The District of Invermere has extended its survey for the Athalmer Neighbourhood Plan until June 12th, as they look to engage with the public on the future of the Lake Windermere Resort Lands.
A major project for the community, it all began as a referendum question during the 2018 election in October. Asking residents if they supported the purchase of the Resort Lands for $5-million, 66% of voters were in favour.
Moving forward with an Alternate Approval Process (AAP), District Council approved the acquisition of the Lake Windermere Resort Lands. Last fall, Invermere Council commissioned a detailed land-use plan for the Resort Lands along with the existing Athalmer Neighbourhood.
“We’ve got this beautiful property at the doorstep of our community, for one the new property that we bought, plus we’ve got the existing Athalmer property that also has some housing and a little bit of industry located in it,” said Allen Miller, Mayor of Invermere.
The overall plan and consultation are for the entire area, “running in parallel” to one another as B&A Planning Group and McElhanney Consulting Services facilitate the development of the plan for Athalmer and the Lake Windermere Resort Lands.
“We need to hear from our citizens what they would like to see happen. There’s a lot of great area there and we want the best for it,” Miller told MyEastKootenayNow.com. “We’re checking in with our citizens, giving them an extra couple of days on our survey just to capture as much as we can so we can go forward with a great plan.”
The initial Athalmer Neighbourhood Plan Survey was set to end on Monday, June 8th but has since been extended to Friday, June 12th.
MORE: Athalmer Neighbourhood Plan Survey (District of Invermere)
Miller said they’ve already received several suggestions from the public, but a mixed plan appears to be the prominent response from residents.
“People really think there should be a mixed plan down there, a little park land, a little commercial,” noted the Mayor. “The big thing is a proper boat launch, that’s one key area they want addressed. That’s going to be something that we’re going to have to really survey and study and try and figure out how we move forward with that.”
With a lot of unknowns surrounding COVID-19, Miller hopes they can still proceed quickly and stay on schedule, with on-site planning and further public consultation still in the future stages of the plan.
“We’re really hoping we can get some really good input because this is such valuable property, we want to do it right.”
MORE: Athalmer Neighbourhood Plan (District of Invermere)
Residents wanting to provide their response, but can’t do so online through the survey can directly contact the District of Invermere:
- Rory Hromadnik
- 250.342.9281 ext. 1235
- [email protected]
- Cortney Pitts
- 250.342.9281 ext. 1232
- [email protected]
The District of Invermere is holding out hope that the entire plan can remain on schedule, with a final concept plan appearing before Council for approval by winter 2020.