Hamilton Hill development moved to public hearing

Merritt City Council has moved a massive development out past Exit 286 to a public hearing. The proposed site is located at 2320 Hamilton Hill Road, just past the old visitor centre.

“The applicant is proposing to amend the Official Community Plan to change the land use designation of the subject property from Future Development to Comprehensive Residential Commercial,” wrote Planning Manager Don McArthur.

“The applicant is also proposing to amend the Zoning Bylaw to change the zoning of the subject property from Large Parcel Residential (R1A) and Agricultural (AR1) to Comprehensive Development (CD2),” added McArthur.

The overall development, if approved, would take approximately 20-years to complete. The proposed development includes up to a maximum of 450 residential dwelling units and a 100 room hotel-casino.

The exact date for the public hearing was not specified.

Along with moving the development to the public hearing stage, Council began the process of a local service area agreement for the extension of services, sewer and water, to the site.

“Two property owners at Gateway 286 have petitioned the City for a Local Area Service (LAS) for the installation of water and sanitary sewer service connections for their future development projects,” said Finance Director Wayne Anderson.

The cost of running the services to the site on the boundary of City limits is just over $7.5 million. The funds to cover the loan would be covered by the property owners at Gateway 286.

After concerns were raised by the public about the possibility of the projects not proceeding, CAO Sean Smith outlined the process to ensure the funds are recouped and not at the expense of the taxpayers in Merritt.

“It ultimately falls into the default sale process. So, any tax bill that is outstanding would be covered through the tax sale process at that point. So that is ultimately the municipalities security against local area services not meeting their obligations in that regard,” stated Smith.