Speakers for and against the Wesbrooke by the Sea assisted and supported seniors living development were evenly split during the Jan. 11 public hearing in Sechelt.
Of the nine speakers who registered their displeasure with the project, most were concerned about the height of the development and the placement of it in a residential neighbourhood in West Sechelt.
Some also had concern about delivery trucks making noise at a loading bay near residential homes, insufficient property line setbacks and lack of access to a popular bluff area the development would occupy.
One nearby resident said the placement of the four-storey (maximum 16.5 metres) development on top of the bluff in West Sechelt would equal about 30 metres above the hillside.
“For those of you not familiar with 30 metres, that’s 100 feet. You might as well take a BC ferry and park it on top of there because that’s what it’s going to look like,” he said.
Another nearby resident said that although she believed in building more seniors homes in Sechelt, she felt the “height of this building precludes it.”
Of those in favour of the project, most stressed the need for more assisted and supported living facilities to serve an aging Sechelt population.
“It fills a gap,” said Sue Jackal, who registered her support for the project.
Another resident said the project would provide a “good model for seniors to age in place.”
“In my opinion they are the right group at the right time,” she said, noting the proponent for Wesbrooke has experience in the seniors’ housing sector.
The Wesbrooke by the Sea plan calls for a four-storey, 124-unit assisted and supported living building as well as a separate two-storey, 12-unit affordable housing building on a 1.46-hectare site above Chatelech Secondary School in the Clayton Family Lands development.
Input from the public hearing will come back to council in a staff report at a future meeting. Council will then decide whether or not to pass the proposal through more readings and ultimately adopt the zoning and official community plan bylaw amendments needed for the project to proceed.
