• Council rescinded first and second reading and cancelled Bylaw No. 393, Zoning Amendment Bylaw- Notts Brook.
• Bylaw No. 517, Revenue Anticipation Borrowing Bylaw, 2012 was adopted. This empowers council to borrow an amount not exceeding $4.5 million based on the credit of the municipality. There are no plans to borrow.
• Bylaw No. 518 – Zoning Amendment Bylaw – 2120, 2110, 2096 Church Road – Knox Centre. Council gave first and second reading to Bylaw 518 and a public hearing will be scheduled. The application is to rezone the properties to a CD zone to allow for up to 150 units for an assisted living and care facility. The development will also have space for a place of worship, education and various commercial uses (coffee bar).
District planner Gerard LeBlanc stated that this proposal was consistent with the Official Community Plan and the applicant has held two neighbourhood meetings, one on August 2011 and on Feb. 15, 2012. He said the feedback on the project went “fairly well.”
The .71 hectare property currently contains the Knox Presbyterian Church, a cemetery and two single family dwellings. The proposed development could go to six storeys, or 20 metres. There is an issue of shadowing and loss of sunlight on adjacent properties if the building were built to that height.
Councillor Herb Haldane questioned why buildings up to six storeys would be built on the very outskirts of the town centre.
“If you keep stretching there is no point in having a downtown centre commercial zone. You should only allow four storeys and you gave them six,” said Haldane.
Coun. Maja Tait said she saw a need in the community for such a development and it was being done by a non-profit group with no federal funding.
More discussion ensued on traffic and access issues. Any concerns could be addressed at the Development Permit stage, said LeBlanc.
Reports
• Council signed two service agreements, one for the Sooke Community Association and a Licence of Occupation agreement with the Sunriver Community Gardens.
• Council will meet with Mr. Graeme Faris to determine the challenges and logistics of situating a composting facility in Sooke.
Langford, Colwood and Sooke have had preliminary discussions on siting a composting facility (organic recycling) in Sooke. By May 2013 the regional district will no longer accept kitchen scraps at Hartland landfill. The report before council states Sooke has an advantage because it already has a wastewater treatment plant on two acres and it is already zoned for such a facility.
South Island Organics submitted a bid in an Request for Proposal (RFP) for the receiving, marketing and processing of household organics for the Westshore communities. Their bid in the amount of $79 per tonne was to collect from the entire Capital Region and delivered to its facility located in Sooke. The bid price was based on 10,000 tonnes per year and an eight-year contract. Another bid for the collection of household organics and delivery to a processing facility in the Westshore came in at $22 per household per year for eight years.
Mayor Milne said he had to caution everyone that his was an “exploratory” process. He said there were issues of leaking of liquid.
“If we can get rid of septic sludge through composting… it’s in Sooke’s best interest to look at it. I emphasize this is exploratory.”
Committee member appointments
The Economic Development Commission will be comprised of one member from The Sooke Harbour Chamber of Commerce, Sooke Region Tourism, Sooke Community Arts Council, Sooke Community Health Initiative and five members from the public at large and they are: John Brohman, Steve Grundy, Michael Nyikes, Brenda Parkinson and Edward Stipp.
Coun. Rick Kasper stated they had to ensure public accountability and if organizations are receiving money, council needs to know what the community is getting and how the money is spent.
Mayor Milne said he would like to see quarterly reports and a business plan and they needed deliverables when they were paying out this kind of money.
