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Pemberton patios OK to pitch expansion, but no drinking in parks

Village of Pemberton council briefs: Public Works Mutual Aid Agreement approved
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Village of Pemberton council briefly discussed looking into licensing parks and public sites, such as the community barn, for alcohol consumption, but decided against further study. File photo

To help facilitate economic recovery, the Village of Pemberton (VOP) has waived its option to review proposals allowing liquor-primary and manufacturing establishments to temporarily expand their service areas.

As part of a provincial initiative, the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) is allowing these types of businesses to expand their service areas on their own property—in most cases, in the form of a larger outdoor patio—to allow establishments to serve a greater quantity of patrons as physical distancing requirements remain in effect.

The LCRB is extending the offer to food-primary establishments as well, though these applications are generally not subject to local government approval.

At a special meeting held via Zoom on June 9, Councillor Ryan Zant chaired the discussion after Mayor Mike Richman, himself a restaurant owner, recused himself. Council ultimately elected in favour of the staff-recommended option to allow for blanket approval, waiving the Village's opportunity to approve proposals before they move on to the LCRB for consideration. The LCRB would not require evidence from applicants that they are complying with local bylaws, though applicants must affirm that they are.

Manager of development services Lisa Pedrini confirmed that, though an establishment's footprint can increase, maximum capacity levels would remain unaffected.

"It just means that patrons would be spread further apart," Pedrini said, adding that existing bylaws such as noise control would stay in effect.

Establishments looking to expand onto public sidewalks or right-of-ways must receive approval from the VOP.

After approving the motion, with Richman still recused, council entered a brief discussion pondering whether to follow the lead of jurisdictions such as the City of North Vancouver to allow alcohol consumption in select parks and other public spaces.

Chief administrative officer Nikki Gilmore broached the topic to see if it was an avenue council would be interested in pursuing, noting that it is seen more as a way of increasing capacity for local restaurants in that it would allow patrons to order takeout and, as an example, a bottle of wine, to consume at a park. That said, there would be nothing prohibiting members of the public from bringing their own booze.

"We'd also need to coordinate with the RCMP because we most certainly, from an employee perspective, would not have the capacity to enforce people not overconsuming, etc." she said.

The pitch was met with a negative response as all sitting members voted against it.

"To open up the parks or, say, the barn, for extra liquor distribution at this time, I'm not sure the community would be in favour of that. I think we have enough that's on the table right now," said Coun. Ted Craddock.

"I don't see it being a great idea in our small town, especially with the lack of controls over it. We already have a lot of drinking going on in these spaces, which is not really what we want to see," added Coun. Leah Noble.

While unable to envision any park in which she feels it might be appropriate, Coun. Amica Antonelli said council should consider listening to a business bringing forward such a proposal, but should not initiate the process.

"I wouldn't just start opening it up right now," she said.

Public Works Mutual Aid Agreement approved

Four Sea to Sky municipalities are coming together to create a Public Works Mutual Aid Agreement.

After a provincial ministerial order came down in March requiring neighbouring municipalities to work together to keep essential services on track, the VOP is set to join a coalition including the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), District of Squamish and Village of Lions Bay to ensure that first-responder, wastewater and drinking water services are maintained over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gilmore stressed that when considering lending staff or resources, the VOP's own needs come first, as would be the case with all other stakeholders.

"For us, this is a huge benefit because we have such a small staff. What this does is it enables staff from one of the communities to come in and assist [when needed]," Gilmore said, noting that, for example, the VOP has only one operator at the wastewater-treatment plant while Whistler has several. "If that person isn't able to be at work because of X, Y or Z, we can have the services of our regional municipalities to come in and provide assistance.

"We probably wouldn't have the capacity to lend out. We would more be a beneficiary," she later noted.

Gilmore added that services would be provided at cost. "No one is going to be receiving a mark-up for any services that are needed," she said.

Though the agreement was created in response to the pandemic, it will look to extend beyond the emergency, as it proposes a five-year term.

Other municipalities will discuss the agreement at a later date, with the RMOW expected to do so at its June 23 meeting, Gilmore said.

The VOP is no stranger to this type of agreement, as it for years has had a similar arrangement with the RMOW for fire services.

Council voted in favour of the mayor and CAO pursuing the agreement with the neighbouring municipalities.

No public feedback on Sunstone amendment

A proposed text amendment to Sunstone Ridge Development Ltd.'s Residential Townhouse Amenity (RTA-1) Zone passed the public hearing stage with no feedback at council's most recent regular meeting on May 26.

Sunstone initially received approval to build 52 townhouse units as part of its Elevate at Sunstone project, but after beginning construction of the first building, has found limited demand for two-bedroom interior units.

Sunstone is applying to amend its existing approvals in order to construct a duplex multi-family project, which would allow for more three-bedroom end units. The total number of units constructed would decrease to 45.

Proponent Cam McIvor of Sunstone said the text amendment is essentially rectifying an oversight from earlier in the process.

"Most of the multifamily townhome zones in the corridor allow for duplexes. Back when the zoning was created in 2011, I believe there was a bit of an oversight why duplexes were not included into the RTA-1 Zone in Sunstone," he said. "This is really a bit of a housekeeping exercise to allow us to do duplexes."

McIvor said the amendment, which would impact the Elevate project, would result in only some minor changes to the plans.

"The Elevate townhomes, if we shift two duplexes, will be very similar. Basically, just the larger end units get sandwiched together into a duplex, which will make for a nice living arrangement," he said.

During the meeting, manager of development services Lisa Pedrini clarified that the amendment would only apply to the multifamily section, and not to the small-lot section also zoned as RTA-1.

The amendment passed third reading later in the meeting, and will have its fourth and final reading at a later date.