Proposed brewery/distillery moves forward
Councillors voted Sept. 6 to start the community notification process for the proposed Coast Distillery and Brewery.
The project’s backers want to set up a craft brewery and distillery at the site of the former Bob’s Automotive at 1009 Gibsons Way.
They need both a development permit from the Town and approval from the province for the production facility and 88-seat lounge.
After a brief overview from planning staff, council voted unanimously to move the application along by informing neighbours and getting feedback.
“It looks like a very exciting project,” commented Mayor Wayne Rowe. “It fits very well with what we’re trying to accomplish here [in Upper Gibsons].”
While council will decide whether to issue a development permit, they only have input on the application to the liquor board on the licensing issues. The board makes the final decision.
Woodfibre LNG letter
Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe is holding off on adding his signature to a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from Howe Sound mayors about the Woodfibre LNG project.
A draft of the letter was first circulated at a Howe Sound Community Forum meeting and came up for discussion at the regular council meeting of Sept. 6.
It says, in part: “The undersigned municipalities have each passed resolutions expressing our concerns that this project represents a step toward re-industrializing our iconic Howe Sound – a vital public amenity and an invaluable recreational asset for the whole Vancouver area.”
The letter lists major concerns with the Wood-fibre LNG proposal that include: “the threat to the safety and security of our citizens and their property represented by the unregulated passage of LNG tankers transiting a narrow, crowded waterway lined with significant human populations [and] the potential damage to the marine life of the Sound represented by the plant’s proposed once-through seawater cooling system.”
Rowe said in light of the Squamish First Nation’s qualified approval of the project, “it’s probably a bit stronger [language] than I would support at this point.”
The mayors of West Vancouver, Bowen Island and Lions Bay have signed the letter, and forwarded copies to the prime minister. The Gambier Island Local Trust Council has passed a motion to ask the Islands Trust to sign. Squamish council is sending its own letter, but the Squamish Lillooet Regional District board voted against signing.
Arts Building Society/Huckleberry Coast Daycare lease
Council has approved a new monthly lease rate for the two groups using the Town-owned building at 464 South Fletcher Rd. Known as the Arts Building, the South Fletcher property has been leased to the Arts Building Society since 2009. Since 2015 the society has sublet space to Huckleberry Coast Daycare between Sept. 16 and June 15.
The 2015 lease renewal was for three years, but the rate was only set for 2015 with council to decide on a rate for the final two years.
Council voted Sept. 6 to raise the rate from $250 a month to $300 a month (plus utilities) for 2016 and 2017.
Coun. Jeremy Valeriote said the rationale for increasing the rates was reasonable, but he cautioned that the groups didn’t have a lot of capacity to absorb increasing costs.
