One year into his second term, District of Sechelt Mayor John Henderson is looking for clever ideas.
“I don’t want complaints,” he said at the conclusion of his one-year check-in with Coast Reporter as he pitched an idea for a one-way Cowrie Street. (It would allow for an active transportation lane and parking.) “I don’t want to hear ‘That’s a stupid idea.’ It’s not a stupid idea. It’s a weird idea. So, improve on it.”
From Victoria to Ottawa to council chambers, Henderson’s branding himself as the solutions man of local and regional matters, though fruition is the eternal issue for the local politician.
Things haven’t gotten moving as quickly this term as they did in his 2012-2014 term, said Henderson. “I haven’t completed the things I wanted to get done by this time.”
At this council’s inaugural meeting in November 2022, Henderson brought forward a couple of commitments: the creation of a community safety task force and drilling for water at Dusty Road. The former was quickly implemented, the latter swiftly killed. But Henderson’s well of ideas is far from dry.
Community safety
For Henderson, the urgency of addressing community safety has emerged in the past year – “I didn’t realize how serious it was in November 2022 and, if anything, it’s worse [today].” And while the district is doing a lot more work (including the creation of a community safety committee), Henderson is not seeing the results he would hope for.
There’s a need for resident safety, said Henderson. “So much of what we do seems to be focused on the people that have their own challenges, whether it’s mental health or they’re nasty people or they just don’t have a place to live. But I get too many people that I’ve learned of who are really impacted, and they are innocent bystanders,” he said. “They’re people who live in the neighbourhood, the owners of businesses.”
This next year, Henderson says he wants to “stay focused on the rights of residents.”
“And that includes the unhoused people that are living here,” he said. “But we just can’t have swastikas being painted on signs.”
Asked about what protecting the rights of residents looks like, Henderson pointed for the need for funding or other resources from the province. “You don’t pay your taxes to the District of Sechelt to provide mental health care or to provide housing, and yet we’re doing that,” he said. He estimated that the district has had three-quarters of a full-time position attending to fallout from the fire that closed the Sechelt Shelter in February. He also points to effects on bylaw enforcement hours.
Sechelt has also started a three-month security patrol program, from which Henderson said they’re getting data about when crimes are happening.
Water
The keystone of Henderson’s inaugural speech was drilling for water at Dusty Road – a proposal that failed to pass at the Sunshine Coast Regional District board, and is stalled at District of Sechelt (the Sechelt proposal is for non-potable water) because of long provincial approval timelines. Henderson maintains that Dusty Road could have been implemented in three to four months and he’s still convinced it’s viable.
In terms of water, Henderson pointed to other much-cited short-term solutions such as the environmental flow needs reduction for Champman Creek (which after months of pressure from local governments, the province approved in September, when the fish returned and the flow could no longer be reduced). “At least there’s a precedent,” said Henderson. He also pointed to reclaimed water and more groundwater wells around Sechelt. “I just figured, politically, it was better to focus on those things.”
Overall, Henderson said he’d like to see less provincial oversight when professionals on the ground give the go-ahead. “They need to get out of the way,” he said. “If you’ve got a registered hydrogeologist who’s got a professional career and credibility and experience, I don’t think we need the level of [provincial] oversight. And certainly, we can’t afford the time, the years that it’s taking for approvals.”
Advocacy
Asked about what this council needs to work on, Henderson cited water, getting a new highway, ferry capacity and getting more housing. Though much of this is outside of municipal jurisdiction, Henderson said advocacy is a large part of his job and referred frequently to his recent trip to Victoria.
In mid-October, Henderson and three councillors (Darren Inkster, Donna Bell and Adam Shepherd) as well as Powell River mayor Ron Woznow headed to Victoria and spoke with four provincial ministers, MLAs and the CEO of BC Ferries. (The ministers were of Energy Mines and Low Carbon Innovation; Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship; Transportation and Infrastructure and Municipal Affairs.)
