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Treatment facility triggers draft zoning bylaw

Results of public meeting remain inconclusive

Powell River Regional District planning staff are preparing a draft zoning bylaw for the Traffe Road area. The document, along with a discussion paper, will be used as the basis of public meetings with residents in the area, to determine if they wish to proceed with zoning.

Some residents are still concerned with the establishment of a drug and alcohol treatment facility on Traffe. The Seaside Wellness Centre for Women received a licence from Vancouver Coastal Health recently. The facility is licensed to treat up to a maximum of nine clients.

Some residents have been opposing the centre, because it is inconsistent with the suburban residential designation of the property in the southern region OCP (official community plan). They have raised concerns about the facility because of the impact on property values, residents’ privacy, the aquifer and the potential for an increase in noise and traffic.

Initially, rural directors thought the area could be included in the Myrtle Pond zoning bylaw, which has yet to be adopted.

The regional district held a public meeting about the issue last month. About 20 residents from Traffe Road area attended, but results of the meeting were inconclusive.

Rural directors discussed the issue at a planning committee meeting, after two Traffe residents made presentations to them about the issue.

Colin Palmer, regional board chair and Electoral Area C director, pointed out that the Myrtle Pond zoning bylaw was drafted in order to protect the aquifer. He noted he was receiving conflicting messages from Traffe residents. A lot of the concerns he heard were about money, he added, as well as protecting the aquifer. “Land use is a lot to do with money,” he said. “People are trying to protect their investments and that’s fair enough because that’s what land use is usually all about when you get down to the nitty gritty.”

Dave Murphy, Texada Island director, said he appreciated the problem. “Let’s face it, the horse is out of the barn,” he said. “Something has happened that made us all aware that change has to be made.”

There’s nothing the regional district can do to stop something that has already happened, Murphy added, but it is working toward preventing the situation from happening in the future.

Patrick Brabazon, Electoral Area A director, said he thinks residents are asking directors for protection in the future. “We have suggested that we use a hammer to drive the screw in, the hammer being the Myrtle Pond zoning bylaw,” he said, adding it was a misuse of that particular bylaw for this specific purpose.

Stan Gisborne, Electoral Area B director, said he had suggested adding Traffe Road to the Myrtle Pond zoning bylaw because he thought it would be easy to do. “It doesn’t look like it’s appropriate,” he said. “I think it should be a stand-alone bylaw on the suburban residential area.”

After further discussion, directors decided to direct staff to prepare a separate zoning bylaw for the Traffe Road area and to take the document to the residents for their comments.