The elimination of Nanaimo's Urban Containment Boundary : 1 : Full circle

Recent news that the Sandstone property had been purchased by Seacliff Group and that they were submitting Official Community Plan Update and rezoning applications, brings things for me full circle. In 2004 my wife and I and our daughter who was soon to graduate from VIU and go off on her own moved from a North Nanaimo suburb to the downtown "Old City."

At that time the City of Nanaimo was preparing for its 10 Year Official Community Plan Review. Downtown revitalization initiatives were a major reason we moved house and business to the inner city. A Business Improvement Area (BIA) was organized with funding from both a levy on commercial properties and matching funds from the City of Nanaimo taxpayer. It had a board of directors that included two city councillors and met at the council table of the day at City Hall on Wallace Street. More on this later...

There was well an organized and effective group, The Friends of Plan Nanaimo, that participated in the review process and were increasingly opposed to elements of the new plan that differed greatly from the previous OCP (Plan Nanaimo). I wasn't a member of the this group but increasingly we shared many concerns.

An important feature of Plan Nanaimo was the Urban Containment Boundary (UCB), meant to halt sprawling growth across the undeveloped southern area of the city. It was clear to most observers that the UCB was of critical importance to the revitalization of our downtown.

The new plan called for the elimination of the Urban Containment Boundary, even tho by the City's own Land Capacity Analysis there was sufficient residentially-zoned land to meet projected population growth to 2031 and beyond. Then Director of Planning Andrew Tucker was quoted as saying Nanaimo had growth capacity for another 30 - 50,000 people without extending development past the UCB. Why then, eliminate it?

The "review" turned out to be the formalizing by the City of its intent to eliminate the Plan's Urban Containment Boundary and greenlight low density subdivisions and big box retail and a fantasy destination golf course resort across the previously protected greenfields at the southern extremity of the city. I decided then I should perhaps pay a little more attention to civic affairs.

RT : from Dec 2017 : #Sandstone "Now embedded in the OCP these are ticking time bombs destructive to downtown and could set us back 25 years when they come back into play which could be any day now… https://t.co/HB9PoAsLlX

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) July 16, 2019

The OCP Review process began with a community consultation conference held on November 18, 2006 at then-Malaspina University-College. Approximately 200 people participated in the all day event that included keynote speakers and small group discussions.

Keynote speakers from Smart Growth BC and Urban Futures, as well as Vancouver Urban Planner Lance Berelowitz spoke on land use and sustainability issues with the overriding message that the Urban Containment Boundary should be maintained and strengthened.

From my letter to the editor, April 2007 : "Massive, sprawling projects outside the Urban Containment Boundary will set back downtown revitalization and therefore the economic and cultural health of the entire city for five, 10 even 15 years... Our regional shopping centre must be the revitalized core of the city. The 'gateway' to the region described in the South Nanaimo Lands [Sandstone] proposal is more accurately a wall."

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