Image: Google Maps / Property at 26793 Dogwood Valley Road north of Hope, which is being envisioned for a 47-site RV campground. The Fraser Valley Regional District board voted at its meeting on February 29 to defer an application to develop the property (pictured above) back to staff while water issues and septage concerns are addressed. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Proposed campground north of Hope

FVRD board refers proposed RV campground north of Hope back to staff

Mar 7, 2024 | 10:42 AM

CHILLIWACK — Instead of giving second and third reading to a proposed RV campground north of Hope, the Fraser Valley Regional District board voted last Thursday (Feb. 29) to defer the development application back to staff.

The applicant associated with the project, Nav Sidhu, has been looking to develop a 9.3-hectare (23 acres) parcel of land at 26793 Dogwood Valley Lane, north of Hope, for the purpose of building 47 RV sites just off Highway 1 in the Fraser Canyon.

Sidhu had previously cited the availability of campground sites during the peak summer season as his reason for pursuing the project. Popular camping sites around Cultus Lake and the Chilliwack River Valley are often booked up, since people tend to reserve their favourite spots through the BC Parks campground system four months in advance. The applicant believes there is a strong demand for RV camping in the area likewise.

According to a staff report from September 2023, the proposal consists of the creation of 47 RV sites, three park model trailer sites and a washroom/shower building. The owner of the land is listed as 0827674 BC Ltd., Navdeep Sidhu. The proposed RV park is currently accessible via a single lane dirt road at the northeast corner of the lot, close to Highway 1.

Image: B.C. Assessment / The property at 26793 Dogwood Valley Road, north of Hope, which is being considered for a 47-site RV campground.

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The property is zoned AG-3 (agriculture) under zoning bylaw 1638, 2021. Since a campground is not permitted in this zone, the applicant applied for a rezoning. The applicant will be responsible for the design and construction of a water main extension from where the FVRD system terminates on Apostolic Way to the northern property line of the subject property. As of September 2023, an FVRD engineering staff report indicated the Dogwood Valley Water System was not currently licensed to provide the additional water volume required to service the proposed RV campground.

At last week’s FVRD board meeting, Director Peter Adamo, representing Electoral Area B (Yale, Dogwood Valley, Sunshine Valley and Laidlaw), asked for a delay before the project moved forward.

“I received a lot of information over the last fw days,” Adamo said at the Feb. 29 FVRD board meeting. “I’d like a little more time to prepare and discuss with the community. I did attend and chair the public hearing/meeting that we had on this, and there were a lot of concerns and serious interests in the moving forward of this project. I’d like to defer this to staff for the next month while we discuss some of the water issues as well as some septage concerns.”

At the meeting Adamo alluded to, held November 29, 2023 at the Yale Community Centre in Yale, 21 members of the public attended. Of those 21 present, 10 oral comments were provided. Some of those oral comments expressed concern around the potential for 50 people to live at the RV site, but only one person would be paying property tax. Others wondered about the extra traffic on Dogwood Valley Road, the impact on property values, the availability of water for existing wells, the location of the septic system being too close to Highway 1, and the lack of drainage along Dogwood Valley Road.