Draft Sandy Hook / Tillicum Bay / Tuwanek Neighbourhood Plan
September, 2009

The draft neighbourhood plan for Sandy Hook, Tillicum Bay and Tuwanek is available. The planning department has processed the results from the two Open Houses (November 2008 and March 2009) and the input from the volunteer advisors in the Neighbourhood Plan Committee. Highlights and changes to the draft plan of March are outlined below.

Changes since the March version Neighbourhood Plan

• Given the relatively remote location in Sechelt the focus of the growth management strategy is preserving the rural identity of the area and maintaining the low density neighbourhood character. Details will be specified in the Official Community Plan.
• To accommodate economic activities in the area the strategy includes a Tourist Commercial designation for the Tillicum Bay Marina, and a Business & Industry designation for the Target Marine site.
• Potential waterfront resort development options are included for the area south of Sandy Hook (between Sandy Hook and Silverback) and the area south of Tuwanek (Jackson Brothers former logsort).
• During the Open Houses there was no consensus on the type or location of a neighbourhood centre. Regarding the type some people prefer a low profile and informal character whereas others prefer a bigger facility that provides meeting space and activity programming. For the location arguments were made to have a centre in the existing neighbourhood or rather on Sechelt Inlet Road where all three neighbourhoods could benefit of this. It was recognized that parking is an issues for any bigger facilities. The neighbourhood plan does not designate a location or program for a neighbourhood centre. This gives time for future discussions to determine the type and location of a neighbourhood centre.

Consultation results

The open houses resulted in comments and feedback that generally are in strong support of the policies in the neighbourhood plan. Also, the Neighbourhood Plan Advisory Committee is very supportive of the current draft neighbourhood plan. The volunteer Committee feels the plan reflects the area's identity and the preferences of the residents regarding long term goals and policies. However, the consultation process also identified three concerns about the plan:

1. Concerns about designating resort potential locations in the area because of concerns on the scale of development, insufficient road infrastructure, and the likely need for package treatment plants that might fail in the future.
2. Designating the Target Marine location for fish processing raised concerns during the consultation process.
3. The Tuwanek Ratepayers Association's advisor have specifically objected to allowing package treatment plants in the area. They feel that package treatment plants should only be allowed when it is clear that community sewer will be provided to the area which would serve as a back up option.

Next steps

The policies of the draft Neighbourhood Plan will be integrated in the draft Official Community Plan. The identified issues will be considered by Council as part of the overall discussion about the new Official Community Plan. Public consultation will be part of the overall consultation for the Official Community Plan, planned for early 2010.

Background about the neighbourhood planning process

This Neighbourhood Plan has been developed with input and feedback from a volunteer committee of representatives of the Sandy Hook Community Association and Tuwanek Ratepayer's Association (for Tuwanek and Tillicum Bay). Since July 2008 the committee has advised the planning department during the drafting of this plan.

For questions or comments please contact André Boel, Community Planner, email aboel@sechelt.ca, or telephone 604.885.1986.