Option A or option B - but what about option C?
This was the bone of contention for some of the more than 100 citizens who turned out at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre Monday night to voice their concerns about the two options being laid out for the Gospel Rock neighbourhood plan.
The first option includes development of eight to 12 homes along the waterfront, preservation of 5.2 acres (2.1 hectares) of upland park and a $3.5 million amenity contribution.
The second option spares the waterfront from any development, but includes no amenity contribution and preservation of just 1.8 acres (0.7 hectares) of land adjacent to Polygon 82. After Gibsons municipal planner Chris Marshall and consultant Robert Barrs of HB Lanarc ran through a review of the two and a half year process leading up to the neighbourhood plan, the public question period began.
"It seems like an artificial choice, unless option A was some wholesale development on the waterfront," said Gibsons resident Andre Sobolewski. A council motion in February 2007 required Town staff, HB Lanarc and the owners to come up with "two or three financially-viable options" for the neighbourhood plan. Barrs said that's been done and said there's now little leeway to modify the plans.
"We're close to the point where there aren't too many other choices," he said. "The town wants something that can be built. There probably isn't an option C at this point."
Some Gospel Rock property owners spoke, and not all were amenable to development. Speaking on behalf of St. Mary's Church, Paulette Sheldon asked why a road is proposed to run directly through their property, lot 21 in the neighbourhood plan. Marshall said the road would run through the property only if the owners gave consent for its development. The Gospel Rock area, he said, is "like a frozen state, until this neighbourhood plan is in place."
Many of the speakers' concerns centred around traffic. Gower Point Road resident Jody Schick said the notion, suggested by Barrs, that the proposed commercial core of Gospel Rock could alleviate traffic pressures was "a bit of a joke.""I think [traffic] is being left out of the equation here," he said. Other speakers requested other arterial roads be built before the development begins, citing Pratt Road and Gower Point Road as two routes that could become swollen with traffic and pose a threat to neighbourhoods adjacent to Gospel Rock.
Marshall noted the traffic impact wouldn't be instantaneous, adding he expects a build-out of about 40 units per year.
Both options are based on 16-to 20-year build-outs of about 600 to 800 units, with density to vary based on the height of apartments to be built near the commercial core of the neighbourhood and based on whether or not a boutique hotel is included in the final plans.
Marshall also said sewer capacity won't be an issue, thanks to a recent $45 million upgrade which gave the wastewater treatment plant capacity for 10,000 people. However, water supply could be an issue. If owners of the northwest lots don't choose to build, the water supply will be constricted to the Chaster Road water main, which would limit development of the neighbourhood, he said.
Since the last meeting of the Gospel Rock select committee in mid-May, the area to be included in the neighbourhood plan has increased. The total neighbourhood size is now 138 acres (56 hectares), up from 124 acres (50 hectare).
Despite some talk to the contrary at Tuesday night's council meeting, council will stick with its original plan of following up the open house by mailing out a survey to every home in Gibsons. The surveys will be mailed out next week, and will also include a background package of information on the process so far and the options for development. Residents will have three weeks to return the surveys to the town either in person at municipal hall, mailing them in, completing the survey on-line or faxing them in. The town will then pass the completed surveys on to HB Lanarc, that will evaluate them and present a report to the 14-member Gospel Rock steering committee in late summer or fall. That meeting will be open to the public.
