Pacific Spirit is gearing up to take a second run at Sechelt council, and downtown village residents got a glimpse of some of the changes at a public meeting Jan. 29.
"We've taken a softer approach this time," said Don Liu, vice-president of development for Cooperators Development Corporation, who, along with the North Shore Credit Union, are developing the twin six-storey buildings located at the southwest corner of Inlet Avenue at Teredo Street. "We don't want to be the big, bad developer."
Councillors Mike Shanks, Darren Inkster and Keith Thirkell, acting mayor Warren Allan and 32 members of the public showed up to view some of the new proposals, which include three possible options for geothermal heating. Liu said there may be a small windmill incorporated into the central plaza on the site, which would be used to augment power to the geothermal system. The project will not be pursuing any sustainability certification, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.
There will now be 0.49 hectares of open green space on site, which Liu said means the property as a whole will remain 43 per cent publicly accessible - an aspect that could be crucial to gain support from the 691 Sechelt residents (more than 26 per cent of the total 2,616 voter count in the 2005 election) who signed a petition opposing the project before the first public hearing in April 2007.
At that time, many voters favoured the idea of purchasing the property as a park, but the District found the cost, now close to $6 million, prohibitive. During the multi-family residential and commercial development's first run at council, the District came under fire for pushing through an official community plan (OCP) amendment bylaw to relax the 90-metre setback requirement for the building, which is just 15 metres from the mean shoreline. Downtown village residents Alice and Hudson Janisch stopped the proposal in July 2007 by launching a legal challenge to the District's flawed public hearing notice, which contained technical errors. Council agreed to repeal the bylaws and sent it back to the drawing board, and the Janisches adjourned their legal petition. So far, the revised proposal isn't meeting their approval.
"It's 99.9 per cent unchanged," said Alice Janisch. She expressed concerns the building's excavation will damage mature coniferous trees that line the boardwalk at the seaward edge of the property. She also points out the raised parking garage (which can't be built underground due to the water table) will "act as a 450-foot wall, about 12 to 15 feet above ground," blocking a view to the ocean from the level of Teredo Street.
The project is expected to appear at the next planning committee meeting on March 4.
