Matters that have gained considerable interest from the community at large will move toward some resolution on Thursday, Feb. 8 during and after the Salt Spring Local Trust Committee’s regular meeting at Lions Hall.
The owners of El Loco Taco are hoping to soar past their final hurdles to having a full-scale restaurant open on the site of the former Shell gas station in Ganges. The property requires a parking variance and a development permit pertaining to landscape and site design before the Capital Regional District will consider granting a building permit.
Business founder Larry Gorrill and managing partner Tom Bremner, who came on board last fall, are hoping that planter boxes, patio positioning and parking design will satisfy LTC concerns about the prominent downtown space.
Salt Spring’s Official Community Plan recommends one parking space for every three indoor restaurant seats, plus disabled parking. Gorrill and Bremner have come up with a design that allows six spaces out of the 15 required.
Whether or not to allow a variance is a discretionary matter for the LTC.
A public hearing on two bylaws related to limiting agricultural impacts within watershed areas will also take place on Feb. 8, but is not part of the regular LTC meeting. A community information meeting moves the action to Meaden Hall at 4 p.m. with the public hearing set for 5 p.m.
Trust information explains proposed Bylaw No. 496 “amends Salt Spring Island Official Community Plan policies to allow the Local Trust Committee to introduce new farm regulations on lands outside of the Agricultural Land Reserve for reasons of water quality and environmental protection.”
Bylaw No. 487 introduces new regulations for farming in the Rural Watershed 1 and 2 zones. Specifically, Bylaw 487 will prohibit “intensive agriculture” in the watershed zones; introduce a 15-metre setback for agriculture, livestock and poultry raising from the natural boundary of all water bodies in those zones; introduce a 30-metre setback for agricultural production, storage and manufacture of products potentially harmful to water quality; and make several additional minor changes in wording.
For more on this story, see the Jan. 31, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.