Councillors in Gibsons got a little more insight into the rezoning application coming forward from Greenlane Homes, the new owners of Blocks 6 and 7 at Gospel Rock.
The company has been working with the consulting firm Modus to get input from community groups such as Sunshine Coast Conservation Association and For the Love of Gospel Rock Society.
Edward Porter, Modus’ senior urban designer, briefed councillors at their July 18 committee of the whole meeting. Other company representatives who hoped to be at the meeting were caught up in a ferry overload and couldn’t make it.
Porter said Greenlane’s president, Yi Yongqiang, has invested in the property out of a long running interest in B.C., where his son now makes his home. “They’re making the Coast part of their family business and part of their home,” Porter said. “A lot of the ideas we’ve brought to Mr. Yi as a client, he’s been very receptive to.”
Porter also said Greenlane and Modus have gone into the project recognizing that “regardless of ownership, people have been walking that site and using it for a very long time and that those significant features exist. We wanted to see if we could find a way to honour that.”
Porter said the project is to be a mix of 60 single-family homes, 150 townhouses, and 150 apartment units (of which 30 would be market rental) with more public open space than envisioned under the Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan, focused on Cross Rock, Little Africa and Gospel Rock itself.
The rezoning, if it passes, would allow up to 360 residential units, with nine hectares (23 acres) set aside as park. The developer plans to build in four phases, starting with 60 single-family homes and 50 apartment units. The first 50 townhouses will be built in phase two.
In his report, Town planner Andre Boel noted that “one of the key challenges for any development in the Gospel Rock area is the current lack of access and lack of Town services (water, sanitary and stormwater). There are significant up-front costs in extending Town services to the area and in ensuring Chaster Road, and in the long run Shaw Road, are equipped for the future build-out of the entire neighbourhood area. The current proposal for Block 7 intends to use Chaster Road as the primary road system with a secondary access from Rosamond Road.”
During the inquiries period at the end of the meeting, a Pratt Road resident rose to say she and many of her neighbours were concerned about the prospect of increased traffic and the possibility that the Town of Gibsons would reap the benefits of Gospel Rock development while the residents of Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) Area E would pay the price.
The SCRD board had a chance to offer input on the development at its June 13 meeting and passed a resolution addressing that and other issues. It asks the Town of Gibsons to, among other things:
• Take steps to plan and develop the Shaw/Inglis Road route from the outset of building instead of waiting for the project to hit the 250-unit threshold.
• Draft a traffic impact study that considers “the requirement for developing the Shaw/Inglis access” with additional traffic counts taken during the summer.
• Discuss future public transit service with Greenlane.
• Clarify questions around solid waste management and the source of the water supply.
Mayor Wayne Rowe said he felt the proposal was a very good effort to meet the goals in the Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan.
“I don’t think anyone should be under any illusion,” he added. “It’s not a question of if the area is going to be rezoned, it’s a question of how. That was really the whole purpose of almost nine years of intensive deliberations to come up with a plan.”
Town staff noted that the application is still in the preliminary stages and the planning department is not ready of make any recommendations. Once those recommendations come forward, council will proceed with first reading and a public hearing.
