Sicamous council prioritized green space over parking in the development of the Shuswap Healing Centre.
At its Aug. 24 meeting, District of Sicamous council received an update on the progress of the health-care facility planned for 200 Main Street.
New district chief administrative officer Kelly Bennett said an archaeological assessment has been completed and there’s some related drilling to do. A geotechnical investigation has also been done and a report should be available in a few weeks.
Bennett said a development permit is being prepared and should be ready for the Sept. 28 council meeting. The district expects to have a building permit with construction underway by March or April of 2023, with construction taking about seven to eight months. The move-in date is expected to be in May 2024.
After the update, Bennett presented to council two illustrations showing different configurations for parking and green space. She explained that under current regulation, 47 parking stalls are required for the facility. In the district’s new, but not yet approved zoning bylaw, between 34 to 40 stalls would be needed.
“With either option, a variance under our new zoning bylaw wouldn’t be required,” said Bennett. “The question to council is do you want more green space or more parking?”
Illustration/option 1 included about 3,100 square feet or .7 acres of green space and 39 parking stalls, with an option for 22 angled parking stalls along Main Street instead of the current parallel parking for trailers. Also for council’s consideration, a revised version of option 1 offered the same amount of green space but with 45 on-site parking spaces.
Option 2 prioritized parking, with 52 on-site stalls and 2,200 square feet or .5 acres of green space.
Councillors favoured option 1 or the variant.
Preferring the option with 45 stalls, Coun. Malcolm Makayev said it meets the future bylaw’s parking needs while saving as much green space as possible. He also suggested Main Street could accommodate the change to angled parking.
“Main street used to be the… old Trans-Canada Highway, so our road allowance through there is wider than your average city street so there is room to do that.”
Couns. Bob Evans, Ryan Airey and Colleen Anderson preferred option 1.
“I think that the parking lot is going to be big enough, and then with the extra stuff on the street for Sicamous, for most of the year, even if it’s a busy time of year, I think we’ll be OK,” said Evans.
Read more: Shuswap Healing Centre: Conceptual design revealed for planned Sicamous building
Read more: Sicamous to receive $6 million for construction of Shuswap Healing Centre
lachlan@saobserver.net
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