Construction of Sechelt’s new Operations Centre inched closer to a possible start date as the Advisory Planning Commission (APC) supported issuing the centre's development permit with some adjustments. That endorsement from the APC's Jan. 4 meeting and comments of stakeholder groups will be referred to council before it considers approval of the permit for the $3 million construction project.
The application for the redevelopment of the existing parks and public works yard "generally met" the guidelines for approval under Sechelt’s development permit area (DPA) 10, the APC stated. It also asked that the proposal be adjusted to address several sustainability shortcomings.Those include adding permeable vehicle parking surfaces, rooftop solar energy and rainwater harvesting systems and two electric vehicle charging stations to the development plan. On the landscape plan, the APC asked to see turf areas replaced with a demonstration garden featuring deep rooted prairie grasses and ground cover plantings such as thyme.
Those requests followed the committee's reviewed of a staff report that noted that the original permit application for updating of the facilities failed to satisfy the eleven criteria in the “sustainable development” section of the DPA10 guidelines. Several committee members expressed their concerns about the need for the plan to pay more attention to those guideline components.
“This project is a chance for Sechelt to showcase what a public building can do in relation to sustainability and as it is presented it falls way short,” said committee member Sharif Senbel.
Committee member Archie MacLean asked staff why the applicant would fail to include what he considered important sustainability features in the project.
“It boils down to budget of course," Director of Planning Andrew Allen said. "Showcase buildings are often the beneficiaries of generous government grants. This one is purely funded from District of Sechelt coffers.”
The committee stopped short of recommending that a green roof, as suggested in the DPA 10 guidelines, be included on the project. While Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is also in the guidelines, the committee did not request that be pursued in the design and construction of the new 840-square-meter building on the site.
Council approval of the development permit is required before a building permit for the project can be issued. At its Dec. 1, 2021, meeting council heard from the project management company’s representative Jensen Metchie. He said that he hoped that permits would be in place for an April construction start. If that timing is met, Metchie said he anticipated that the new centre would be ready for occupancy before the end of the year.
At that same meeting, Sechelt’s elected officials reviewed an update on the community’s Integrated Community Sustainability Plan, which it adopted in January 2019. Goals of that plan are for the municipality to show leadership in sustainability and to establish sustainability as a “core value” for its operations. In that document council committed to incorporating “green building technology in civic facilities” and “sustainability-related best practices in civic building, facilities, and operations."
