Gibsons council passed first reading of zoning and Official Community Plan (OCP) amendments for the Seaglass condominium project in Lower Gibsons at the regular council meeting on July 21.
Seaglass is slated to be built across three properties on Marine Drive, 458, 460 and 462.
“I am concerned about having it developed and stretched right across Marine Drive,” Coun. Silas White said. “It does have a controversial form and character that was not fully endorsed by our planning department in regard to fitting with the OCP.”
Under the current OCP, the maximum height allowed for buildings on these properties is a little over six metres above the average natural grade of the highest property line. The current proposal for Seaglass is at a height of almost 10 metres.
The first Seaglass proposal was rejected in 2013 after the Town’s advisory planning committee (APC) objected to the form and character of the building. It has been aesthetically redesigned since then.
According to director of planning André Boel’s report, which was presented at council, the zoning amendment would allow “for a wide range of retail and office use, restaurants, and visitor accommodations in a pedestrian-orientated environment, and to allow residential uses as a secondary use, above or under a commercial use at ground level.”
A development variance permit will be approved subject to completion of the zoning and OCP amendments.
