For five hours Tuesday night, Gibsons residents spoke against and, in a few cases, for the four-storey Shoal Bay mixed condo and retail development proposed to be built in the heart of The Landing in Gibsons.
The long-awaited public hearing at the Gibsons Legion proved to be the lengthiest public meeting ever held in the Town, and drew attendance of nearly 260 people - more than six per cent of the town's population. The strong turnout may be partially due to the hundreds of fact sheets and form letters distributed throughout the Town by the Citizens for Gibsons Landing on Monday.
"This was the longest meeting with the biggest impact for the future of the town that I've been to in my 15 years here," said attendee Nick Currie.
The Town of Gibsons' list counted 40 speakers in total, four of whom spoke twice, and just five of whom indicated clear-cut support for the development - meaning 87.5 per cent of speakers opposed the project, citing concerns such as the possibility of impacts on the Town's aquifer and the project acting as a catalyst towards more large developments in Lower Gibsons.
When Coast Reporter left the meeting at 10 p.m., more than 85 per cent of the speakers to that point were opposed to the project. The night led off with municipal planner Chris Marshall noting the town's 2005 Smart Plan imposes a four-storey height limit on buildings, without a strict definition of the space between floors. He then sought to clarify "misinformation" about the project's height, stating it would be 16 metres.
Mayor Barry Janyk waived the normal procedure of reading all letters received into the record before opening the floor to comments, subject to a five-minute time limit.
"If you want a circus, I suggest heading to Vegas," he said, a warning that was for the most part respected throughout the evening. Height and character of the development remained hot topics. When pressed by the crowd to reveal what was the highest dimension of the building, project architect Robert Ciccozzi drew jeers by replying it was "a difficult question," before revealing it was "about 62 feet." Marshall explained the height is measured from the average between the peak and eave of the roof, down to the average base elevation along the grade.
Local architect Paul Shaw questioned many aspects of the proposed condos' design, stating the "fake mansard roof" adds an extra three metres of unnecessary height, while the floor-to-floor height could be reduced by another third of a metre per storey. "It doesn't make sense to have a building of that size up front. In one fell swoop, this opens up the door to larger developments," he said. The development would feature 109 condo units in two separate buildings, a grocery store and retail stores at street level, all possible under the proposed CD-1 comprehensive development zoning council would need to pass. The project aims to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, a designation some speakers said falls well below the leading sustainable building certifications. Graham Walker, whose view stands to be reduced by the condos, commented the "smaller [ecological] footprint will actually produce a much larger visual footprint." Chris Reid, one of the few speakers in favour of the project, said, "I'm not excited about an increased tax bill due to the loss of revenue from a project like this."
Council also heard from a spiritual healer, named Time, who asked everyone gathered to "calm the warring mind for a moment," before indicating his own opposition to the project. Aside from comments received at the hearing, council now needs to review the 277 total written submissions received by the Town prior to the public hearing.
Gibsons council is expected to either advance or reject the proposal at the Feb. 5 council meeting.
