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Hotel proposal for Qualicum Beach waterfront passes first reading

Mayor Teunis Westbroek said he was under the impression that there was going to be a rooftop bar or restaurant
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The new owner (as of November

Qualicum Beach town council still has hope that a rooftop bar or restaurant will be included in the design for a proposed hotel along the waterfront.

The proposed hotel at the current location of the Sand Pebbles Inn unanimously passed first reading at Qualicum Beach town council on Monday. The zoning amendment and development permit for 2767-2751 W. Island Highway was also referred to the Advisory Planning Commission to comment on topics such as the over-height rooftop access, or whether the applicant should be encouraged to incorporate a bar, rooftop restaurant or other amenities.

Mayor Teunis Westbroek said he was under the impression that there was going to be a rooftop bar or restaurant. Westbroek asked staff if there would be a possibility to encourage discussion with the applicant about amenities on the rooftop.

"It looks to me that there may be some opportunity for a conversation where we could see some building that makes the project better for them, for the town and for everybody that wants to use that facility," Westbroek said.

The proposed 40-unit hotel, which is five units more that the current zoning, would be two floors of hotel rooms with an additional partial lower floor and parking level that is approximately one-half storey below the grade of the street.

Council's main concern was the plan for a partially-underground parking lot which is on a lower level, dropped 1.2 metres below grade to maintain a low-building form.

Coun. Barry Avis said building down for the parking area goes against the work council and staff did with the Waterfront Master Plan.

“It’s interesting that we’ve finished the Waterfront Master Plan that came about because of sea rise and what we want to do in the future, and this building down goes right against everything we learned during that plan.”

Sharif Senbel of Studio Senbel Architecture and Design Inc., the architect for the proposed hotel, spoke at the Jan. 16 meeting and he said the lower parking was to keep the proposed hotel from obscuring any viewpoints.

The height proposed for the main structure is 7.65 metres which is 0.15 metres (six inches) higher than what is currently allowed in the Commercial 2 (C2) zoning. However the maximum height for residentially-zoned properties on the waterfront is nine metres.

CAO Daniel Sailland said when he read the difference between commercial and residential building heights along the waterfront, he thought it was a mistake.

"(It) is rather challenging if you have a hotel and you're limited to something that's lower than a house," Sailland said. "Which comes into question: are we promoting bed and breakfasts or are we promoting a hotel?"

Sailland said that moving forward with the first reading is fine as long as council remembers that the Waterfront Master Plan is a guiding document and council needs to be ready for variance on this application in terms of height.

"The question will be, what height is appropriate given the locations and the viewpoints and the question that always comes out, is it a precedence?" Sailland said. "If we set a variance for the height, are we also saying this is something we would want to consider along the entire waterfront or are we going to approach on a case-by-case scenario."

Council also voted in favour that prior to adopting the zoning amendment that a statutory right-of-way securing the public access route along the waterfront side of the proposed development and an execution of a works and services agreement to ensure the completion of a pedestrian walkway proposed along Highway 19A.

Senbel said the owner, Interstellar Commerce Group, has committed to the two walkways.

Director of planning Luke Sales said the staff recommendation was to make sure “council is getting what council expects.”

“These are recognizing that sometimes developments proceed through zoning, and then thy don’t actually get built. If that’s the case in this development, the town has gotten what it wants which is a walkway on both sides.”

The next regular council meeting is Monday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.



Lauren Collins

About the Author: Lauren Collins

I'm a provincial reporter for Black Press Media's national team, after my journalism career took me across B.C. since I was 19 years old.
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