VisionQuest's transition house on Pratt Road has been given the all-clear by Vancouver Coastal Health and the Office of Assisted Living Registrar to operate without having to be licensed by them.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) planning and development committee received the information in a staff report on Sept. 10 after waiting since July for an update from staff.
But VisionQuest must now be granted a non-farm use permit by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) in order to stay in operation, according to the report.
Jim O'Rourke, executive director for VisionQuest said he doesn't agree the house should require a non-farm use permit.
"But we want to be a farm. Ever since we opened this whole thing, we've said we're going to raise farm produce there to subsidize the houses on the Mainland. That's the whole idea," O'Rourke said. "We are trying to use it for agricultural land use. [The SCRD] are trying to say we're not. We're saying we are."
O'Rourke said the plans have always been to raise chickens, pigs and cows to help cover food costs for VisionQuest residents, and possibly to sell some product to raise revenue for the non-profit society.
Ron Wallace, a land use planner for the ALC, said he was aware of VisionQuest's plan to farm the property, but an application will still be required.
"It's the non-farm use component that the applicant would need to get approval for and a use like this (transition house) would be classified as a non-farm use," Wallace said.
Wallace said VisionQuest will need to submit a non-farm use application to the SCRD for review. If the SCRD board is supportive, the application will then go to the ALC to consider.
Wallace said there is precedent for other facilities like VisionQuest's to be granted non-farm use permits without much trouble. He pointed to a blueberry farm in Abbotsford, which currently is used for housing and rehabilitation for residents with substance abuse problems.
Wallace said if VisionQuest fails to apply for the permit, the ALC may have to look into enforcement.
"If it's not a permitted use outright, [the applicant] would be asked to bring it into compliance," he said.
But, Wallace added, he believes VisionQuest's application would very likely be granted and could be done so within a few months.
Meanwhile, the SCRD report states staff from the building department are continuing to work with the property owner to resolve building code issues and that staff are expecting full co-operation.
