At the Aug. 6 regular council meeting, chief of innovation and growth Ron Buchhorn told Sechelt council that drag racing is in fact allowed at other B.C. airports that are Transport Canada certified.
Previously the District’s airport advisory committee and Coun. Chris Moore had stated that drag racing would have to stop at Sechelt’s airport if it were developed into a Transport Canada certified facility.
“We did get confirmation both from Inter Vistas and Associated Engineering that Port Alberni, Trail and other communities do host drag racing even when they are certified,” Buchhorn said.
Moore added that the use would “have to be posted well in advance” at other airports so pilots could plan for the airstrip to be out of service during the drag races.
“It can not be kind of a flexible moving target, when you get rained out and you change it. That kind of thing doesn’t work,” Moore said. “So there’s some good examples out there, and I think the racing people might find that encouraging.”
Zoning bylaw
On Aug. 6, council gave first reading to a new zoning bylaw two years in the making. Zoning bylaw No. 530 will replace the old zoning bylaw (No. 25) created in 1987 and the public will get a closer look at it on Aug. 26 during a public information meeting being hosted by the District.
Director of development services Ray Parfitt said the adoption of a new official community plan (OCP) in 2010 necessitated a new zoning bylaw that would be consistent with the new OCP.
“I think the new zoning bylaw’s certainly more modern and able in addressing development concerns in the District, including laneway housing, carriage housing, floor area ratios, medical marijuana, these kinds of considerations,” Parfitt said.
The new zoning bylaw is clearer about necessary setbacks and lot coverage as laid out in the OCP and it’s written “with a lot less legalese,” Parfitt said.
The bylaw also changes some current zoning designations in the District.
“The map changes quite a bit of Wharf Road north to Ebbtide going from
residential two to C5. Cowrie Street goes from C2 to C5 and Nickerson Road, the properties up there that were formally rural residential one, are now going to be residential two,” Parfitt said.
The public can view the entire 160-page bylaw online at www.sechelt.ca as part of the Aug. 6 committee agenda.
A public information meeting about the bylaw will be held on Aug. 26 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Seaside Centre.
