A public hearing will be held in the Jaffray Community Hall Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. to consider the contentious Sweetwater Resort development on the east side of the Koocanusa Reservoir about 120 km southeast of Cranbrook.

The decision to hold the public hearing was made by Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) directors at their monthly board meeting Sept. 3.

The hearing will consider zoning amendments to the Sweetwater Zoning and Floodplain Management Bylaw, including one that will authorize a recreational vehicle park on the 300-acre property with 532 residential lots, a golf course and two marinas.

The land, formerly known as the Marcer Ranch, was purchased by Calgary developer Craig McMorran Dec. 22, 1999 and removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve May 26, 2009.

McMorran bills the resort as a four-season, electric golf cart community and one of the only single-family residential developments on the lake which is a favourite vacation destination for Calgary residents and others from Alberta.

Several RDEK directors have expressed concerns about the development in the past including its size, whether it would have a RV component and how it would treat its effluent. McMorran has tried to allay the directors’ concerns, but Elkford Director Dean McKerracher says he’s still not convinced.

Referring to a recent letter by McMorran to the Board, McKerracher said he still wasn’t sure about the status of the RV park McMorran is proposing for the site or how effluent from the giant development will be handled.

“Unfortunately, I can’t accept this,” said McKerracher referring to McMorran’s letter and later he was the only RDEK director to vote against holding the public hearing.

Kimberley Mayor Jim Ogilvie also expressed reservations, saying the development described as the size of Elkford should be scrutinized carefully. “This is a large development. It’s the size of a major community. They should have to build their own transfer station and haul it (the waste) to the local landfill.”

RDEK chairman Scott Manjak also expressed concerns about how solid wastes will be handled at the new development. However, Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft commented he hadn’t heard similar concerns voiced by RDEK directors about the proposed Jumbo Ski Resort development.

In an interview after the meeting, Andrew McLeod, RDEK Manager of Planning and Development Services, said several changes have already been made by the Sweetwater developer to allay local concerns. “The Board has obviously had their concerns but it’s been kind of tweaked and it’s not like the zoning has been changing from month to month.”

After the public hearing is held and members of the public have had a chance to have their say, the amended bylaw will return for third and final reading and adoption, McLeod said.

If there are no further bumps in the process, the Sweetwater development could have all its RDEK approvals in place by November, he said.