As the sun set on Sept. 21, more than 50 people gathered on the dry, dead grass next to Coopers Green Hall to hear Halfmoon Bay’s two candidates for Area B director discuss their take on local issues — including climate change and the future of the community hall.
Patrick Dickie and Justine Gabias introduced themselves at the first all candidates meeting the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) has seen for the 2022 general election. Halfmoon Bay Community Association hosted the event. Gabias started by acknowledging that while an acclamation is an easy process, she “felt like we needed the time and the space to have a discussion as a community,” and asked the crowd what they want to see for the next four years.
Gabias said she is dedicated to being a communicative and transparent director, and sees being a representative as “the bridge between the constituents and the SCRD.”
“I want to hear from you what you want, what you’re worried about. I want to be able to take that to the SCRD,” she said, adding that the director’s role would be a full-time job for her as she’s self-employed.
Gabias highlighted the climate crisis as a priority. “We need to look at everything, every decision through that lens.”
Dickie then introduced his experience working for the SCRD, as a 24-year resident of Halfmoon Bay and as an avid cycler.
The two candidates fielded questions from the gathered audience on development and upgrade requirements for the fire department, bylaw enforcement and addressing conflict. Residents also raised concerns about the Sargeant Bay hill road conditions during winter weather. Both Gabias and Dickie addressed road safety concerns and the need for more walkable or bike-able infrastructure, and line painting.
When one attendee asked each candidate their two focus items for a four-year term, if elected as Halfmoon Bay’s representative, Gabias said housing and affordability is “the first domino that would help solve so many other problems,” and waste management. Dickie identified the urgency of the grant funding available for the Coopers Green Hall project and the housing crisis.
Coopers Green
As for the future of Coopers Green Hall — which was too small to host the all-candidates event that evening — the candidates presented differing ideas.
Gabias said she understands the frustration, after years of fundraising, that the project is on hold due to sea level rise concerns. She shared her concept for adding a pavilion of sorts to Coopers Green to continue its use as an outdoor cultural hub and for summer events, and finding another location for an indoor community space.
Dickie, on the other hand, said, “My vision is of a hall here at Coopers Green, and it’s of a hall that is energy efficient, something that other communities are going to look at.” He described reaching zero emissions and using rainwater for flushing toilets.
“One of the first priorities for the community, I think, [is to] come to a consensus and move this project forward,” Dickie said.
Housing
Dickie said language around having an owner-operator onsite for a short-term rental (STR) is key for him, and how housing will open up for long-term rentals. He also suggested implementing the speculation and vacancy tax on the Coast.
“We can't have empty homes, and talk about [a] housing crisis and affordable housing. So with a vacancy tax, I would see that money going into organizations like Cover the Coast who are doing incredible work on transition houses, supportable housing, and our homeless shelters,” he said, adding that homeowners could avoid the vacancy tax by renting a suite while they are away or putting a second dwelling on their lots. “And if they choose not to, I mean, we are talking about people here who have the luxury to own a second home, where most people on the Coast are struggling to own one. So I can't make apologies for suggesting that there should be a tax put on those houses to address the housing crisis here on the Coast.”
Gabias spoke of adding affordable housing stock as a way to help the fire department find more volunteers, and how housing affects everybody in the community.
Dickie also pitched encouraging sustainable development through the Official Community Plan (OCP), such as rainwater catchment and energy efficient standards. Gabias said she would push for a tree protection bylaw and to “make development part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
“There's this line of no change and too much change. And I just want us to talk so that we can find that sweet spot on that line where we want to be, because change is coming," she said early in the meeting. "We can't really escape that. But how can we make that change work for us? How can we enhance Halfmoon Bay so we still recognize it?”
The Halfmoon Bay candidates will appear at two more all candidates meetings before the election: one hosted by Alliance4Democracy on Sept. 27, and the last by Cover the Coast on Oct. 6.
