The new Ocean Stories seniors’ housing facility – pitched by developer Doug Spani for his 2.4-hectare property between Chatelech Secondary School and Shorncliffe – will have to head back to public hearing, despite strong support from the public at the first hearing held on March 3.
After the March 3 public hearing, council discovered it hadn’t followed due process, which resulted in the need for a second hearing.
According to staff, council should have considered the Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment needed for the project in conjunction with several plans, including the 2000 liquid waste management plan, and made that consideration clear.
Council was alerted to the issue by Sechelt resident Shirley Kuciuk. On March 16, council passed a motion to rectify the oversight, saying it had (as of March 16) considered the OCP amendment needed for the development in conjunction with the financial plan, the solid waste management plan, the 2000 liquid waste management plan and the registration of the district’s waste water treatment plant under the municipal waste water regulation.
The motion was passed by the majority of council. Coun. Noel Muller voted against, saying he wasn’t able to consider the OCP amendment for Ocean Stories in conjunction with all the plans listed because some of the documents “are over 600 pages” and he wasn’t able to “digest them all.”
Mayor Bruce Milne noted that the wording “considered” didn’t necessarily mean individual councillors had to read through all of the documents listed.
“Staff have considered the issue and given us a report that allows us to confirm that we’ve looked at the major issues,” Milne said, noting it’s good for councillors to read all the reports but “it’s not incumbent on each councillor to read every part of the report, as long as you feel you can consider it with the staff support that’s provided.”
Milne said in the future it will become part of the regular OCP amendment process that council adopts a motion saying it has considered the various reports prior to public hearing, and he noted previous decisions where that consideration wasn’t explicitly stated may need to be reviewed.
“It will depend on the circumstances, and one of those circumstances would be how far along in the process those decisions are in terms of unfolding and whether they’ve been challenged and in what way they’ve been challenged,” Milne said.
“It poses a serious risk that we want to avoid.”
The second public hearing for Ocean Stories has been set for March 29 at 7 p.m. at the District of Sechelt.
A separate seniors’ housing facility proposed for the top of Trail Bay Estates – Wesbrooke By the Sea – will head to public hearing on April 12 at 7 p.m. at the District of Sechelt.
