Consultants hired by the new owner of Gospel Rock block 7, Ji Yongqiang, say they’re hoping to move forward with a formal rezoning application to the Town of Gibsons “ASAP” following an April 26 open house to present a concept plan for the property.
Ji’s company, Greenlane Homes, has hired Modus, which has been meeting with community groups including For the Love of Gospel Rock, TRaC (Transportation Choices – Sunshine Coast), the Sunshine Coast Affordable Housing Society, and the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association.
Last week’s open house was the chance the general public had to see the draft plan for Gospel Rock Village, which Modus has based on what it calls “three big moves” – protecting green space, including the waterfront and the Little Africa and Cross Rock areas; creating a corridor of park land to connect a proposed village with the key green spaces; and building a village area that’s a mix of commercial, residential and rental.
Edward Porter of Modus said the open house drew around 80 people, and around two dozen have submitted feedback forms so far with more still coming in via the website www.gospelrockvillage.com.
Ji did not attend the open house or the earlier meetings with community groups in person, but said in a release announcing the open house, “We think we can develop a site plan that is much more sensitive to the unique features of this place.”
Porter said the feedback so far has been largely supportive of the ideas expressed in the three big moves concept. “The things that were most identified in terms of critical feedback were, interestingly, around some of the housing forms,” Porter told Coast Reporter. “There were a lot of people saying they wanted to see more apartment and townhouse [development], and they didn’t necessarily see room there for single family.”
He also said transportation links to the rest of the town was a concern for some people.
According to Porter, there’s no firm timeline for Greenlane to file its rezoning application, but they want to do it as soon as possible. He also said the development plan is being created so there won’t be any need to file for amendments to the Gospel Rock Neighbourhood Plan or Official Community Plan.
