-1.1°C Cloudy 
The proposal for an international private school on a portion of the Ravens Crest Developments property has cleared a major hurdle, as the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) has given conditional approval for the non-farm use on the lands.
As expressed in a May 29 letter sent to Ravens Crest, Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) and Village of Pemberton representatives, the ALC’s decision agreed to allow the creation of a 16-hectare parcel of land and its development for an independent school, if a detailed list of conditions can be met.
The conditions include: actions to improve agriculture in the Pemberton Valley, including infrastructure improvements and engaging with the Lil’wat Nation and Pemberton Farmers Institute to discuss opportunities; specifics for the necessary road system; and details for the boundary of the proposed school site, which must be “designed to maximize and protect adjacent farming opportunities.”
Cam McIvor of Ravens Crest said in a statement that he felt the ALC showed “a balanced approach in arriving at this decision.”
“The conditions show that the commission can uphold their objectives for the ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve) and integrate this with the needs of the Pemberton Valley communities,” he said.
Representatives from Ravens Crest Developments have been working with officials from the international school management group GEMS Education on plans for a private school. The developers have offered the educational group the free parcel of land approximately five kilometres from the Village, and are pursuing the necessary approvals for the site.
The green light from the ALC was needed to secure permission for the school’s non-farm use on the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) property, and McIvor told The Question the OK “was seen as one of the major decisions to be made” for the proposal, along with the SLRD’s rezoning of the site to allow for the school.
If the ALC commissioners had not given them the conditional go-ahead, “the project would be stopped at this stage,” McIvor said.
“I was very happy to see it come in as an approval, even with the conditions,” he said, adding that he believes all the conditions can be met. “I think it was a good decision.”
Zoning is the other major component needed to go ahead with the school. The SLRD board voted in January to have staff members restart work on the rezoning application when a supportive resolution from the ALC has been received.
While there is still caution until the zoning is secured, McIvor said, GEMS officials “are currently discussing moving forward with preliminary designs, now that there’s a bit more certainty.”
McIvor said he’s heard “”very positive feedback” since the ALC handed down its decision.
“I’ve received countless emails and phone calls congratulating us on the decision,” he said, adding that he feels “this was a community effort with a lot of community support.”
The proposal has earned support from interested local families and from the Village of Pemberton council, and after some delays and debates over the background and potential impacts of the project, the SLRD directors voted in January to forward the non-farm use application to the ALC and support the project in principle.
The use of ALR lands for the school had been a sticking point during the process, with the proposal drawing SLRD staff comments that said the non-agricultural use of the lands would not be consistent with the Official Community Plan for Electoral Area C.
But last July, the Area C Agricultural Advisory Committee gave conditional support for the non-farm use application, and an engineer’s report presented in January showed that the Lower Ravens Crest site was the only appropriate location in the area for the school.
In its decision, the ALC concluded that “the proposal could be made consistent with the objects of the Agricultural Commission Act to preserve agricultural land and encourage farming.”
In another decision, which was included in the Village of Pemberton council’s June 2 meeting agenda package, the ALC refused Bob Menzel’s and Susan Perry’s application to subdivide their wetland parcel of ALR property north of downtown Pemberton for one-acre lots.
The resolution stated that the commission would be prepared to consider an alternative subdivision arrangement that would have a comprehensive drainage plan and ways to enhance agriculture to the north of Pemberton’s urban area, particularly on the property under discussion.
The applicants can submit a request for the ALC to reconsider the decision within a year.
