The developers behind SSC Properties in Porpoise Bay say after months of planning, and reworking their project based on community feedback, they’re eager to get it to a public hearing.
Todd McGowan and Werner Hofstatter of SSC Properties appeared before Sechelt council Aug. 3, just a few days after the company held an open house that drew more than 300 people to the 170-hectare site near Porpoise Bay Provincial Park.
“It was a really, really great conversation,” McGowan told councillors. “There was a palpable excitement about a lot of the aspects of this project … A lot of people who came up and talked to many of us at that event wanted to know when they could voice their opinion, when they could get to a public hearing.”
Hofstatter, SCC’s general manager, said the company felt the project was far enough advanced that a public hearing on zoning and Official Community Plan changes could be held before the end of August.
“There’ve been countless important things come up in the last eight months [since the application was filed in October] that we’ve addressed every step of the way,” he said, adding that two new requirements brought forward by council in April – a landslide analysis and a new traffic study – have also now been met.
“People are looking to us, and asking us what’s the hold-up,” Hofstatter said. “We’ve been doing our part, [district] staff has been extremely helpful in getting us to this point … but we really need to get back to the public.”
According to Hofstatter, one of the reasons the company is anxious to get to the next step is a desire to move quickly on the affordable housing component of the project.
“We really are being very conscious of all the information that’s coming forward regarding the affordability of housing … We have a commitment of 72 affordable housing units [and] we’re hoping to do a lot better than that, because that’s what the Coast needs.”
Director of planning Andre Isakov told council that staff are still waiting for those landslide and traffic studies to be “fully completed,” and the soonest staff could bring them back to council would be in early September. That would mean a public hearing in late September or early October.
Mayor Bruce Milne said he felt that was a reasonable timeline.
“This council has said before, we want the same thing that you want – a fully community-supported project that’s the best in North America. We have a very strong and competent director of planning who will help you get there. Let him do his work.”
Earlier this summer, representatives of another development, the Wesbrooke by the Sea assisted living facility proposed for the Clayton Family Lands, asked to “expedite” a decision on bylaw amendments for that project. There was a public hearing on Wesbrooke by the Sea in April, but the bylaws are still awaiting second and third readings.
