The Wesbrooke by the Sea seniors development planned for West Sechelt won’t be back in front of council until the end of August, Sechelt council heard last week.
Coun. Mike Shanks asked when the project would come back to the council table during the July 20 regular council meeting, noting he was led to believe by the proponents that outstanding issues had been “substantially if not wholly addressed” since it last came to council in May.
“I have concerns when basically we have three professionals, all with planning accreditation, who have difficulty in terms of moving this forward,” Shanks said.
Director of planning and development Andre Isakov said the application is “very complex” and requires “due diligence and time to make sure we get it right.”
He said the planning department has been working with the applicant to “rework the application in order to incorporate council’s, public’s and staff’s feedback” including the park exchange, which is no longer on the table, setbacks and noise concerns, screening and visual issues, and clarification of the project’s affordable housing contribution.
He said the review process has been time consuming, in part because of the way things are being handled by the applicant.
“The applicant’s approach to providing the necessary information and clarity in support of their own proposal, I can say, has not been conducive to the most productive process and the quickest process,” Isakov said.
“We have now received the majority of the information necessary, although we’re still waiting for some of the clarifications from the applicant.”
Isakov said that due to the reworking of the application, it will require a brand new bylaw and public hearing. Referrals will have to be resent to various governments and organizations impacted.
Sechelt staff is now aiming for an Aug. 31 report to come to council with an anticipated first reading of the new bylaw on Sept. 7.
If everything goes smoothly, Isakov said council could expect a public hearing to be scheduled in early October, and second and third reading of the new bylaw could come at the end of October.
That puts adoption of the necessary bylaw to allow building of the Wesbrooke by the Sea seniors development into November.
Shanks said he was concerned about the lengthy timeline, but Isakov replied, “I don’t think we’ve been too long or in any way have taken longer than is appropriate or is common in other jurisdictions.”
