Sechelt council voted Wednesday night to once again give second and third reading to bylaw amendments that would allow Stockwell Enterprises to set up a concrete batch plant on their gravel extraction site in East Porpoise Bay.
A procedural error at a previous meeting caused council to rescind and regive second and third readings of the official community plan (OCP) bylaw amendment on May 16. Section 882 of the Local Government Act requires that each reading of an OCP bylaw must receive a majority vote of the entire council.
"That means four out of seven members must vote in favour," a staff report from director of corporate services Jo-Anne Frank stated, noting the May 2 vote on the matter resulted in three councillors in favour and two opposed.
Coun. Mike Shanks and Mayor John Henderson have both stated a perceived bias and therefore can't vote on the matter or be in the room when it's being discussed.
"Therefore, procedurally, OCP Amendment Bylaw No. 492-3 did not pass second and third reading. This was not identified at the meeting," Frank's report said.
Coun. Alice Lutes, who has been the main opponent to the passing of bylaws needed for the batch plant to proceed, took a moment Wednesday night to say her views haven't changed.
"Because there was an error in the procedure doesn't change my reason for voting against it. I'm voting on the issue, not on the outcomes," she said.
Coun. Tom Lamb, who was the only other vote against the OCP bylaw change on May 2, said he was "really struggling," with the issue.
Talk about a restrictive covenant that would ensure the new plant was innovative and green and prohibits asphalt production, seemed to make Lamb feel more comfortable with voting in favour of the OCP amendment.
"I guess for myself I would like to see the restrictive covenant come back to council prior to any final reading of this amendment," he noted.
All of council agreed to have that restrictive covenant come back with a staff report for further discussion at a future meeting.
When the vote was called to once again give second and third reading to the OCP bylaw amendment, only Lutes was opposed.
Councillors Lamb, Chris Moore, Doug Hockley and Darnelda Siegers voted in favour, giving the OCP amendment the majority vote it needed to move forward.
To be safe, council then rescinded and repassed second and third reading on the zoning bylaw amendment for the same proposal, with the same outcome.
