A company’s desire to expand a motorsport facility in North Cowichan has made enemies of neighbours.
It’s often difficult to tell who supports expansion of the facility and who doesn’t. But tonight (Oct. 3) — as residents file back into the 731-seat Cowichan Performing Arts Centre for Round 2 of a public hearing on a rezoning application that started on Tuesday — that divide will be clear.
Pro-expansion residents will wear carnations provided by Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit; anti-expansion residents will wear No labels provided by a residents association.
In the middle will be councillors, who North Cowichan Mayor Al Siebring said will have to decide on one of the toughest land-use applications he has seen in 11 years in office.
At issue is a rezoning application to put three parcels of land in North Cowichan — two industrial parcels and one recreational-use parcel — under one comprehensive development zone for expansion of a vehicle test-track facility.
The Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit, on 18.74-hectares, opened in June 2016.
The company wants to build Phase 2, which would include a new five-kilometre paved motor vehicle circuit, an off-road circuit, a new clubhouse and buildings for storing and repairing motor vehicles. It would be built on 42.47 hectares adjacent to Phase 1.
About 650 people attended a public hearing on the rezoning application on Tuesday. There were more than two hours of presentations by planners, an archeologist, a biologist, and several engineers on behalf of Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit, before the public had the opportunity to speak.
“It’s given the community an opportunity to have their say and when you give folks in the Cowichan Valley an opportunity to have their say, they’re going to have their say,” Siebring said. “That’s kind of the community we are and one of the reasons I love living here.”
The motorsport facility was hailed by some residents as a first-class economic driver, bringing $1.5 million into the local economy and $158,000 in municipal taxes each year, and supporting tourism, businesses and charities.
Others portrayed it as a noisy nuisance disrupting people’s lives and an environmentally insensitive facility at odds with Cowichan Valley’s quiet charm.
The development is so divisive people can’t even agree what the track does.
The owners would say generally it’s a track on which high-end cars are tested and where owners of those cars occasionally use the track to test what their vehicle can do, Siebring said.
Critics call the facility a race track, though the owners say no two cars have ever raced against each other. Siebring said it ultimately comes down to one’s definition of racing.
Vicki Walker said for 47 years she has lived on Corey Road, about three kilometres from the track. She can hear the cars but “it’s not excessively loud, disruptive or the least bit annoying.”
Walker cited noise from the horse-riding club, private planes, people on the river and events at Vimy Hall.
Walker said she is proud to have the facility in the neighbourhood and is grateful for the owners’ contributions to the community and the taxes they pay.
Two longtime Sahtlam residents rose to say they are in favour of the track but disheartened that the issue has so divided their community.
Cowichan Tribes elder Robert George, speaking for himself only, talked about the cultural significance of the Mount Prevost area and the Quw’utsun people’s connection to the land.
He asked councillors to “keep the mountain the way it is — natural.”
Valerie Masuda, who lives on Somenos Road, said hundreds of people have been negatively affected by track noise, “to the extent where they can’t enjoy their backyards or enjoy a family picnic.”
John Hood, involved in reforestation, said the new track will adversely affect the environment: “To do this in our valley is beyond me.”
Presenters on behalf of Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit said the expansion is a $36-million-plus investment that will create about 200 construction jobs, nearly 30 full-time jobs for operating it.
“Without the rezoning, we return to the challenges of the past,” said Mark Holland, of Holland Planning Innovations, on behalf of the owners.
“There will be no noise mitigation, no forest protection, no agricultural lands protection, there will be no community benefits.”
Once residents have had a chance to speak tonight, the hearing will conclude and North Cowichan council will reconvene, discuss the rezoning, and vote on whether to give it third reading.
If the rezoning passes, the next step would involve registering covenants offered by Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit to mitigate residents’ concerns, including maximum sound levels, compensation for breach of those sound levels, and environmental protections.
The Transportation Ministry also needs to sign off because the property is close to a highway. With these steps completed, the rezoning would return to council for adoption.
