(Councillor Chris Istace voted to oppose Grant Road subdivision application.)
North Cowichan council supports contentious Quamichan Lake development in 4-3 vote
Councillor Chris Istace: ‘Stop letting the development community off’
In another rejection of staff advice and public opinion, a pro-development majority on North Cowichan council voted Wednesday to support a contentious new subdivision near Quamichan Lake.
Councillors Becky Hogg, Tek Manhas, Bruce Findlay and Mike Caljouw voted to support an Official Community Plan amendment and rezoning at 1673 Grant Road.
The approval would increase the maximum allowable housing units on the property to 36 from the current 14.
Mayor Rob Douglas and councillors Christopher Justice and Chris Istace voted in opposition.
Manhas also proposed an amendment that the developer not be required to contribute to the Affordable Housing Fund.
Caljouw said in support: “I’m all for affordable housing” but “this is something that should be taken on by the provincial government.”
Istace fired back.
“Stop letting the development community off,” he said. “They understand the breakdown, the margins, the costs. They’re professional, they’re experts. They know what they’re doing.
“They understand these costs and we’ve been habitually lower than anywhere else on Vancouver Island at a detriment to our future.”
He added that “for a council that wants to keep chasing the lowest tax rate you cannot contradict yourself at the council table.”
Offered a chance to respond: Caljouw said: “I think after that I’m just going to reserve a ‘no comment.’”
(Councillor Mike Caljouw)
Manhas replied: “I did vote against the affordable housing plan. I’m not contradicting myself.”
The amendment failed after Hogg voted against it.
The developer, Margo Young, donated $1,000 to Hogg during the April byelection campaign and $300 each to Findlay and Caljouw during the 2022 election campaign.
Hogg told council: “I had a financial aide, or a financial person, who took care of the money.…
“I didn’t know who donated money to me. I want to speak to that right now. I actually didn’t know until I saw the article from Larry Pynn who had donated to my campaign.”
https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/a3479be5-5215-4afe-9b41-bf8ce5d23767
Municipal staff recommended against approval of the Grant Road subdivision, while 68 residents of the nearby Trumpeter Pointe residential area signed a petition opposing the development.
The staff report said the "purpose of defining a growth boundary is to encourage development and densification within it, and to prevent it from outside of it. The fact that the scale of development in this case is relatively small offers no justification to depart from the policy and expand" the Urban Containment Boundary.
Several citizens also spoke to council in opposition.
“Why do you continue trying to break the OCP?” said Bryan Senft, who lives about two kilometres away. “It doesn’t make sense. Stop doing it. It’s not what the community wants. Get it. Would you, please?
“Stop working — four of you — as a right-wing kind of operation in here.”
Manhas smiled in response to the comment.
(North Cowichan video of Councillor Tek Manhas)
The development received first and second reading and now goes to a public hearing.
Listen to the full council debate at the 1:37:08 mark: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/Players/ISIStandAlonePlayer.aspx?Id=0e260f40-f61c-4c05-94c0-868fb73f53f7
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, council voted 5-2 to approve the following motion from Justice: “THAT, to ensure taxpayers are not unfairly burdened with unanticipated high costs to the municipality of any possible future phases of the Kingsview development project, Council will require a fiscal impact analysis before considering an extension of the Phased Development Agreement (PDA). This analysis must compare projected tax and fee revenues with all the eventual costs to the municipality - including, but not limited to, maintaining infrastructure, providing basic services, and paying for any unrecovered capital expenditures - to determine the net financial impact on municipal taxpayers.”
Manhas and Findlay were opposed.
Council also unanimously approved without debate first and second reading of a proposed expansion of Jim Shockey’s Hand of Man Museum in Maple Bay and to schedule a public hearing.
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— Larry Pynn, Oct. 2, 2025
