On July 20, council voted unanimously in favour of giving second reading to a rezoning proposal for 1257 Commercial Way that would allow for more amenities to be located at the business park.
As a result, it will be sent to public hearing on Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. at council chambers in municipal hall and hosted online.“I think we do need some more diverse businesses in the area,” said Mayor Karen Elliott. “That was sort of the intent of the I-9 zone, which I think was hard to write to begin with. And so appreciate that our public now gets to comment on these more diverse uses.”
The idea behind the rezoning is to enable limited forms of commercial activity in the area to make it a more attractive place for people to work.If it succeeds, the rezoning would change the conditions of the existing I-9 light industrial zone to allow for things such as small grocery stores, health clinics and vets.
This would serve the needs of the employees at the business park, and eliminate the need for them to travel downtown or the Garibaldi shopping centre to get basic goods.This would cut down on car traffic, help reduce carbon emissions and make for a more efficiently planned area, staff reasoned.
In addition, this proposal would allow for more office space in the area, as employment lands are still a much-needed necessity that is in short supply in town.This would be for “minor” office spaces, which are intended to be places of employment, not areas that the general public would access on a regular basis.
