Stz’uminus First Nation and its development partner are getting closer to building a new neighbourhood in the Town of Ladysmith.

The town has held a public hearing on the Holland Creek project and the town council has given its okay as land use policies are adopted. And Ray Gauthier of the Coast Salish Development Corporation said that the project is “almost there”.

“We were having trouble moving it through the town,” Gauthier said of the plan to build more than 600 homes on 140 acres. But he pointed out that recent land use approvals are “sort of the benchmark of a done deal.”

Gauthier added that the project will earn significant revenues for Stz’uminus. He expects it could bring in about $40 million over the next decade.

The development will be a mix of detached single-family residences, townhouses and multi-unit homes, as well as ‘community care campuses’. The focus will be on the preservation of Holland Creek’s role as a fish-producing stream within a residential area.

Drainage work is currently underway in the area to improve water quality entering the creek. Site work has also begun for the first phase of the new subdivision. A biologist is monitoring the work near the creek and timing is within an approved fisheries window.

It has taken Stz’uminus several years to finalize town approval for the Holland Creek development. Construction was initially slated to begin in late 2014.

Holland Creek Partnership is co-owned by Thuy’she’num Property Management
and a private company. It operates as a business unit of the development corporation. Thuy’she’num provides land management and administration services for Stz’uminus properties and carries out municipal-like functions of planning, development and bylaw enforcement.

Visit www.hollandcreek.ca for more information.

Naut’sa mawt partnerships make sense for town mayor

It has been almost a decade since the councils of the Town of Ladysmith and Stz’uminus First Nation began meeting together. And its latest mayor is a firm believer in the Hul’qumi’num language word Naut’sa mawt – working together as one.

In a recent article, Mayor Aaron Stone wrote: “Our Stz’uminus neighbours are and will continue to be, an important partner in many of our initiatives and plans.”

He pointed to service agreements for water and sewer, harbour restoration and place name signs as well as “a commitment to honour the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”

He also said Ladysmith will work closely with Stz’uminus on developing industrial lands in the town’s south end “with the goal of attracting more industry…more jobs and expanding our tax base.”