The Mayor of North Cowichan plans to send the controversial comprehensive land-use rezoning application from Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit back to the council for another vote.
North Cowichan Council voted in the early morning hours of October 4th to reject the third reading of the VIMC application following a crowded public hearing lasting two nights.
In a speech to the Rotary Club in Duncan on Monday, Mayor Al Siebring said that VIMC has now sent a letter asking North Cowichan to issue a development permit for it to proceed with phase two of the motorsport facility.
Siebring says that in its letter, VIMC states it has spent 37-Million dollars to engineer and build phase one and if the municipality denies a permit for phase two, “that denial also puts the land use for phase one in jeopardy.”
He also says the letter also “implies that the municipality could ultimately be facing a lawsuit in the range of 50-Million dollars.”
Siebring says this information was not a part of the council’s considerations prior to its vote.
Mayor Siebring told Rotarians that he’s using Section 131 of the Community Charter to have council re-visit third reading of VIMC’s application.
