Gibsons council has reversed an earlier decision to deny a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) for an RV park at 718 North Rd.
Mayor Bill Beamish asked for reconsideration of the earlier vote at the June 16 council meeting.
The property was the site of Uptown Motel and Trailer Park from 1991 until 2001 and the remaining motel building has been used as offices and a laundry facility for RV tenants, who have been at the site since mid-2018, according to Town staff.
Beamish said he felt that at its June 2 meeting council had been drafting conditions for the TUP “on the run” and negotiating with the property owner, Chris Danroth, as they went through them.
“I wanted to make sure that council was very clear about the results of that negotiation… As well, we were not a full council, and I wanted to make sure it’s a full council decision that we make that will affect the lives of seven or eight people who live on the site.”
Beamish asked for the TUP to come forward for another vote, with the same wording that was rejected June 2, including several conditions related to the maintenance and look of the site, a cap on the pad rentals at $500 per month, limiting the number of pads to seven, and a maximum term of three years with no option for renewal.
Coun. Stafford Lumley, the person absent from the June 2 vote, said he was concerned a recommendation that had been passed unanimously at the planning and development committee ended up being rejected by council and he felt more than seven pads should be allowed.
Lumley also argued that the proposal, even if it’s temporary, should be seen as an affordable housing project.
“There’s enough area on that site to allow for 12 RVs. And when you take a look at who’s living there, they’re just normal people. There’s people raising children there and this is where the state of our housing is,” he said.
Ultimately, Lumley said that although he supported allowing the property to operate as an RV park under a TUP, he wouldn’t vote in favour of the proposal because it did not allow the owner to use the full 12-pad capacity of the site.
Coun. David Croal said after supporting the TUP at committee he voted against it June 2 in part because of confusion around what was actually being agreed to.
“I applauded it, I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to provide an affordable option. But when I saw items that were on the wish list dropping off between the planning and development committee and council, I was concerned, and that’s why I couldn’t support it.”
Croal voted in favour on reconsideration, but the other councillor who voted against the TUP on June 2, Coun. Annemarie De Andrade, remained opposed.
“Obviously, I’m fully supportive of affordable housing,” she said. “But this is not really obviously a long-term solution and, in my view, the tenants are vulnerable regardless because the proponent himself said he might decide to [start] construction before the three years [is up].”
Beamish and Coun. Aleria Ladwig voted in favour, as they did on June 2.
Ladwig said she still supported restricting the number of RV pads to seven, especially in light of the fact they would only be staying temporarily and that when the TUP expires, it could be difficult for the owners to find new sites.
“I supported seven because that’s who’s currently living on site,” she said. “By no means do I want to make somebody homeless who was already dependent on that facility. I don’t support growing that facility for a temporary purpose at this time.”
Beamish said his reasons for supporting the TUP hadn’t changed.
“My reasons are the same as last time… Our town has an approach of working with property owners, working with them to solve problems,” Beamish said. “That’s how this was brought forward to us. It was, obviously, almost getting to be a derelict site, and it’s going to be cleaned up and improved and we’re allowing accommodation to continue as is.”
With Ladwig and Beamish standing by their earlier votes, and Croal adding his support, the TUP, which fell on a tie vote June 2, was passed 3-2.
