The proposed Willow Beach Resort received first reading from the RDOS rural board in December and second reading in April.
At a public hearing on July 9, a slight majority of speakers voiced their approval of the development.
The project's developer, Vancouver's Georgia Laine Developments, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Town of Osoyoos in April agreeing to pay the estimated $2-million shortfall required to complete the Northwest Sewer Project if the development is approved by the RDOS.
The sewer project would hook 121 homes along the lake's northwest shore up to Osoyoos's sewage system.
Osoyoos mayor and RDOS director John Slater has said that if construction on the sewer project doesn't begin by the end of October, the RDOS is at serious risk of losing a $4.5-million dollar grant it received from the provincial and federal governments towards the project in 2007.
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