The Sunshine Coast Community Services Society (SCCSS) application to rezone a portion of property to enable its sale to a storage company will go to public hearing on May 11 at 7 p.m. in the District of Sechelt community use room.
The proposal, which requires an official community plan (OCP) and zoning amendment, was before council on April 20 when it received first reading and referral to public hearing.
The zoning amendment would only affect the property that the Society wishes to sell – lot 36. However, the OCP amendment would affect the entire downtown core, according to district staff, as it would allow parking and storage on any lands within downtown Sechelt that are under the BC Hydro right of way.
Coun. Noel Muller questioned the blanket usage suggested by staff by way of an OCP amendment.
“In my mind, the OCP is one of our strongest methods of back casting and deciding what our community is going to look like and moving towards it in a well-thought-out and planned way, and it seems to me that these OCP amendments come forward kind of just whenever we feel like we might need to change something,” Muller said.
“This is a general OCP amendment, so it affects everything, and I’m just curious why that mechanism was chosen.”
Planner Aaron Thompson explained it was a matter of equity.
“It was chosen based on allowing a fair use of the lands affected by the BC Hydro right of way, to allow parking and storage in lands that otherwise would have very limited uses,” Thompson said. “This was developed to be kind of fair to those uses in the downtown centre.”
If the OCP and zoning amendments needed by SCCSS are approved, the society plans to move the community gardens, now housed on lot 36 directly behind the SCCSS building, and possibly look for a new long-term location for the food bank, although SCCSS board president Helen Carkner said the food bank could stay on lot 36 for the time being.
The company wishing to purchase lot 36, Belmar Self Storage, would likely let SCCSS “leave the food bank where it is for a few years,” according to Carkner.
Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne noted that SCCSS is proposing to move the community garden onto a location where a memorial garden was created about 15 years ago.
“The question I’ll ask at public hearing is has the family had any discussion?” Milne said.
“If things are done in trust and in memory as memorial sites, then we want to ensure that there’s at least some discussion with the family. In this case, I’m aware that the family knows that services are more important than gardens, but it still would be appropriate for the board of the community services to be aware of the changes they’re making to those kinds of commitments and I don’t want to approve a zoning or a relocation until we know that’s taken place.”
With that, council approved first reading of the SCCSS plan and referral to public hearing.
Also going to public hearing on May 11, immediately following the SCCSS public hearing, is a plan by Clayton Family Lands Ltd. to rezone 1.85 hectares to allow 18 single-family residences to be built north of Clayton Avenue.
