A respectful written exchange took place last month between the president of the group trying to preserve Gospel Rock in its entirety and the businessman who intends to develop Block 7 in accordance with the values laid out in the neighbourhood plan adopted by Gibsons council back in 2012.
In a June 16 letter, Sharon Danroth, president of For the Love of Gospel Rock, appealed to Ji Yan to “become a community hero” by agreeing to sell the property to her group, which she said is committed to raising the necessary funds if it can obtain written consent from the landowner.
“The community wants to save this precious place from development, and create a natural park for all generations to come,” Danroth wrote, calling Gospel Rock a community “gathering place for celebration, romance, mourning, ashes disposal or simply soothing their souls.” Citing Gospel Rock’s ecological importance as a coastal dryland forest, home to large mammals, many species of birds and plants, she asks, “Can you imagine Vancouver without Stanley Park? Or New York without Central Park?”
In his response, Greenlane Homes president Ji Yongqiang – Ji Yan is his son, he politely points out – said he appreciates Danroth’s passion and shares her high regard for the site’s ecological and social benefits.
“It is for that reason that we have been paying close attention to the current conversations with community members and local organizations, and why our approach has been to work within the Town’s existing Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan – and even improve upon the idea of a village and a park on Block 7,” Ji wrote. “In addition to preserving 100 per cent of the waterfront, our proposal sees nearly half of the entire property set aside for greenspace for all of the reasons you mention.”
Ji concluded by saying he is committed to proceeding with the project.
Anyone who is familiar with Gospel Rock can understand Sharon Danroth’s determination to see the land left in its natural state. The community, in fact, was deeply divided in 2012 until the council of the day reached a compromise that cut waterfront housing from the neighbourhood plan and committed to review density, aquifer impact and access and traffic issues. That solution was hailed as a major victory by even the staunchest opponents of development on Block 7.
The Greenlane proposal appears to be offering Gibsons exactly what the community agreed to, and then some. Council will have to scrutinize the issues such as density that were flagged for review five years ago, but at this stage it’s hard to imagine a more benign project than what is now on offer.
