Comox Valley Regional District directors voted to move bylaw amendments past third reading that would allow a proposed campground at Saratoga Speedway.
This comes after the raceway initially proposed a 167-site campground in 2021 with its first and second readings done in March 2022. However, before a public hearing could proceed, Saratoga Speedway cancelled it after they said on social media that the process had become “too toxic.”
In June of this year, it was announced that a public hearing would be held in mid-July before being considered for a third reading. The racetrack had also lowered the number of sites from 167 to 137.
Around 200 people attended the public hearing on July 19 at Miracle Beach Elementary, according to the CVRD. Area A director Daniel Arbour says they received multiple pieces of correspondence from either at the meeting or online.
That amounted to 394 pages of public input about the issue. Arbour says he went over the data from the inputs and found that 168 of the submissions were Black Creek residents, about 76 per cent according to his findings.
Of those, 99 submissions were opposed to the bylaw, 64 were in favour and five were neutral. Arbour says that means around 60 per cent were opposed to the bylaw.
However, if the submissions from those outside of the community were included, Arbour said 112 were opposed, 101 were in favour and seven were neutral. That meant 51 per cent were opposed, according to his findings.
He added that he found highlighted benefits included a positive economic benefit of the potential campground, the positive social impact of the racetrack, and many said the owner has invested to improve the facilities and enhance the experience.
Negatives included the volume of the noise with suggestions that a noise bylaw changes passed in 2022 were not sufficient, concerns about water availability, concerns about burning fossil fuels during a climate crisis and that the community will not benefit as much as the owners.
“Following the application, professional reports, bylaw draft and public input there remains a large number of Black Creek residents who are against the bylaw and for an application process like this I was expecting to see a much higher level of support,” said Arbour.
“With the number of issues and concerns left outstanding, I believe the bylaw should be denied today, which would maintain the status quo about the zoning for the speedway and associated properties and activities.”
Arbour added he felt that the speedway could return with a different application for a smaller campground in the future.
Area C director Edwin Grieve, however, felt that the campground could provide a service for the area as it can be very difficult to get a campground on Vancouver Island and that more processes are yet to come.
“The speedway itself is not up for discussion, what we can look for is how we’re going to be working on the noise controls, all the rainwater management and sewer systems,” said Greive. “I’m not concerned about a lot of it, it’s being addressed by a lot of the professional reports.
“This is our opportunity to address some of the real concerns as opposed to maybe some of the ‘red herrings’ we’ve heard about.”
CVRD staff said no amendments can be made after a third reading. After that, it goes to the Ministry of Transportation for a review and then back for adoption.
The vote between the three directors saw a two to one vote, with Grieve and alternate director Rod Nichol in favour and Arbour opposed.
