In one of its last decisions before the Oct. 20 municipal election, the outgoing Gibsons council approved a pair of “form and character” development permits for two projects.
The first was for phase one of the live-work development planned for the 1000 block of Venture Way in upper Gibsons.
Council was unanimous in a vote to support that project, with a note that the Town should develop a policy on requiring developers to consider retaining mature trees before clearing a lot for building.
There was more debate on a smaller project planned for South Fletcher Road, about a block away from Town Hall.
The property was rezoned to allow for up to four townhouse-style apartments in 2012. The proposal calls for the building to be built into the slope with a single-storey frontage on South Fletcher, and all four units facing Periwinkle Lane, which will also be the entry point for the lower units.
Coun. Stafford Lumley was the only one opposed to the design, which was tweaked based on recommendations from the Advisory Planning Commission.
Lumley said he appreciated the changes, but they still weren’t enough to earn his support.
“We all struggle with ‘seaside character,’ but I just have to say clearly the façade on South Fletcher is not seaside character – it’s clearly modern. I’m not saying I don’t like it, but I’m just not sure it fits into South Fletcher as it stands right now,” Lumley said.
“I kind of feel that at some point we have to make a stand… Are we just going to say ‘seaside character’ and keep approving buildings that don’t meet what we thought would be seaside character?”
In her report, planner Lesley-Ann Staats noted that the building’s design, including the use of a green wall, was very similar to a single-family home that was recently built at the intersection of School Road and South Fletcher.
Coun. Jeremy Valeriote agreed with Lumley that more thought needs to be given to clarifying just what “seaside character” is supposed to mean, but said he was voting in favour because the overall aesthetics of the building were good.
“To me it adds a little bit of variety and on a residential lot I’m not sure the roofline is of utmost importance,” he said. “I’ll support it, but I absolutely agree that at some point somebody will have to grapple with whether we continue with this [idea of seaside character] or not.”
