Recent Presentations To Council
Presentation to Council Regarding Seniors Housing Project Proposal
Deputy-mayor and Council,
I don’t have much to say as I think most of it has already been said by many residents. The question is has it been listened to. Not just heard but listened.
Since 2016 we have grown our population 33% compared to the provincial average of 7.6%.
The villages total land mass is not very large.
The village does not have a very large land reserve compared to many other communities.
There are many innovative ways to address any gaps in our types of housing supply. Let’s not forget to explore all the options and make sure we focus on those that have the least impact with the most benefit.
I recently had the opportunity to attend the Communities in Bloom Awards ceremony, where the village did very well and we should be quite proud of our achievement.
We received an evaluation based on the categories we entered and I want to read to you one of the recommendations they gave, as I think it is very valuable.
This is from the Communities in Bloom 2025 Judges Visit Report:
Under the Heritage Conservation category Recommendations:
“You have a very unique village. Most resort-based Villages are very commercial, yours is not. We heard that the council desires to keep the town from increasing in density but did not see any by-laws to this effect. Is a by-law needed?”
When making decisions in governance we need to remember:
Sometimes it is easy to get off course, even when we have the best intentions. All it takes is to just slightly lose sight and just drift a few degrees off. The further you go down the road the greater the drift, until you are going in a very different direction then what you intended. Let’s make sure we are going in the right direction.
Thank you,
Susan Galvao
Presentation to Council on Large Scale Proposed Development
Deputy-mayor and Council,
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak at tonight’s public meeting regarding the amendment to the zoning by-law at the property location 259 Hot Springs Road.
I am in opposition of this amendment for several reasons.
This is a very unique village and I feel sometimes, particularly over the last several years that this has been forgotten. Our village has our incredible Harrison Lake as its feature and then beautiful majestic mountains on either side creating a framework, which in my opinion rivals most places in the world. This however also places our village in a delicate geographical position where sprawl and poor planning decisions can prove detrimental to the healthy development and growth.
The zoning amendments being proposed do not do justice to the potential in this village. I took the time to review all the information on the village website regarding the proposed plans, the requests and the recommendations, before making my decision of opposition.
Frankly I found the whole proposal disappointing. It lacks both vision and respect for the future of the village. The design itself is what I would describe as “modern cookie cutter” to the core. The comment on the design (page 91) says the design would be made to compliment the Settler Pub but these designs ideas could not be further apart.
The footprint goes against anything that would qualify as a smart development. It will not be an improvement or create a cohesive village aesthetic.
The request for an amendment to the FAR from 1.5 to 1.8, the Lot coverage to a whopping 89.39% and also a height increase from 15m to 17.61m only adds further insult to injury.
It lacks any substantial climate mitigating effects. It essentially creates the opposite for anyone other than maybe occupants that can utilize a mainly hardscaped courtyard area.
This is the gateway to the tourist area and a very important part of pedestrian traffic. I fear this design will be very detrimental to the local tourism industry and residential enjoyment alike.
We need to move forward with real smart growth and development when we move forward. These concepts can go hand in hand.
I urge council to vote against these amendments.
Thank you,
Susan Galvao
Presentation to Council on a Proposed Zoning Amendment From Residential To Commercial
Good Evening Mayor, Council and Staff
Thank you all for hearing me this evening. I am here to speak on the request for rezoning of 856 Hot Springs Road from R-2 to C-2 zoning.
It is important to look at these requests and then ask the questions. The what, who, where, why, and how’s when it come to the development of the village. This measurement can be applied to all proposed developments.
The what- what is being proposed, the who’s- who does it benefit, where- is it the best place, how- how does it maximize benefit to our village. These questions act as a sort of litmus test of suitability.
It is my opinion that this proposed zoning amendment does not pass the test of suitability. It does not fit into our OCP and does not fit into a cohesive village design the way the current R-2 zoning does.
I have seen a lot of speculative real estate purchasing happening here in the village for quite some time now. There is really nothing wrong with that if, the village uses it to truly enhance life for the villagers.
So far, it has been working very well for developers.
Since 2016 we have had an unprecedented growth of over 33% in population compared to the provincial average of 7.5%. Let that sink in for a moment. That is over a 400% difference between the province numbers and our community. That is enormous, just enormous.
I am not anti-growth or anti-business and profit. We all like to make money. But our village needs to grow and succeed based on a firm and concrete vision of how we want our village to look and feel. What amenities we want and where we want them.
Developers are always there. There is no shortage. We need to make sure they are developing what we want, not what they want. What they want is to maximize their profits, pure and simple.
This zoning amendment is not what the village needs at this time.
Thank you
Susan Galvao
