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Boundary expansion back on table

Boundary expansion is once again on the table at the Village of Pemberton. Drew Meredith and Lori Mitchell have applied to have the boundary expand to their property located on Highway 99 near the Pemberton Plateau.

Boundary expansion is once again on the table at the Village of Pemberton.

Drew Meredith and Lori Mitchell have applied to have the boundary expand to their property located on Highway 99 near the Pemberton Plateau. The parcel is now part of Electoral Area C, while the neighbouring Plateau area, which is serviced by Pemberton water and sewer, is considered part of the village.

Currently the VOP has an application for boundary extension in Victoria pertaining to the land south to Tisdall (up to, but not including the Rutherford Creek IPP). Ministry of Agricultural and Lands criterion for boundary expansion includes: that the lands are contiguous, the proposed new boundary follows legal parcel lines and the area consists of logical blocks of parcels.

The criterion is in place to prevent piecemeal boundary expansion. The province went on record with the village in 1998 as not being in favour of the idea. On its own, inclusion of the property could be construed as piecemeal boundary expansion.

However, during discussion of the issue, the VOP's interim administrator, Tanalee Hesse, stated that an additional two properties have submitted requests for inclusion in boundary expansion. The letters requesting consideration were submitted after the deadline for inclusion in the agenda package had passed. One of these properties is believed to be the site of the proposed Raven’s Crest development.

All of the current council members addressed the issue of boundary expansion in their pre-election literature and interviews. Councillors Jennie Helmer and Mark Blundell expressed concern at that time about how boundary expansion would be applied and its impact on taxes and infrastructure costs.

Council deferred the matter of the Meredith-Mitchell parcel to David Allen, the director of development services, for review. The requests for the aforementioned two properties will be brought forward at the next council meeting.