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Past Chamber President requests business dialogue with Pemberton council

President and small business owner asks what council has done for business

The past president of the Pemberton and District Chamber of Commerce is calling Village council to account for what it's done for community businesses.

In a letter attached to an agenda for the April 19 council meeting, Paul Vacirca, past president of the Chamber of Commerce and a partner in the Rona store in downtown Pemberton, said chamber directors would attend the meeting and ask for a summary of "what this council has done during its tenure to initiate and stimulate business in Pemberton."

Directors are also inquiring about what council plans to foster "current and future economic, social and environmental well being of its community."

"Over the past number of months Pemberton has experienced a sharp downturn in our economy and some of our members have expressed concern," Vacirca said in his letter.

The letter comes after Village council rejected an attempt by the owner of the Cedar View Estate Bed and Breakfast to hold weddings at his property, a use for which he did not have zoning.

The last council meeting on April 5 saw a record turnout, with 40 people in council chambers to listen to Cedar View Estate owner Beau Craig express severe disappointment in council's decision not to permit weddings and thus require bookings to seek out other venues for their events.

Not all the attendants were there to support Craig, but newspapers including the Pique and the Question have since been flooded with letters to the editor expressing disappointment that the Village did not permit at least a public hearing to address issues around allowing weddings on properties that aren't zoned for them.