Smoking Bylaw
Gibsons council has adopted a new smoking bylaw.
The bylaw includes the toughest restrictions on smoking of any Sunshine Coast jurisdiction, although Sechelt is in the process of drafting a similar bylaw.
It increases buffer zones to 7.5 metres, bans smoking in parks, at beaches and on public trails, and imposes a complete ban on smoking on pub and restaurant patios.
A staff report presented at the Oct. 18 council meeting said both pubs in town with patios (Gramma’s and The Blackfish) are already non-smoking and that they have no concerns with the bylaw. It also said the Gibsons Legion did have some concerns, but planning staff noted they’ve talked with the Legion and assured them there would be time to make the needed changes.
The bylaw will also apply to “vaping” and marijuana, but makes an exception for “the ceremonial use of tobacco in connection with a traditional aboriginal cultural activity.”
Earlier in the process, Mayor Wayne Rowe admitted enforcement will be the tough part, but he also said the bylaw will send an important message.
Short-Term Rentals
Councillors in Gibsons are looking for more information on the impact of short-term rentals in the town.
Coun. Silas White raised the issue at the Oct. 18 committee of the whole meeting, as a follow-up to some discussions at the recent Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) AGM, and his fellow councillors backed a motion calling for a staff report outlining the scale of the short-term rental market in Gibsons and some policy options.
“There are a lot of people in the community who are concerned about it Coast-wide, and the potential for long-term rentals being turned into short-term rentals, and there’s a lot of anecdotal discussion about this,” White said.
Coun. Stafford Lumley was at the UBCM session as well. “I think one of the most important things that came out of the workshop was, as a first step, to engage in the effort with every other municipality to amend the tax structure,” he said.
Gibsons council also had a letter from Matt Thomson, coordinator of the Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society. “There is significant concern that across B.C. websites like Air BnB may be adversely impacting local rental markets, further lowering vacancy rates in an otherwise tight market. We urge you to consider how the Town of Gibsons can act on short-term vacation rentals,” Thomson wrote.
The report is expected to come back to council in early 2017.
Mayor Wayne Rowe agreed that it’s worth looking into the issue, but doesn’t see it as urgent. “I’m not sure that I’m seeing any sort of immediacy to this topic, based on the numbers that we’re dealing with and how it’s being monitored by our staff,” he said.
Parkland Phase 3
Council voted Oct. 18 to adopt the bylaw changes that will allow construction of Parkland Phase 3.
The vote follows two public hearings where residents of the earlier phases of the subdivision off Park Road raised concerns about density, green space, and plans to relocate a storm water pond.
Phase 3 will involve rezoning property at the southeast corner of the subdivision, from single-family residential and two-family residential zone (R-3) to small lot cottage residential (RC) and parks, recreation and open space zone (PRO).
A covenant will cap the number of new residential lots at 26, and the developer will make a $60,000 contribution to the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund.
Council also gave final approval to a bylaw authorizing a loan of $125,000 to finance an expansion of the geo-thermal field for the Geo-exchange District Energy Utility that serves Parkland.
