It sounds as if City of Powell River will have issued a building permit for the new Powell River Public Library by the time this issue hits the stands. If this sounds like a broken record finally being fixed, we completely understand.
Originally slated to be issued in March, we were told in late August by city director of planning Thomas Knight that, if everything was in order, a building permit would be issued for Futurevest Investment Corporation’s library build on August 30.
In mid-September, director of infrastructure Tor Birtig told us he expected a permit to be issued by September 16.
We’re now in the second week of October and the permit has moved from close, to closer and then to “imminent.” A word used by both mayor Dave Formosa and chief administrative officer Mac Fraser, what “imminent” meant is still unclear, based on how long this permit dragged on near the end.
The delays hinged on the agreement to a covenant on the firewall between the city-owned portion of Crossroads Village Shopping Centre and the rest of the building, owned by Futurevest. The city required Futurevest to sign the covenant before it issued a permit.
Whether or not this firewall covenant is absolutely necessary is not the question; the city is clearly protecting its interests. City staff pushed hard on Futurevest and, to its credit, the company was dedicated to sticking it out.
Futurevest’s owners have repeatedly stressed they want to see the project through and it is important to them, due to their close connections to the community of Powell River.
Given the amount of scrutiny Futurevest has faced, the concessions it has made and potential money lost waiting for construction to begin during this whole building-permit ordeal, Futurevest’s patience and devotion to this project is admirable.
Imagine if the city was unable to issue a building permit on its own flagship project and the deal fell through? That would have been a stain on the city that would be very difficult to remove.
Yes, the fact that city staff and Futurevest took this long to agree on what was needed to issue the permit is ridiculous, but hopefully both parties move on to what is important: getting the new library built and open.
If all goes well and there are no other major delays along the way, we will have a brand new library open sometime next spring.
Jason Schreurs, publisher/editor
