The most controversial development proposal in Gibsons' history has been voted down by council, putting to rest the possibility of the four-storey, 109-unit Shoal Bay condo development in the heart of the Landing.
"This is sort of a super Tuesday night for Gibsons council," said Coun. Bob Curry to the approximately 50 citizens in attendance. He stated the development would mean "a huge paradigm shift away from our official community plan (OCP) values."
Council voted four to one against proceeding with second and third reading, with Coun. Gerry Tretick voting in favour. Mayor Barry Janyk and others expressed their disappointment with the "misinformation" that had been spread about the development, and defeated it not based on their concerns about the height, breadth, greenness or aquifer impact of the buildings, but based on the 277 written submissions and opinions expressed at the public hearing.
After weighting the submissions to increase the prominence of local voices and to discount those from out of town, Janyk said the statements and submissions added up to 66 in favour and 189 opposed to the project.
"The world is run by those who show up," said the clearly frustrated mayor. "I for one take seriously the input at public hearings. They're not just a formalized sham. I think we can fault ourselves, because perhaps we didn't get the message out clearly enough." Earlier in the night, Janyk chastised the well-organized opposition to the project, stating, "None of you people have the slightest understanding of the amount of work our staff did to prepare for this." According to estimates from Gibsons director of finance Ian Poole, had Shoal Bay gone ahead, it would have meant an additional $183,000 in taxes and fees for the Town each year. By 2012, the Town's long-term debt is expected to go up by $6 million to $9.2 million, which, to service adequately, will require a tax increase of 26 per cent.
"This project [would be] a significant improvement to the Town's financial position," said Coun. LeeAnn Johnson, who supported the project's density and sustainability initiatives, but ultimately voted against it. "This comes down to the community not [being] prepared for the future."
Coun. Chris Koopmans expressed disappointment with those who criticized the Shoal Bay development's goal of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification as not being green enough.
"It would have been nice to see more support when the Town was advocating LEED Silver for the Gibsons community centre our two recreation centres are going to be the two biggest energy hogs on the Coast," he said, before thanking municipal planner Chris Marshall and town staff for "raising the bar" for development. Target Developments proponent Grant Gillies left the meeting after council voted down the motion, and Coast Reporter was unable to reach him before deadline. Janyk reiterated that Gillies is "the finest developer who's ever approached this town," and asked him to refine the project and bring it back to council.
At the inquiry period at the end of the meeting, a few audience members offered their thoughts to council. Bernie Mulligan said council should think about multi-family housing when developing the Gospel Rock neighbourhood.
"Build 100-foot apartments up there, not over here," he said.
