The public will have a chance to learn more about the latest iteration of the Trellis Seniors Services long-term care facility in Sechelt at an online information meeting on Wednesday, June 3.
Sechelt council gave first reading to the zoning and Official Community Plan (OCP) amendments needed for the Silverstone Care Centre, also referred to by the company as the Sunshine Coast Care Centre, in early March.
The Trellis application, which has been controversial since it was first proposed, is before the district at a time when the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is fuelling renewed debate over the question of public versus private ownership of long-term care facilities.
The district’s planning department has described the project as having “substantially the same form” as the proposal that went before the last council and would be built on the same property fronting Derby Road near the intersection with Cowrie Street that was proposed in 2016.
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 – would be operated by the company under contract with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH).
Following a unanimous first-reading vote, with Coun. Brenda Rowe recusing herself because she works for VCH, the application was sent to various groups and agencies for referral.
The Sunshine Coast Regional District has recommended adding a bus pullout at the site, and will be requiring the developer to pay for “water modelling for calculating fire-flows and to determine the impact of the building on the water distribution system.”
The public meeting is one of the earlier stages in the development process and Sechelt council will still have to consider second reading of the zoning and OCP amendments and schedule a public hearing. There’s no set timeline for when those steps will happen.
The details for participating in the Zoom session, which begins at 5 p.m. June 3, are posted at www.silverstonecare.ca
