Sechelt council has given first reading to the zoning and Official Community Plan amendments needed for Trellis Seniors Services’ Silverstone long-term care facility, also referred to by the company as the Sunshine Coast Care Centre.
The March 4 vote came nearly four years, and two abandoned alternate locations, after Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and Trellis first announced plans for a new long-term care facility on the Coast to be operated by the company under contract with VCH.
Council gave what it calls “permission to proceed” at its Feb. 5 meeting, setting the wheels in motion for the approval process on what the district’s planning department has described as a project with “substantially the same form” as the proposal that went before the last council.
The 128-bedroom facility – which would have a total of 132 beds made up of publicly-funded long-term care beds, hospice beds and private beds – is slated for the same property fronting Derby Road near the intersection with Cowrie Street proposed in 2016.
In his report to council, development planning manager Ian Holl said the design would be Craftsman style “to be compatible with a similar theme for the future phases of the surrounding Sawarne [Lumber] properties.”
The planning department recommendation was to proceed with first reading, send the application out for referrals and have planners hold discussions with Trellis on site buffering and landscaping as well as community amenity contributions.
Coun. Tom Lamb said he supports the project, but has some concerns about the emphasis on landscaping at this early stage. “Sometimes it just gets a little bit out of hand. I want to make sure we look at this very carefully with the proponent… We have to work with the developers to move things ahead. It just seems to be too much time and effort on the landscaping,” he said.
At the Feb. 5 meeting, councillors had asked about the possibility of workforce housing as a community amenity. In the written report Holl said given that Trellis expects most of its staff to transfer over from the VCH-run facilities at Totem Lodge and Shorncliffe, “it is presumed that many of the employees already have housing in place. Opportunities for additional staff housing will be considered as further site planning and development occurs on the surrounding Sawarne properties.”
Holl’s report said the planning department has been working with Sawarne on the next phase of its residential development and possible future phases that could include multi-family residential, affordable housing, and a neighbourhood commercial area which the report said could become “a hub of vitality, interaction, and commercial services that would support and be supported by the surrounding residential areas, which includes Silverstone.”
The only other input from councillors came from Coun. Janice Kuester and Coun. Alton Toth who attended the Advisory Planning Commission (APC) meeting the night before, when the Trellis project was also on the agenda.
“They were quite supportive of this going forward, and I’m happy that this is going through,” Kuester said.
Toth added that there was some comment at the APC suggesting some members would have liked to see the project located downtown. “I think there are issues with getting enough land together to put it downtown anywhere. Also, a facility like this where the residents are not expected to be highly mobile, I think, would be a bigger detriment to our downtown than a benefit to our downtown.”
The vote on first reading was unanimous, although Coun. Brenda Rowe, who works for Vancouver Coastal Health, recused herself to avoid a conflict of interest.
The next steps will include a public information meeting and a public hearing, but the dates have not been set.
Holl said the district will also have to amend or discharge a covenant on the land that prevents any subdivision, rezoning, use, occupancy, or building until certain works, such as roads, are completed.
“An amendment will identify when the road works will be complete and who will be responsible for conducting the road works – Trellis or Sawarne. This will need to be addressed prior to consideration of second reading so that it is clear to council and the community ahead of a public hearing.”
