A public hearing has been scheduled for a rezoning application for the site of the previous Leeward Pub on Anderton Road in Comox.
The public will have an opportunity to voice their comments on May 5 at 6 p.m. via Zoom for the application at 651 Anderton Road which is to amend Zoning Bylaw 1850 to permit a liquor store on the parcel without a pub. Currently, the lot contains two buildings: the Leeward Liquor store and a vacant building which used to be a pub/restaurant.
Coun. Pat McKenna noted while he doesn’t have a concern about the rezoning application made on the property, he is concerned about the building that could continue to go derelict.
“Is there any way in this rezoning application that we can mandate the deconstruction of the current building that is sitting there?”
The town’s municipal planner Marvin Kamenz said there really isn’t any way the town could do that unless the building was a public hazard.
McKenna added his concern is in the future the building will collapse over time.
“I’m looking 50 years down the road … these pieces of property that are just sitting there and aren’t functioning as housing, not functioning as retail or not functioning, maybe they can be functioning as gardens, promoting food security – maybe they could be doing something else instead of having a building that slowly sinks into the ground.”
Mayor Russ Arnott noted in a worst-case scenario, the town could look into using the nuisance bylaw.
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