residents of the Copper Mountain subdivision unanimously con- demned a proposal to build Ter- race’s new community corrections facility in their neighbourhood at a mecting Feb. 7. The group directed their anger at the Thornhill director for the Regional District of Kitimat-Sti- kine, Les Watmough, who was told unequivocally.to inform the rest of the regional district board that the facility is ‘nol wanted there. The regional district received the proposal from the B.C. Buildings Corporation, the Crown corpora- tion that would develop the site for the Corrections Branch. "They came to us with this area in mind about four or five months ago," Watmough told the crowd. The lot would have to be rezoned to allow that use, and Watmough said he and the planning department of the regional examined the proposal and told BCBC that they would require a buffer zone between the area of activity and neighbouring houses, and assurance that access to the lot would not go through the residential area. The current corrections operation , bucks, splits, sells and delivers | Terrace Review — Wednesday, February 13, 1991 A3 firewood 10 offset part of its [am expenses and to give the inmates work. The Corrections Branch has said the new location would house the same kind of operation, with the same inmate capacity. It cur- rently has room for about 30 prisoners. Regional district planner Tosh Yamashita said representatives of Et : the Corrections Branch and BCBC will make a formal proposal to the regional board at their monthly Copper Mountain School Unconstructed _ @CCeSS TOUte aaa ro, oe a " Proposed site for ‘correctional centre TERRACE TRAVEL is pleased to American Diane Millions Diane comes to Terrace Travel from Express ‘Travel in Edmonton, and brings with her 5 years in the Travel & Tourism industry. Diane would like to invite those planning a vacation to come in and sec her at Terrace Travel. MeTeRer away €£ aeriw 4611 Lakelse Avenue, Terrace, B.C. V8G 1P9 welcome two new staff members; Vancouver Carolyn Fassnacht Carolyn (Hagen) was bom and raised in Terrace, attended UBC and taught the past three years at Skeena Jr. Secondary. She recently graduated with distinguished grades from the Canadian Travel School in and enthusiastically looks forward to serving the resi- dents of Terrace. aan A wey HP phone (604) 635-2281 fax (604) 635-7695 TOLL FREE 1-800-772-6394 ~ Thornhill residents protest proposal for location of new corrections centre _ _ THORNAILL — More than 50 Objections to locating Terrace's planned new corrections centre near a Thomhill subdivision prompted a lineup of concemed residents at a meeting Feb. 7, waiting to sign a petition against the proposal. . meeting Feb. 16. Watmough explained that after the proposal is filed a public hearing to discuss the rezoning application will be held. ; Yamashita told the group he had come to the meeting hoping to get some guidance about the structure of the rezoning bylaw that would need to be drafted, but one mem- ber of the group said, to a burst of applause, "You're talking about a buffer zone when the point is, we don't want it, period." One woman added, "There’s a school less than a mile away, there’s kids everywhere... I’m sorry, I just don’t feel secure." Other people expressed concems about the noise of power saws from the firewood operation, the minimum security nature of com- munity corrections facilities, the threat of deteriorating property values in the neighbourhood, and the size of the parcel on which BCBC proposes to build. The plot in question is nine hec- tares — over 20 acres —— and several residents said they were wortied that would mean expan- sion, possibility to a heavier-secur- ity type of detention facility, in the future. Yamashita said limits on the size would be written into the rezoning bylaw, but when one resident asked rhetorically about the regional district’s record in bylaw enforcement, Watmough admitied, "It’s not good," The regional district is still smarting from courtroom defeats in recent zoning bylaw enforcement | efforts. ‘Watmough answered the other concerns by assuring the crowd that the noise would be minimal due to the buffer zone and pointing out that if the property values went down then property taxes would also drop. When asked if he would like it built next door to his home, he replied that he probably wouldn’t object. He also objected to the property being called a residential area, noting that only one side of it adjoins residential housing, the other boundaries being a logging road, a cliff face and an industrial zone occupied by a highways sand and gravel yard. Watmough also noted that during the humerous years the corrections centre has occupied its present location on Highway 16 near Ken- ney St. there have been no attribut- able incidents of property damage at the car dealership near to it, a lot that carries what Watmough - described as a million-dollar inven- tory. One member of the crowd asked him what benefits the facility would bring to the neighbourhood or to Thomhill, and after a moment’s pause Watmough replied, "None that I can think of." Yamashita noted that it would add to Thornhill’s tax assessment base, meaning an incrementally lighter tax burden on existing properties. Despite the assurances, one man said to Watmough, "We want you as our representative to tell these people, "We don’t want it — shove off.’ " In addition to public resistance, BCBC's site selection may run up against another problem. The lot is fronted by a road originally built by Canadian Cellulose in one of its many corporate identities during the decades it held tenure on Tree Farm License #1. It was used as part of a route for hauling off- highway logging truck loads from the Copper River valley to a reload yard on Queensway, where pulp logs were loaded onto barges des- tined for the company’s pulp mill in Port Edward. Watmough said the right-of-way eventually reverted to the Crown, and BCBC will have to strike a use agreement for the road, which is the only alternative route to going through the Copper Mountain subdivision. — Continued on page A6