Halfmoon Bay director Lori Pratt and District of Sechelt director Darnelda Siegers were once again acclaimed as chair and vice chair, respectively, at a Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board meeting on Nov. 14.
Siegers nominated Pratt for the role of chair, while Town of Gibsons director Bill Beamish nominated Siegers for vice chair.
“Thank you, board, for your continued support of me in this position and I’m very honoured to continue to represent you and be your chair,” said Pratt following her acclamation.
Elections for chair and vice chair are held annually. Committee chairs are appointed.
Directors seek student voices
The burgeoning trend on the Sunshine Coast of saving a spot at board and council tables for youth could extend to the SCRD.
Roberts Creek director Andreas Tize raised the idea at the Nov. 14 board meeting: “I’d like to see if there’s anything we can do to have youth involved more in what we do here at the SCRD,” he said, adding, “Let’s get away from tokenism and let’s have some meaningful engagement.”
While directors were largely positive, they also pointed to a few challenges – namely that the location of the SCRD offices at Field Road isn’t easily accessible by public transit, and that meetings are held during the day when students are in school.
To get the process started, directors voted unanimously on Tize’s motion for directors to provide a presentation to the District Student Leadership Team (DSLT) about the SCRD and ask how they would like to become involved.
The DSLT is a group of students who represent each of the Sunshine Coast’s four high schools.
Directors also unanimously supported a motion by Elphinstone director Donna McMahon that staff provide a report looking at how youth members could be included on SCRD advisory committees.
Toni Road subdivision heads to second reading
Directors voted unanimously for revised bylaws to proceed to second reading and for a public hearing to be scheduled for Jan. 14 at Roberts Creek Hall at 7 p.m. concerning a proposal for a subdivision on Toni Road in Roberts Creek.
Earlier this month, directors voted to hold off on moving forward with the Official Community Plan (OCP) and zoning amendments until staff and the applicant could further discuss the proposal.
In an effort to minimize the scale of development, keep more of the trees in place, maintain the rural character of the neighbourhood and “reduce perceived impacts to neighbouring properties,” the proposed amendments introduced at the planning community development meeting would include “a site-specific provision that restricts residential development on each proposed new parcel to one principal single-family dwelling plus one second dwelling with a gross floor area not exceeding 90 metres squared,” according to the Nov. 14 staff report.
At the meeting, Roberts Creek director Andreas Tize addressed and supported the changes. “The applicant has reduced the ask from two full-sized dwellings per parcel to one full-sized dwelling and one dwelling not exceeding 90 sq. metres,” he said, adding that it’s similar to density approved for a nearby property.
He also brought up the recently added Section 18 of the Roberts Creek OCP. “The OCP committee and I are still grappling with the vagueness and ambiguity in section 18 and what it all means for Roberts Creek, but in this case I believe the application falls fully within the parameters of the intention of this new amendment.”
Community Wildfire Protection Grant
Directors voted to approve a request made by protective services manager Matt Treit to apply for a grant to create a community wildfire protection plan – a prerequisite to be eligible for other grants to fund fire risk reduction activities on the Sunshine Coast.
The grant comes from The Union of BC Municipalities’ Community Resiliency Investment Program and would cover the $110,000 needed to fund the plan. Results are expected in March 2020.
