Gibsons council has given staff the green light to start the process for a temporary use permit for the Gibsons United Church building at 724 Trueman Rd.
The church, which is zoned public assembly (PA), has been conditionally sold to Andre Palcic and his family from the Lower Mainland. Getting a temporary use permit to allow it to be used as a home is one of the conditions of the sale going through.
Palcic told council the family made an offer on the church because they’re keen to move to Gibsons, and they want to be able to live there while they work out a plan for the future of the property. “We would basically use it as a large four-bedroom house,” Palcic said, adding that they’ve already worked out a floor plan that would be practical.
But some community members with ties to the Gibsons United Church don’t want to see it used for anything but public assembly. Mary Bittroff came before council as a delegation, asking that the property’s zoning be kept as PA. “We are not here to prevent a sale of the church,” said Bittroff. “But to ensure that a purchaser will come forth who will respect its present zoning and the many possible uses in this public assembly zoning.”
As for Palcic’s future plans if the sale goes through: “I’ll tell you right now I’m not a developer, but we’re definitely interested to work with the [Town] to see what is the best use for the space,” Palcic said. “In the interim, we’d like to use it … It lays out as three lots, so it could become three residential lots, or it could become multi-family.”
According to a report from the planning department, 724 Trueman is surrounded by properties that are already zoned for either single or multi-family homes.
Town staff are also recommending the property be pulled from the “permissive property tax exemption” list to make the land and buildings taxable again effective in 2017.
Despite its unusual architectural features, the church is not listed in the Town’s heritage inventory or registry, but adding it is one of the five actions Bittroff asked council to follow. The others were: extend the timeline for considering the temporary use permit to Sept. 30, investigate the use of part of the church property as the fire escape route for the Marina Place condominium, clarify the actual intent of the purchasers, and make sure regular users of the church hall are notified of the application.
Bittroff and her supporters also circulated a petition to keep the properties zoned PA ahead of the meeting.
Debate on the temporary use permit is expected at the July 19 council meeting, after staff have had a chance to notify neighbours within a 50-metre radius. Town planner Andre Boel explained that a preliminary notice was already sent, in case job action at Canada Post interferes with mail delivery.
If council approves the permit it could be valid for a maximum of three years. The United Church says it’s in talks with the Gibsons Public Market to lease space for church functions once the property is sold.
