Announcements can often mislead, and the one that appeared on an e-mail about the outcome of an application for rezoning of industrial land in Area C did just that. In bold, big, red letters it said, ‘WE WON!’

In some people's view there had been a contest; in the view of others it was a process that had taken its course. One side withdrew so there was really no contest, but had that not happened, perhaps there might have been one. It will never be known for sure what the outcome might have been.

In the interests of showing who won, or whether or not a contest took place, it is necessary to review the events leading up to the meeting of the Advisory Planning Commission (APC) held on April 6 at the Christina Lake Community Hall.   

In the fall of 2008, the planning and development division of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) had received a rezoning application from Aquilini Renewable Energy (ARE) applying to land located in the industrial park near the Cascade border crossing south of the community of Christina Lake. ARE wanted the zoning changed to accommodate the construction of a waste-to-energy facility.

The president of ARE made a brief presentation in support of the rezoning application in front of a small group of residents from the Ponderosa Estates community at an APC meeting. He followed that meeting with a couple other meetings, one at the Moody Creek Estates clubhouse within a few days, and another at the community hall in late November. Both meetings were intended to provide more information on the proposed industrial facility and answer questions.   

Residents were invited to submit questions about the proposal by Dec. 5, 2008 and were promised that answers would be available by mid to late January 2009. From January 2009 to April 6, the proponent was virtually silent and no reasons were given for the silence.

After almost a year, the board of directors of the RDKB gave ARE a deadline by which a detailed proposal should appear at the RDKB office. The deadline was met, but only with what was determined to a less than compelling case.

Shortly after the APC meeting in 2008, a group called Save Christina Lake was formed with the purpose of educating residents and collecting signatures on a petition against the ARE proposal. Signs were created by the committee and could be found almost anywhere in the community.

The work on this particular project by the RDKB planning staff, directors and the committee ended with the announcement on April 6 that ARE had decided to withdraw its application. 

Residents are now left to draw their own conclusions about what occurred between September 2008 and April 2010. Was there a competition? Was there a winner and a loser? 

The process has played itself out and it is now important to determine what lessons were learned by members of the community and elected officials. 

The RDKB has learned that it must ask proponents for detailed proposals submitted by specific deadlines. The process cannot be left open-ended as it was with the ARE submission.     

The community should have learned that taking a proactive role in response to proposals is worthwhile, and that there is a need for the collection and storage  of baseline data on the quality of the air in the area, and the quality of the water in aquifers and the lake.

The ARE proposal is now a dead issue, but there will be other proposals for the land in question. In preparation for a response to future projects it would be prudent for residents to critically assess the list of permitted uses for the subject property.