Henderson billed the trip as bringing solutions to Victoria; in the weeks leading up to it, he rolled out a series of “solution papers” detailing his pitches to the ministers. On the issues of ferries, Henderson advocated for the purchase of a used ferry that could supplement the current service to provide almost hourly sailings, as well as the development of a mariner training program in Sechelt or Powell River. On the issue of highways, Henderson pitched a new highway from Langdale to Trout Lake along the BC Hydro right of way. On the issue of water, Henderson advocated for the environmental flow need reduction approval to be for five years and for the expediting of provincial approvals for new and reclaimed water sources.
(Asked in a previous interview how much the trip cost, Henderson wouldn’t give a number but said it was what elected officials need to be doing and “it’s money very, very well spent.”)
When he heads back to Victoria in December, Henderson hopes to meet with the provincial minister of housing and follow up on his previous meetings.
As part of his role on the Green Municipal Fund, Henderson has periodic meetings in Ottawa, for which he says he goes a few days early so as to meet with federal officials, including advocating for Transport Canada to reduce the staffing requirement on the lower Sunshine Coast’s ferry route.
Strategic plan
Sechelt council recently adopted its 2023-2026 strategic plan. The six priority areas are: effective growth, housing, community safety and wellbeing, ensuring financial balance, climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as environmental preservation, and fostering a vibrant downtown core.
Henderson highlighted financial responsibility, “A lot of people feel that taxes just keep going up and up and up,” he said. Sechelt needs to tighten its belt and reign in spending, he said. (Sechelt’s 2023 tax increase was 7.2 per cent) “I think as governments, we have to accept that we need to find ways to do more, with less.”
“Our council strategic plan talks about figuring out how to find the balance and that’s a discussion I fully expect we will have in the next few months, as we get into the details [of budget season].”
Though he wouldn’t name any specific areas for belt-tightening, staffing gets particular scrutiny as the largest expense. Henderson said he wants to see “enough meaningful results” to warrant any personnel additions. “But if it’s just we want to hire somebody so that we can maintain the status quo, I don’t think we’re in a position to do that in the District of Sechelt in the next year.”
Short-term rentals
Like the Town of Gibsons, the current Sechelt council inherited the implementation of new short-term rental (STR) regulations (including requiring temporary use permits for secondary residence – “unhosted” – STRs). (Note: Coast Reporter sat down with Henderson before Sechelt council members discussed implementation of new provincial STR restrictions.)
When it comes to the hope that the regulations would see STRs converted to long-term rentals, Henderson that they’re not working. “Yes, there’s a few [STR conversions], but given the magnitude of the effort to control short-term rentals and the results, I don’t think that’s been a particularly good use of our resources.”
When it comes to ensuring neighbourhood fit for the rentals – another motivation behind the regulations – Sechelt still needs to hear feedback from neighbours and they’ll be talking with community associations over the winter. He added that there have been “very few” noise bylaw and parking complaints.
Henderson also pointed to the local businesses that rely on the tourism industry and the lack of hotels to replace the outlawed STRs. “We’ve got some more work to do to find that balance.”
Seawatch
A major file of the preceding council’s term was the 2019 evacuation of 14 homes in the Seawatch subdivision because of the risk of sinkholes and subsurface instability.
While some litigation continues, there’s been no update in the last several months, said Henderson. “I feel for the folks there. But I’m also very comfortable that the process has been followed and everybody’s played by whatever the legal rules are.
“It’s an issue that is over with as far as I’m concerned, as far as the district is concerned. There’s nothing more we can do.”
What’s worked?
Asked what he’s most proud of from this council, Henderson said they’ve approved a lot of housing.
He points to the 183 rentals, apartments and townhouses – so-called “missing middle” units – that are now at the building permit stage and a further 400 units in the works.
“We have the best of my knowledge approved all of those projects that have been brought to us,” he said. “Not a rubber stamp, there’s been scrutiny. There’s been questions or challenges, the plans have changed. But it’s something I’m very proud of, that we’ve got that done.”
