Chairs group on BC Ferries
Former Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) chair Garry Nohr, the director for Halfmoon Bay, is continuing his work with a group of coastal regional district chairs who lobby the government on BC Ferries issues.
Nohr told directors at the Nov. 9 board meeting that the group has been asked to meet with Transportation Minister Claire Trevena on Nov. 21.
The NDP government is getting ready to launch a review of BC Ferries in February.
“The minister wants to know what we’ve accomplished over the last four or five years and where we’re going to go from here,” Nohr said, adding that he’ll be highlighting the new schedule and plans to improve Langdale terminal and add two-ship service in the coming years.
“To me it would be really sad if the ministry suddenly decided to halt all that and not go forward, because people put a lot of time and effort into the survey and presenting their views on what could improve the ferry system here on the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
Bike shop rezoning
The SCRD planning and community development committee reviewed a rezoning application that would permit the conversion of a small character home in Roberts Creek into a bicycle retail and repair shop.
Senior planner David Rafael told committee members at the Nov. 9 meeting that the proposal is to complete internal alterations to the house but no expansion has been proposed and no residential use is proposed. He said the proposed use is appropriate in the village core, but parking is not adequate.
Roberts Creek director Mark Lebbell asked if the SCRD has the latitude to replace some of the car parking requirements with bike parking instead, and SCRD planning director Andrew Allen said that could be done.
The recommendation was amended to replace one of the required car parking spaces into bike parking and the committee passed the recommendation. The rezoning application will be forwarded to the SCRD board for first reading.
– Lisa McKnight-Yeates, Sean Eckford
