Like night and day.
That’s how this week’s meeting to discuss the Qualicum Beach official community plan could be likened to the last meeting, held in December.
While that past meeting was heavily criticized for spending too much time having the consultant talk to the participants and not enough time listening to what they had to say, Monday night’s meeting could claim to be the exact opposite.
Consultant Mark Holland of HB Lanarc Consulting, spent a few minutes getting people started on round table discussions and then set them to it, interrupting the proceedings only once to change topics.
Those topics discussed by the roughly 160 participants included what to do with the downtown core and, more specifically, to give their vision about what to do with the strategically-located school bus garage site and adjoining property.
“How should growth be accommodated?” Holland asked. “What kind of housing types? If you have specific suggestions for intersections or pieces of land, this is the night to go through it.”
Go through it they did, with residents getting into highly animated discussions about the urban containment boundary, Agricultural Land Reserve lands and other issues.
Each table was provided with a map of the downtown core and Holland urged participants to mark them up with their ideas for change.
The second half of the two-hour session was devoted to the bus garage site. Holland noted residents had already given some indication of their preferences, with 48 per cent liking the idea of a park or public square, 43 per cent opting for a neighbourhood pub, 39 per cent liking commercial space, 31 per cent calling for artists studios, galleries, a performing arts space or hotel accommodation. Seniors’ housing was mentioned by 29 per cent, while multi-residential units saw 20 per cent support.
Mayor Teunis Westbroek said he was delighted with both the tone and the turnout.
“The meeting was excellent,” he said. “The atmosphere, the energy, the turnout and the information available before the meeting was very good.”
Westbroek said important ideas were generated about transportation, notably the need for more sidewalks along Village Way. As well, he said there was intense interest about the school bus garage, which is slated to be moved to another location, allowing the town to purchase it for $1.5 million and leaving the key corner of Memorial and Fir open for some form of development.
“There were lots of ideas about the future use,” he said.
Westbroek’s enthusiasm for the meeting was shared by chamber of commerce manager Judi Ainsworth.
“I was thrilled,” she said. “The attendance was huge and I liked the interaction. I think there was a real sense of optimism about the future of Qualicum Beach in the room and I got the sense that people were approaching this perhaps with more open minds than in the past.”
The next OCP session was slated for Thursday night, followed by another on Jan. 31, to talk about the waterfront.
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