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www.comoxvalleyecho.com Friday April 25, 2014
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Garry oaks saved as land is gifted for nature park By Philip Round Echo Staff Rare Garry oak woods behind Vanier School will be protected in a newly-designated nature park thanks to a gift of nearly 15 acres of land to the City of Courtenay by Comox Valley School District. The ecologically-sensitive parcel has been a past target for potential development, but any future threats of that type are now gone. The property’s Garry oak woodland is a remnant of the most northern ecosystem of its kind in Canada, which is said to host a variety of unusual plant species. In addition to the trees and other vegetation, the land is also the headwaters of Towhee Creek, a small fish-bearing stream that drains into the Tsolum River. The announcement of the gift was made on Tuesday - Earth Day in the heart of the wood by School Board vice-chair Janice Caton, accompanied by fellow trustees, school district staff and environmental club students from Vanier. She said the School District had been involved in studies over several years to determine potential uses for the property. That work was now concluded, and the school board had agreed the most responsible course of action was to work with the City of Courtenay to establish a park to be protected in perpetuity. “It is clear that the school district is not in a position to manage such a sensitive and diverse forest environment, and we are now confident that the necessary stewardship of the land will occur,” she said. Courtenay Mayor Larry Jangula, accompanied by councillors and city staff, said the priority would be to ensure the new park’s environmentally significant features are protected. “We’ll be looking into creating a management plan for the property to determine how we can provide the necessary stewardship for these lands,” he said. “We’re extremely grateful to School District 71 for this beautiful gift to the community.” (Continued on page 2)
Volume 20, No. 33
Crown Isle chosen for new Galaxy Motors dealership By Philip Round Echo Staff A new auto dealership and service centre is set to join Toyota, Nissan and Mazda at Crown Isle. But this time the focus of the new development will be on used vehicles, as it is Island-based Galaxy Motors that is expanding its operations to the Valley. On Tuesday Courtenay Council granted a commercial development permit for the project, which will be on two acres of land between Crown Isle Boulevard and the north side of Silverdale Crescent, opposite Costco. The main indoor showroom, offices and five service bays will be at the centre of the site in a building that makes extensive use of stone and timber to give it a “west coast feel.” The 6,450 sq. ft. single-storey building will be surrounded by almost 150 stalls for the external display of vehicles for sale as well as customer parking, with access to the site from both adjoining roads. There will be some planting and landscaping along the edges of the site. City staff had recommended to Council the permit be granted, noting car dealerships were an approved use in that part of Crown Isle’s commercial zone. They had, however, hoped to see more trees on the site retained, but the landscape architect for the project had advised that would not be feasible due to the extensive grading of the property required to implement the development. Further, in the light of past experiences with Costco, municipal planners had alerted the applicant to the potential issue of noise, and suggested they get in a consultant to advise if any mitigation measures might be needed. But in response, the Ladysmith-based design consultants for the project, Delinea, responded: “We recognize sound attenuation is a concern with the proximity of residential developments. (But) we contend that this type of facility and the nature of the business does not generate any significant noise.” Privately-owned Galaxy Motors promotes itself as specializing in good quality, newer, previously-owned vehicles. It already has sales lots in Nanaimo, Duncan and Victoria, and after deciding to expand further north has homed in on the Crown Isle site as their first choice location.
Pictured centre cutting the ribbon to inaugurate the new nature park are Piet Rutgers of the Comox Valley Land Trust, Courtenay Mayor Larry Jangula, and School Board vice-chair Janice Caton.
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Snow to Surf champions gear up to defend 18 titles By Drew A. Penner Echo Staff This Sunday more than 150 teams will descend on the Comox Valley for the Royal LePage Comox Valley Snow to Surf Race, the country’s premier multi-sport team relay event. The course winds itself down Mount Washington, along dirt trails, roads and waterways as athletes push their limits and vie for dominance. The event features alpine skiing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, running, mountain biking, kayaking, road cycling, canoeing and of course post-race action. Certainly the favourite to win the competition again this year in the Men’s Open category is the dynastic Banzai team - which has won 18 times so far. The Echo caught up with legendary team captain Bill Brett, the canoeist of the bunch, to
Bill Brett hopes to be paddling across the finish line in first place once again
get the inside scoop on how they plan to dominate the field this time around. Brett leafs through stacks of newspaper clippings that fill multiple bags, each individual snippet another mark of success in the Banzai history books. Echo stories show the team guzzling devouring competitors and guzzling beers - although Brett notes the Genesis of the crew came when a rift developed on a formerly powerhouse squad called the Kamakazis. He had helped the team to victory twice in the 90s, but some players wanted a change. “The first team was a little bit of a hardcore party team,” he said. “The other guys didn’t want to party the night before. It just kind of split the team.” With “a little luck and a lot of hard work” Banzai was born and soon rose to the top of the heap. The one year they didn’t win was because they didn’t enter, he added. They have changed sponsors over the years,
and this year Old House Hotel and Comox Valley Nissan have jumped on board. Succeeding is all about each individual component coming together fluidly, he noted. “Everyone does their own sport to get ready,” he said. “You can’t have a weak link. You have to have 10 strong racers.” And when you come up with a solid team it’s nice to be able to hold that together for as long as possible, although this is easier said than done. “It’s hard to keep the same team back every year,” he said. “I have a lot of fun and compete hard.” This year the biggest thing threatening the Banzai reign was the injury of Matt Leduc. The team’s downhill ski racer blew his knee out in Europe, sending the team frantically searching for other people who might fill the void. (Continued on page 2)