A little exchange about the ALR, the Farmers' Market, and Comox Bay Farm...

I recently posted the "ALR / ours to preserve!" button as my Facebook profile. Within a day, a friend posted on my "wall" about it, and a conversation took off. Here's what it looks like:

Wendy Masterton 

I love your button, too bad CVEDS isn't applying this concept to the Duck's unlimited lands aka ALR land where they want to build the $5 to $6 million palace of a farmer's market. Pave paradise and put up a parking lot....booooo

Tom Dishlevoy
I tend to agree with you Wendy on this point. ALthough I am totally in support of the concept of a farmer's market facility, I cannot support the use of a known, historical flood plain as a site for a new building, sensitive estuary lands aside! We need to be much better with our VISIONING!


Paul Hansen
What is the environmental impact of planting a farmers market in that space? Where can we provide a space to honor our agricultural based providers & entreprenuers. Any links for me to see more of this convo?


Tom Dishlevoy
For me we might want to think about taking the produce to the people rather than bringingthem all by car to the center of the farmland. How about the Comox Mall, or the Driftwood Mall where we already have a sea of parking?


Wendy Masterton

I'm not against a farmer's market, but I am against paving ALR and estuary floodplain for it. They're talking about using a huge area (several hectares of land) for the buildings and parking. Also why use taxpayers' dollars and go through CVEDS why not form a society and let it pay for itself through membership and the market itself. Let's find a more sustainable location for the infrastructure portion which is the market itself (buildings and parking lot) and grow crops on this prime ALR land instead. Remember it's not that long ago that the land the Superstore sits on including the parking lot was part of this ALR land and was estuary as well. That was also a very bad deal. I don't want to see history repeat itself, would rather learn from it.

Tom Dishlevoy

We could design a building on this land that would have little impact, but why. Flooding will happen, needs to happen to keep land fertile and this will be very inconvenient. We could build on stilts, or a floatable building. We could build for easy relocation to higher ground when sea level rises as we suggested to other river side owners. But inviting thousands of people in their cars to this spot and elsewhere in the estuary is not wise or visionary.

Wendy Masterton

this is the quote from Phillip Round that concerns me regarding the vastness of the plan and the amount of ALR land that will be lost to paving/concrete/buildings:


In addition to offering space for existing vendors at the proposed building, CVEDS suggests the complex might include agriculture-related educational facilities for North Island College; a permanent shellfish sales centre; a butcher's shop preparing locally-grown meats; a produce distribution centre; a conservation interpretive centre; and offices, meeting rooms and exhibition space.

Sustainability. Regional Growth strategies, hello?

Wendy Masterton

Tom I LOVE your idea of creating the farmer's markets in the existing malls, they need to fill the empty spaces there, it brings it to the people and the parking exists, this is so simple and yet sustainable, great idea. One market on Wednesday, one on Saturday, perfect. Think of what it would mean to all the Comox residents who could walk or bike to the mall or a change (me included) instead of driving our cars to the market. Ditto for Courtenay. If they want to expand they can take another day in Cumberland in the Recreation Centre...growth and sustainability.

Wendy Masterton

how can we start to influence/encourage the decision makers to have more vision Tom?

Tom Dishlevoy

Philip Round, just the reporter, quoting John Watson I would presume. John has some big ideas, as do many others in the Valley. How do we get the process more collaborative so that the ultimate decisions are made with all the cards on the table, yours, mine and all of ours?


Remember that the various strategy documents were not by/for the politicians and staff, just the public that created them

Tom Dishlevoy

That last comment does not read as sarcastic as I wrote it!

Paul Hansen

I think the mall parking lot idea is indeed quite brilliantly simple. Double dipping on the use of that concrete and space. I also really like the farmers market idea (in the right location) if it can be a blessing to everyone. Thanks wendy for the info you forwarded me :)

.... and may this continue, here, on the CV2050 page on Facebook
but somewhere in our community where we can extend the conversation on what sustainability looks like in the Comox Valley, and how we get there.

hans

Related articles 

• Tom Dishlevoy - An Alternative Project Approval Process #3x2x8 (cv2050.com)
• #3x2x8 - Kick starting the "sustainability convo" in the Comox Valley #CV2050 (development-issues.com)
• Beyond urban agriculture and farm land preservation (CITinfoResource.com)

#CV2050 Google map – Yours to annotate!

Yes, I know I said it'd be a cool thing if someone created a #CV2050 Google map that all of us who care about the Comox Valley could annotate. But it's so easy, and I'd rather be doing this than packing for my trip to Vancouver tomorrow... so here it is! A #CV2050 Google map. Ready for annotations!

To be fair, I googled "comox valley google maps" and found a great map already annotated for volunteer groups. A good place to start. Volunteer organizations are the heart of our communities. If we're going to have a resilient, thriving community in the Comox Valley in 2050, we'll probably owe some of that reality to the folks working and playing and enriching life through the organizations on this map. Thanks to whoever put together the original volunteer map!


But a thriving, sustainable community is more than volunteer organizations...
We also want to know things that only you can share. What's your favourite place, and why? What are the critical salmon streams? Where's a good place for a picnic? What's your favourite place to walk or cycle or spend time with friends?

We don't want to create a gold rush mentality about special private places, but we do want to give some texture and cultural depth (that means things like attaching family and community stories to places) to geographic locations. Sometimes it's just enough to put a heart as an annotation (♥ or <3 works).

Show us the love you feel for this place.

Tell us what you're concerned about.

Tell us a story about how you'd like to see some change (maybe you want to see a brownfield site – that's land use talk for: industrial lands – rehabilitated, or a vacant lot turned into a park or playground or maybe a community centre or even a commercial centre; go for it!).

Sustainability comes in many flavours. #CV2050 is about stimulating a rich, colourful banquet of voices in conversation about what the Comox Valley is going to look like in 2050, and how it's going to get there.

Want to play? ;-)


hpm

View #CV2050 in a larger map