Gibsons council voted 3-1 in favour of final adoption of the zoning and Official Community Plan (OCP) amendments for a 40-unit supportive housing project on School Road.
There was no debate or discussion at council’s Dec. 17 meeting, but Coun. Aleria Ladwig, who voted against approval at third reading saying she didn’t think the site was appropriate and too little effort was made to find a different one, once again voted no.
Coun. Stafford Lumley, who voted to support the rezoning and OCP changes at third reading, was not at the Tuesday night meeting.
The project, to be built on two lots fronting 749 School Rd. at the site of the former RCMP building, has been contentious and sparked strong opposition in the neighbourhood, but there were few people in the public gallery for the final vote.
BC Housing is putting up $14 million in capital funding for the building and $1 million in annual operating funding and plans to have RainCity Housing, the managers of a similar project in Sechelt as well as the area’s homeless shelters, operate the facility.
The land, which was transferred by the federal government for one dollar, will remain under Town ownership.
Mayor Bill Beamish said during the public question period at the end of the meeting that he and chief administrative officer Emanuel Machado had a conference call scheduled with BC Housing on Dec. 19.
“I really do believe that with tonight’s adoption of the bylaws we need to move forward with the community and get everybody involved in making this project a real success,” Beamish said, adding that privacy and security issues and the formation of a community advisory committee would all be on the agenda for the call.
Council also has one final decision still to make – how the exterior of the building will look.
Kwakwaka’wakw Nation artist Simon Daniel James, Winadzi, of the firm Kolus Arts, has created three options for exterior designs, which were shown to council on Dec. 3.
Beamish said he discussed the options at a recent meeting with officials from the Squamish Nation to see how they fit with its art protocols and pointed out that there’s still plenty of time to make the choice before construction begins.
