What is left standing in the way of The George Hotel and Residences development? “There is still lots to do.”
(By Newsdesk)
The approval process for the George development is far from finished. Lesley-Anne Staats, the Town of Gibsons’ director of planning, has given The Coast Clarion a list of issues that still need to be resolved.
The development permit for form and character was due to expire on June 1, 2020, but on May 19, Town Council gave developer Klaus Fuerniss a two-year extension. To date that permit has not been issued, Staats said.
Before it will be issued, the Town requires an updated landscape estimate which has not been received.
Also, the land exchange agreement for Winn Road has not been finalized.
The agreement would give the developer use of an “airspace” under a portion of Winn Road. In exchange, the Town wants an accessible pathway through the George property to Winegarden Park.
Regardless of when the development permit for form and character is issued, it will expire on June 1, 2022, Staats told The Coast Clarion.
There are several other requirements before construction can start, Staats said. “This includes provincial approvals, foreshore development permits, subdivision approval, and building plans. None of these requirements have been finalized, so there is still lots to do.”
The Ministry of Forests Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) has not yet rendered a decision on the developer’s application for a lease on the water lot in front of Winegarden Park.
The Ministry’s public comment period for the application ended on February 7, 2020.
Fuerniss wants to amalgamate the lease with two other water leases he has and use the water area for a private marina, a private pier and the construction of a restaurant. The Town has agreed to surrender the lease for the foreshore of Winegarden Park in exchange for 15 per cent of the gross revenues from all sources except fuel sales.
The development permits for environmentally sensitive areas, geotechnical hazards and aquifer protection are still active, Staats said.
Suzanne Senger, former president of the Gibsons Alliance of Business and Community (GABC) Society, disagrees. On February 1, in a letter to Mayor and Council, she said: “All of the development permits issued for the George project in 2017 and 2018 have expired. If any applicant wishes to move forward with that project they will have to re-do the development permitting process.”
On February 1, the provincial government has changed the BC Environmental Management Act (EMA) and the Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR), making it harder to get development permits for contaminated sites like Hyak Marine, part of the George development site.
Local governments can no longer issue a development permit for a large-scale development on a contaminated site until the site has been remediated with oversight and approval from the Ministry of the Environment, or by peer review through the development permit process.
The Hyak Marine site has not yet been remediated.
Last year, the developer told the Town he needs investors for the project. “Lenders and investors will have absolutely no interest or even ability to finance new ventures in this or even major markets for the foreseeable future,” Fuerniss wrote to Council when he asked for the two-year extension of the form and character development permit. “We have no present ability to attract the funding necessary to commence this project,” he said.
The sales office opposite Winegarden Park for the George Residences closed last year. Fuerniss’s office in Kern’s Plaza has also closed. The website has not been updated since 2017.
I wonder how many tax dollars this has cost our town in endless staff and council time, public hearings , endless in camera meetings, untold FOI’s , town lawyers, litigation etc. to get to this point. We will never know the real cost to us , the tax payers. For a project that was proposed in 2013 to be the so called saviour of our small town , it has sorely failed and has ended up dividing our small town and costing us dearly in lost revenue.
Because our town has foolishly spent so many tax dollars to support this unviable project it begs the question why we allowed and enabled this mammoth project to proceed in the first place. Surely our paid staff should have realized this project was way beyond our means and faced insurmountable obstacles environmentally especially because it would risk our Aquifer. It should have been a non starter. I can only hope this project is now dead and will go back to the drawing board and more sensible minds prevail for the next proposal.
We are now left with an eyesore because our town allowed demolition without demanding the issuance of the building permit. I hope this is the turning point for our town staff to realize we need to critically vet our developers in the future and demand far more in development charges before presenting these proposals to the town.
The George… I was walking along the waterfront and saw this whacky little sign that claimed that strip of dirt along the harbour as The George walkway. Was it the developer, was it the town’s sign? To people who look forward to the George it is a positive sign. But to those who don’t, it’s a sham. When did anyone agree to that? Who made that claim? Who even agreed to a development taking on the name of George Gibsons? That of course is minor to the sense of entitlement developers may feel when putting their boots on the ground in our town. Particularly if they have the backing of like-minded people.
But there are two sides to every story and until an acceptable solution or balance is reached, and the aquifer is safe as well, we can only hope this project is sent to the recycle bin, and we begin again from scratch – or not at all.
Let the harbour be a place for everyone and the wildlife that walked on that dirt path. This is a good time to come forward, make right what has been a disaster and has caused stress to so many.
We have huge development happening in gibsons. Touchstone with the laughable slogan ‘Return to What’s real’ while destroying habitat to build 1100 residences. Park Road developments and condos squashed together on the slope to Lower Gibsons.
Everyone needs somewhere to live, I understand that, but it is often not affordable, nor does it pay attention to greenways so people can breathe in their rows upon rows of apartments. Paving everything and planting shrubs in a chunk of dirt or pot doesn’t count. Planting trees on rooftops is very poor damage control.
I could go on but this is just a comment. I hope for the best for everyone’s small crafts harbour, park and adjoining areas. Enjoy it as it is. Breathe.
Well said, Judith!
I just have a comment about the behaviour of this developer regarding his civic responsibilities to his fellow citizens. On May 05 2020, due to the condition of his building site being the eyesore that it is, at a Town meeting, (see the minutes section of the document on the town’s website at: https://gibsons.civicweb.net/document/80607 ) he was directed to clean up the site by cutting the grass and removing weeds. (Click on the Minutes tab and refer to Recommendations section on page two to see the actual directive).
This request for a cleanup was made when he came cap in hand to ask us Gibsonites for a two year extension to his Development Permit due to his problems with his financing. Well, he got his extension but has anyone noticed any improvement to the gross look of this site? It looks a real mess and it is across from our main post office, our museum and next to two parks. Guess that one hand doesn’t wash the other in this developer’s world does it?
We recall that WorkSafe BC made him take down his useless caution tape that was in place and often in tatters for months that “protected” this potentially dangerous site to begin with and WorkSafe also made him put up some construction fencing. (Besides issuing a Stop Work order due to asbestos abatement dangers to his workers.) As a former construction manager I am gob-smacked by this guy’s lack of vision on these matters. Please try to clean up your act Mr. Fuerniss. We gave you what you wanted so you should give us what we want too.
I am dumbfounded over how this Town keeps getting into bed with these developers and neglecting its citizens. As my grandmother said to me a very long time ago, “you will be judged by the company you keep”.