Throw fast food, chickens and marijuana into the mix and you've got one heated political debate.
On Tuesday (March 18), District of Squamish staff presented officials at the regular council meeting with an omnibus bill to move forward on a collection of unrelated zoning bylaw changes. It includes everything from the use of shipping containers as temporary buildings to off-street parking design criteria.
But what really lit the fuse were subjects that weren't on the table. After a public meeting last January, staff separated the proposed ban of new drive-throughs in Squamish and the topic of backyard chickens out from the other components after it became apparent further discussion was needed, district planner Elaine Naisby said.
Instead of ongoing discussions, Coun. Patricia Heintzman suggested new drive-throughs be left out of the zoning bylaw altogether. This would require them to make individual appeals to council, a move officials sought in the first place, she said.
"They should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis," Heintzman said, noting facilities such as homeless shelters are in the same boat.
That would make existing drive-throughs illegal, Naisby warned. Heintzman then asked whether staff could include existing drive-through zoning and eliminate the rest. Naisby responded that it's not an easy process and would take time.
The request to have drive-through applications dealt with individually came a year and a half ago, Coun. Susan Chapelle responded. The idea is not to ban the facilities, but to manage them, she said.
"It has become so complicated and confused," Chapelle said.
Heintzman dropped the motion to have drive-through axed from Squamish zoning. But council adopted Heintzman's motion to include the definition of urban agriculture, which would allow for residents to keep backyard chickens, fowl and bees, in the omnibus bill rather than dealing with it separately. It's time for the issue to go to the public, rather than be tied up in further staff discussions, she noted.
While those items moved forward, Coun. Ron Sander suggested eliminating medical marijuana production from industrial zones. That would be a turnaround from council's stance in February, when officials moved to continue to allow it in industrial and light industrial areas.
B.C. Assessment has yet to decide how the operations should be classified for taxation purposes, Sander said. They will likely be taxed as farms, he said. If that happens, medical marijuana facilities could pay a farming tax rate while taking up industrial land, he said.
"Just to be financially responsible, why would we allow these types [of businesses] in the industrial zone?" Sander questioned.
Council defeated Sander's motion. The zoning bylaw omnibus set to go to a public hearing on April 8.
