The 19 Mile Creek employee housing project is back on track. Another public information meeting on the project is scheduled for Feb. 28 at Myrtle Philip school and a public hearing will be held March 9. The meetings were scheduled after the Ministry of Environment provided verbal confirmation that flood-proofing measures proposed for the project are adequate. Senior municipal planner Mike Purcell told council Monday it may take the ministry months to provide written approval, but "we asked specifically if there’s any reasons this proposal can’t go forward, and they said ‘no’." Ministry approval of the flood proofing measures was one of four conditions council required the project developers, 19 Mile Creek Housing Ltd., to fulfil before a public hearing could be scheduled. The other conditions, imposed last November when first and second reading were given, were: completion of an updated traffic study for the area, ownership details of the apartment units in the project, and specific details about finishing materials and pricing of the townhouse units. The project proposal includes 60 one-, two- and three-bedroom townhouses in eight buildings, and 24 three-bedroom rental units in two buildings. A single-family lot, which would be sold at market value, is also part of the proposal. The apartment units will initially be offered for sale to Chamber of Commerce member businesses, for rent to their employees. The townhouse units will sell for $155 per square foot. They range in size from 640 square feet to approximately 1,200 square feet. The flood-proofing measures agreed to with the Ministry of Environment should improve 19 Mile Creek as a fish habitat. Those measures include pulling the berm back 5-6 metres from the edge of the creek, which will create a bench between berm and the creek. The bench will become a riparian zone. As well, the developers will create four rock weirs in the creek, which will enhance fish habitat. The creek has flooded several times over the years and been re-routed by man, both of which have damaged the creek as a fish habitat. Last fall the 19 Mile Creek project was thought to be the most likely private employee housing initiative to go ahead this summer. However, project approval was expected by January. Since council gave the project first two readings in November some Alpine Meadows residents have organized a campaign opposing the development. Mathew Coté of 19 Mile Creek Holdings says if the project receives approval following the March 9 public hearing about half the development could be built prior to next winter. The information meeting will take place in the Millar Room of Myrtle Philip school Feb. 28, from 2 to 4 p.m. A formal presentation by the developer will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. The statutory public hearing will be held prior to council’s regular meeting at 7 p.m., March 9.
