A planned rejuvenation of the Creekside Plaza is moving ahead after a zoning amendment bylaw received council's support at the Jan. 23 council meeting.
The amendment seeks to redevelop the properties at 2010 and 2011 Innsbruck Dr. (located at the corner of Highway 99 and Lake Placid Road).
Plans for the plaza include a new building at 2010 Innsbruck (replacing the old Rosie's House/Boston Pizza building) featuring two commercial units and four, one-bedroom employee-housing units, as well as a BC Liquor store as an "anchor tenant" in the existing building at 2011 Innsbruck.
The liquor store would be relocated from its existing location across the street.
Moving the liquor store does not sit well with the operators of Roland's Beer and Wine Store across the highway on Lake Placid Road.
"Council must consider this move to be a predatory attempt on the part of the (Liquor Distribution Branch) to close our store," wrote Lance Bright, director of Snowsun Ventures Ltd., which operates the store, in a letter to council.
Creekside currently enjoys service from two liquor stores 365 days a year, with no market segment under-serviced, Bright wrote, adding that there is no business case showing more liquor could be sold in Creekside if another store was added or moved.
"Regardless, there is a business case within the LDB showing that if they move, they would grab a larger share of the market and do so at our expense," he wrote.
If the store moves, it will be moving into a space that is 90 square metres smaller than its existing space, noted senior planner Melissa Laidlaw in a presentation to council, a fact Councillor Jen Ford found encouraging.
"I'm hoping that the proponents are sensitive to the diversity of the Creekside and that they can continue to operate together," Ford said.
Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden said she was really happy to see the project moving ahead.
"That area has been a bit of an eyesore, if I can be blunt, for quite a number of years," the mayor said. "So it's great to see the investment in the property, the refurbishment of it, and the auxiliary housing for staff working in the building. I find that this is a great project."
The bylaw will head to a public hearing before coming back to council for third reading.
OUTDATED ALPINE LAND USE CONTRACTS SET FOR TERMINATION
With Land Use Contracts (LUC) set for termination province-wide in just over six years, the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is working to put zoning in place for the areas they currently govern.
Next on the list are four properties in Alpine Meadows.
At the Jan. 23 council meeting, staff proposed zoning the four sites RS1 with site-specific lot size and density provisions.
In May of 2014, the Local Government Act was amended to automatically terminate all LUCs on June 30, 2024 — which means municipalities across B.C. must have new zoning in place for these areas before June 30, 2022.
There are eight LUCs in the RMOW, which affect more than 3,000 owners in 60 different strata corporations and 31 fee simple lots.
In 2016, council opted to zone the affected lands individually and terminate the LUCs at a rate of one or two contracts per year.
Council gave first two readings to a bylaw to terminate the alpine LUCs at the Jan. 23 meeting, with a public hearing to follow.
