Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe told councillors Tuesday that the Greenlane Homes proposal to develop Gospel Rock is the best plan he’s seen come forward in 20 years.
Council gave unanimous approval to third reading of the zoning changes needed for Greenlane to build Gospel Rock Village at its June 5 meeting, meaning the final adoption of the bylaw could come before the end of the month.
How, and whether, to allow development at Gospel Rock has been a subject of debate in Gibsons for decades, leading to the eventual passage of the Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan in 2012. That plan banned development on the waterfront, and set out a series of goals for protecting other sensitive areas.
“The proposal we have before us not only respects the neighbourhood plan that’s been established by the Town, but in many ways exceeds the requirements for preservation of open space,” Rowe said, adding that the project will also “alleviate” the pressure on housing supply.
Greenlane’s plan for the part of Gospel Rock known as Block 7 calls for a phased development of 360 units, including 36 purpose-built rental apartments, townhouses, single-family homes and commercial space.
The developer will set aside roughly 10 per cent of the property as park, including the waterfront, Cross Rock and Little Africa. A further 36 per cent will remain green space under either a covenant or stewardship agreement with a nature conservancy.
Many of those who raised concerns at a May 23 public hearing touched on the impact of traffic increases in neighbouring Elphinstone, with calls to build a Shaw-Inglis extension before the development goes ahead – an issue that was addressed by several councillors.
“I think that’s something we need to take note of,” said Coun. Silas White, who went on to say he felt the efforts to set aside park and preserve green space were “a huge success.”
Coun. Charlene SanJenko noted that most people recognize there’s already a traffic challenge in the Pratt Road area. “I see here an opportunity to solve that traffic challenge, but it won’t come without a plan, it won’t come without partnerships and it definitely won’t come without funding… It is outlined in our term sheet for the development agreement.”
That term sheet calls for the developer to pay for a full study of the Shaw-Inglis extension, including “preferred road alignments, cross-section designs, cost of construction, and a cost recovery and funding strategy” as part of the conditions of beginning phase one. Some of that work is already underway.
Coun. Jeremy Valeriote missed the public hearing but said, “A lot went into a spirit of compromise creating the plan, and a spirit to implement it.”
And Coun. Stafford Lumley also said he supports the proposal and feels it goes beyond what the Gospel Rock Neigbhourhood Plan requires. “Sometimes you get lucky, and someone comes to town and their plan gives back more green space and fits into the OCP and neighbourhood plan, which was at issue for years… I think we have to do whatever we can to help this and not hinder it and not look for ways out of it or look for ways to delay it.”
Greenlane also owns a second Gospel Rock property, Block 6, but has not yet announced plans to develop it.
