The Canadian Coast Guard will be able to increase its footprint on the Powell River shoreline.
City council approved a development permit Thursday night (June 19) for two sheds and a new workshop building at 4315 Marine Avenue for its search and rescue station.
The new workshop building would 53 square meters (570 square feet) and match the same exterior as the existing station. It will have chain link fence and “treated with images printed on vertical slats with Indigenous motifs” by a local Indigenous artist.
While the decision was unanimous, Councillor Rob Southcott was concerned about public access southwest of the site.
“My interest is that, I believe that there is still significant local public interest in the potential, future potential for that area in terms of amenities serving the public,” Southcott said.
Planning Director Jason Gow says planning revisions were made to pull back from the shoreline and provide access.
Answering another of Southcott’s questions, Gow says the disaster response shed is actually being moved from another site.
“This is a unit that already existed and I think was in existence on the city’s parking lot in and around the former waste water treatment facility. So it was located there and this is just kind of moving it to their existing facility,” Gow explained.
Gow believes the shed would have material for oil spills and other emergencies.
With the development permit approved, the Coast Guard now needs to apply for a building permit.
The Canadian Coast Guard subleases the land from the City of Powell River, which leases it from the Province of British Columbia.
