Editor:
Mr. Campbell declares Gibsons council to have acted in a "non-democratic" fashion (Coast Reporter, letters, July 26).
Unfortunately, Mr. Campbell is not relying on all the facts, a point I have tried to make in rebuttal of his two entries in successive weeks on the electronic version of the newspaper.
We are each entitled to our opinions on any matter, but it behooves us all to do more than token research before publishing them.
Mr. Campbell is hobbled by not having attended the preceding committee of the whole (CoW) the previous week, wherein the Seaglass proponent and his team of architect and two engineers consumed 50 minutes of the hour to present their case and answer questions from council members and staff.
This second CoW was simply an update to the previous meeting, hence discussion was curtailed appropriately.
The fact is Seaglass is characterized by up to seven variances, identified within the staff report, which have to be resolved as discussed within the previous CoW.
The details can be found online, within the planner's report.
Mr. Campbell can take issue with the remarks of individual councillors if he wishes. But, given that the staff have produced a lengthy report to the CoW, that the APC has considered this application at some length, and that there have probably been some non-public discussions with the Town by the proponent, I consider it inaccurate and unfair to criticize the chair (the mayor) based on one short meeting, after missing the preceding lengthy meeting.
The proponent/staff/CoW process will continue in the future, after the seven variances have been more thoroughly discussed.
The good news is that Mr. Campbell appears to be in favour of "considered development" for Gibsons, rather than relying upon ever-increasing property taxes for funding necessary improvements in the Town's infrastructure.
Brian K. Sadler, Gibsons
