The populations of Courtenay and Comox have both jumped about 10 per cent over the last five years, but the big change is in Cumberland where the population increased 23 per cent, according to the 2011 Statistics Canada census.
The village's population now stands at 3,398 residents. In 2006 it housed 2,762 people.
Village CAO Sundance Topham attributes the increase to a combination of factors 鈥� access to trails and backcountry, a thriving arts scene 鈥� that make Cumberland a desirable place to live.
"We've had a lot of young families moving into the community over the last few years," he said. "Part of that ties in with some new development that's taking place as well between 2006 and 2010. We had 230 new single family dwellings built."
While a 23 per cent (630 people) increase sounds impressive, Topham said the village population remains relatively small and manageable.
"Part of the thing we're excited about is the general demographics of the community. We're one of the few, I think the only one in the Valley, where the actual age is going down. It bodes well for our future."
A total of 24,099 people live in Courtenay compared to 22,021 in 2006 鈥� a 9.4 per cent increase.
The previous census showed a 14.5 per cent increase, pegging Courtenay as the fourth fastest-growing B.C. community with a population exceeding 5,000. At the time, it placed the city among the 20 fastest-growing, mid-sized urban centres in Canada.
"What the 9.4 per cent shows us is we're still growing," Courtenay administrator Sandy Gray said, noting census numbers do not show the actual number of people living in a community. "What it shows is where your primary domicile is."
A property owner residing in Calgary, for example, would not be recorded locally.
"We have to plan for how to accommodate growth," Gray said. "We use a larger percentage growth figure. That's for a number of reasons. One is that so we're always ahead of the curve.
"To me what it (census) does is reinforce that the city is the core of the Valley," Gray added. "It is the backbone of the community. It's not like we're deteriorating. Now we're going through a cycle of a lot of commercial growth. If you don't have any commercial growth people aren't moving here."
Census numbers might indicate a 9.4 per cent growth rate, but Gray said the number could double at major traffic points such as Ryan Road near Superstore.
"We're facing some challenges there where the roadway system can't handle the volumes of traffic at times," he said, noting new developments such as Costco and the under-construction Thrifty Foods at the top of the hill since the last census.
"We have lots of residential development under consideration. Our services are basically keeping ahead of the demand. That's what you want. We're always trying to plan 10 years ahead of time."
While Courtenay will "always be the largest component in the Valley," Gray said Comox is running out of developable land.
"You don't see the same growth going on there," he said.
The Comox population now stands at 13,627. The 2006 census had it at 12,385.
"It represents essentially moderate growth," Mayor Paul Ives said, noting the town's Official Community Plan forecasts a similar rate of growth over the next 20 years.
From a financial point of view, Ives said a further 10 per cent growth over the next five years would bring the town close to 15,000 people, at which point policing costs would jump from 70 to 90 per cent.
"That would create a financial challenge for our taxpayers," he said. "It would probably result in an annual tax increase of a couple hundred dollars once we get to that level."
In the meantime, the challenge is to determine where growth can be accommodated. Ives notes the community plan identifies infill and densification potential in the downtown core and other areas.
"I think probably less single family, more multi-family and more densification. I think we'll see that carry on as the supply of single family lots diminishes. The easy-to-develop land is pretty much spoken for these days in the Comox peninsula.
"I think our community plan speaks to most of this," Ives added. "It says this growth can be accommodated within the boundaries as we go forward, but we do have to look at the emphasis on infill and densification, which ties in nicely with transit development. It also 鈥� presumably if there's more people living downtown 鈥� will help by providing more customers for the businesses."
Courtenay is also trying to densify.
"When you're denser as a community the more you're able to support your local commercial nodes, your transportation, your bus services. People are able to walk more," Gray said. "When you get sprawl outside your borders it makes it tough to service. As a valley, I think we're very, very fortunate that services are not out on the Inland Highway, for example."
In sprawled communities such as Kamloops, Kelowna and Nanaimo, Gray said big box retailers go to cheap land which strips the core.
"We've learned by their mistakes," he said, noting a greater emphasis on landscaping in the Valley. "The positive thing here is the big box retailers are staying within their boundaries because that's where the services are."
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
