Photo: Luc Rempel

One of the campsites on the property

The owner of a property in Eagle Bay that he hopes to turn into a campground and mountain bike park pledges to make any changes necessary to turn his dream into a reality.

At the Jan. 16 CSRD board meeting a South Shuswap zoning bylaw and official community plan amendments necessary for the project to move forward were denied at second reading.

Marty Gibbons, director of electoral area C spoke out against the campground proposal saying a 150-unit campground would potentially double the population of Eagle Bay and overwhelm the community.

Cole Longmuir, who is the owner of the property at 3560 Eagle Bay Road, said some aspects of his dream campground project were not included in the report presented to the CSRD.

He hopes to turn his 105-acre property into a campground and mountain bike park with hiking trails, a kids' park and even a dog park.

At the meeting Director Gibbons told the board there was a large amount of local opposition to the project, however, Longmuir disputes that claim.

He said after the public information hearing he has refined the proposal to address locals' concerns and he has more than 600 signatures of support from residents in Blind Bay and Eagle Bay.

His plan is to open the campground in stages with the first stage opening with 50 campsites and then adding another 25 each year up to 100 sites with a proposed density of one campsite per three-quarter acre.

He plans to offer a mix of tent and RV sites at the start with future plans to include overlander and even horseback camping sites with corrals on site.

“The tent part of this project is very important to me,” Longmuir said. “I want to make sure that people can get here on the weekends and have an affordable weekend.”

“The reason I built this is because I lost my brother and my sister, but my best memories were at campgrounds like this,” he added.

In order to address worries about a potential increase in fire risk Longmuir has put together a robust fire safety management report.

“Fire safety is our number one priority,” he said. “We have completed a fire safety management report and propose nine fire stations, trucks with water tanks and ATVs with water tanks.”

Each fire station will be equipped with a tank of water, picks and air horns.

“There will also be a nighttime fire watch with smoking and fireworks prohibited,” he added.

The campsite will also prohibit campfires year-round with only propane burners allowed onsite.

“Hopefully, we can work through this process and give you a wonderful mountain bike park, campground and a beautiful park that can stand for generations,” Longmuir said. “And hopefully become a real jewel of this beautiful community.”

He said he hopes to meet with Director Gibbons soon and has invited him to come for a tour of the property to help assuage some of his concerns.

At the board meeting, it was clarified that Longmuir would be able to submit a new application for the zoning and OCP amendments necessary six months from when his initial application was denied.