Two community workshops on Persephone Brewing Company’s application for non-farm use on their Stewart Road property in Area F (West Howe Sound) drew capacity crowds.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) estimates there were as many as 80 people on hand for the March 19 session, and more than 50 turned out on March 21.
Persephone, which opened in 2013, doesn’t meet the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) regulations for a brewery, because the company doesn’t grow at least 50 per cent of the ingredients on site. So, the brewery, tasting room and activities related to them need special permission from the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC).
The SCRD can offer input to the ALC, but the commission itself makes the final decision (if it approves, the SCRD will follow up with any necessary zoning or regulatory changes).
SCRD general manager of planning and development Steven Olmstead told the participants in the March 21 workshop that the SCRD has developed a philosophy of judging the “net benefit to agriculture” when drafting that input.
Participants took part in short sessions at four tables to offer thoughts on how the application would impact agriculture, the neighbourhood and the wider community, and to give general comments.
The SCRD has already dealt with a couple of bylaw complaints against Persephone, and those issues came up at the workshops, along with comments that the company was actually doing more farming on the land than the previous owners and other ALR property owners, and that their overall business model was benefitting the community.
The workshops were run on a “world café” model, something Area F director Ian Winn said he hopes to see the SCRD use more often.
Winn said he feels the workshops went well and the SCRD board now has a good sense of what the public thinks, so they can offer a balanced view to the ALC.
“[It’s] one of the best process that I’ve seen,” he said. “It really draws out the people who usually sit back … so they can voice their concerns and their comments, and with all this information it’ll enable us to know that we’re getting the voice of the community.”
Persephone representatives were also on hand for both sessions. General manager Dion Whyte was at the March 21 workshop, and made some brief comments during a question-and-answer period.
“I just appreciate everyone coming out to share their views, both for or against,” he said. “I think what everyone is doing now is great, and necessary, and appreciated from the regional district’s perspective, and certainly from our perspective.”
A report summing up the workshop input will go to the SCRD planning and development committee in April or May, at which point directors can choose to recommend the ALC approve the application as is, approve it with specific restrictions, or stay neutral.
