Is Sechelt open for business, or are they pulling up the drawbridge and putting out the closed sign?
It would appear to be the latter, based on the puzzling decision Sechelt council made Wednesday afternoon. In a vote of 4-3, council decided to table Target Marine's application for a rezoning amendment to allow for the processing of caviar. The reason given - council wants to wait until their official community plan (OCP) document is completed before looking at Target's application.
So based on that train of thought, it appears to us that every development that is in the planning stages or in the stages of amendments, council readings and public hearings could be stopped because the OCP has not been completed. The OCP is a valuable document used to guide municipalities in planning for the future and it's a process that could take months to complete.
Does council honestly expect Target and other potential developers and business entrepreneurs to sit back and continue waiting? And why even continue the public process and consultation for a new biosolids treatment facility because, based on the reason council has given to delay Target's application, nothing will happen with that project anytime soon either.
Based on the strong public support shown at Target's recent information meeting and the positive response we received in our letters page this week, the community would like to see this application move to the next step. Why not receive the report and the recommendation from staff to give the application first reading and set a public hearing, allowing the public another opportunity to provide council with their feedback - feedback that is either in favour of or against the application - and then make your decision based on that public feedback?
With this delay, council has effectively taken away what is supposed to be a fair and open public process.
On Monday night, several members of council sat at a forum on attracting and retaining youth and nodded their heads as presenter Silas White talked about how the Coast needs to ditch its brand as a retirement community and show the world that it is open for business.
Less than 48 hours later, council voted to do the exact opposite. It's no wonder young people and families want to leave the Coast because there are not enough jobs or opportunities here. With decisions such as the one council made Wednesday, why would they stay?
