As the Village of Pemberton moves ahead with its comprehensive communities project, the Pemberton & District Chamber of Commerce (PDCC) is seeking clarity on the future of the Industrial Park area.
The local business advocacy group wrote to the Village, raising concerns about how a lack of overall vision and clear definition for the area has led to competing uses for the space.
“The business owners and operators in the Industrial/Business Park would like to understand what the long-term strategy is for this dense commercial area and if there is a cohesive strategy for what is being approved,” wrote PDCC director Adam Adams in the letter.
“The chamber is in favour of businesses of all kinds operating in the community. But as this community continues to grow, we will need various forms of commercial entities to service the growing needs. We want assurance that there is a cohesive overall strategy for what that looks like.”
The confusion extends to the name itself; industrial parks cater to heavy industry, while business parks are geared toward more office and light-industrial uses, like textiles, food processing and other consumer-grade products.
“The signage to the entrance shows this to [be] the Pemberton Business Park, but it is constantly referred to as the Industrial Park. One implies more commerce and the other implies industry,” Adams wrote. “From looking at the current make-up of the park, it is not clear what the intent is.”
Adams cited feedback from a December roundtable with park operators, in which tenants of the park expressed confusion about the nature of the space. He cited a combination of uses in the park, from light-industrial—including welding and home-building—to waste removal and storefront commercial—like the bakery, nursery, and hardware store—to services like the dance, gymnastic and jiu-jitsu studios, and residential.
“We have heard commentary from residents in the park that they might not be so happy with some of the noise that some business might be creating,” wrote Adams. “This starts to bring in conflict between users.
“So we are seeing the resulting conflict of integrating various entities without a plan."
The PDCC’s questions for the Village are threefold; whether there’s an overall vision for the space, whether other local sites that could accommodate more light-to-heavy industrial uses have been discussed or identified, and how the overall vision for the park has and will continue to affect zoning amendments.
Clarity in the OCP update
Local officials discussed the letter during a May 27 council meeting. They acknowledged the issue and discussed the proper setting for ironing out a consistent vision.
“I’m wondering if there’s—through our complete communities program and our re-start about to happen on the [Official Community Plan (OCP)]—is there room to capture this sort of work there?” asked Mayor Mike Richman. “I think there’s some really good points here about wanting to see a vision for it but I know that we don’t have the planning capacity in our staff to start a whole new project there.”
Pemberton’s chief administrative officer, Elizabeth Tracy, said staff are aware of and have considered some of the issues raised.
“The OCP update is planned to clarify that vision," Tracy told council. "So as we move through that process, there will be more clarity as to what this is… if it’s a business park or an industrial park in the future.”
Pemberton’s OCP update was originally slated to take place between 2022 and 2024, but was paused in 2023 so the Village could build a “deeper and more meaningful” relationship with the Lil’wat Nation. It's unclear when work on the OCP update will re-start.
Richman reiterated there would be space devoted to the park in the OCP update. Mayor and council also directed staff to respond to Adams with information on how the PDCC would be consulted during the OCP process.
