The town of Qualicum Beach has released its Bus Garage and Qualicum Commons Final Report, which includes two different potential visions with a mix of residential, commercial, green space and more.
“This is for information at this time, so the intent is to get it in the hands of council, get it in the hands of the public now and so that everyone has time to consider the recommendations and have a more complete discussion at the next meeting,” said Luke Sales, director of planning for the town, at a special council meeting on June 9. “This process has been underway for over a year now and this is the report, but there are a few options in there and maybe some common elements that we will be able to pull out and put into policy.”
It comes after an announcement in January that members of the public in Qualicum Beach had until the end of that month to give feedback on the potential land sale of the property to Naked Naturals Whole Foods Ltd. From there, the town announced the extension of the consultation period. In early March, Vancouver Island University Students then presented two plans depicting hypothetical renderings of the site at and open house, and collected feedback.
Plan A is higher density and doesn’t keep the current Qualicum Commons building, while Plan B has more green space and keeps the Commons.
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Council passed a motion, brought forward by Coun. Adam Walker, to refer the report to a Committee of the Whole Zoom meeting that the Qualicum First Nation, School District 69 and its trustees, the report writers and the public would be invited to. No specific date was set, but Walker felt like it was important to move the motion forward at the June 9 meeting to prevent further delays.
Feedback from the public was presented in the report, which can be viewed here:
Next council meeting is scheduled for June 24 at 3:30 p.m.