How will Union Bay Estates be impacted?

The CVRD has a Master Development Agreement with Union Bay Estates for the development of those lands. The MDA requires a sewer solution for the proposed development that has expansion capability. Should a connection to the Comox Valley Sewer Service proceed, it would remove the requirement for the developer to construct a standalone treatment plant. Union Bay Estates would instead make a comparable contribution to fund the sewer pipe connecting to the regional system.

I’d like to know what a ‘comparable contribution’ is for Kensington Island Properties aka Union Bay Estates to contribute towards the cost of bringing sewage to Union Bay. Right now KIP has applied to dump 1000 cubic metres of treated sewage into Hart/Washer Creek daily for 512 connections, commercial and residential. The complete buildout is over 3000 new doors. How is the figure going to be calculated – 512 or 3000? Kip claims the development will be built over 10 – 15 years and he’s referring to the buildout. We know we are going to be paying for at least 20 years (in 2016 it was amortized over 30 years) so shouldn’t this developer be paying for the complete buildout?

Links to info: https://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/sewerextension https://connectcvrd.ca/sewerextension

On June 13, the Electoral Area Services Committee agreed planning for the project should be rolled into the long-term plan for the Comox Valley Sewer Service in order to create a truly regional approach. This means that the Sewer Extension South Project will undertake a Liquid Waste Management Plan as part of the broader Comox Valley sewer plan that is currently underway.

What Happens Next?
With the decision to develop an LWMP amendment, the project team will transition to the planning process that will include public engagement and the involvement of public and technical advisory committees. Next steps include:

Establishing the public and technical advisory committees. The public is invited to submit their interest in participating – get more info here.
Collecting technical plans and assessments: The staff team along with consulting engineers will bring together the information required for consideration in the LWMP process.
Public update: While the PAC meetings will occur throughout the fall and will be open to the public, a general public update (via open house/webinar) will be held early in 2023.

A Royston/Union Bay Amendment

The proposed approach – supported by the Province of BC – would see an amendment created for the Comox Valley Sewer Service LWMP that includes plans for the extension of sewer service to Royston/Union Bay. Rather than undertaking a full separate planning process, the amendment will benefit from the extensive work already done to complete the Comox Valley Sewer Service LWMP, as well as the substantive work previously undertaken for sewer planning in Royston and Union Bay.

The amendment planning process will take roughly a year to complete, and will include four stages of public engagement. A public advisory committee will be created to contribute direction and feedback throughout the amendment’s development.