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MARCH 2010, Volume
25 Issue 3
Click here to download this story in PDF format
Regional Roundup: Gibsons, BC
Most liveable small
town on the planet
Gibsons captures international award with emphasis
on sustainable development
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Gibsons: the most liveable small town in the world
has managed to control large-scale waterfront
development. |
Last year, the scenic harbour town of Gibsons, British Columbia, was endorsed by the United Nations as the best small town in the world, but some argue the Sunshine Coast community has missed out on growth while earning the international applause.
Gibsons took the win for communities under 20,000 at the United Nations-recognized International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom) in Pilsen, Czech Republic last October.
"On the scale of things, we're pretty small, but we rocked it. We really did. We made a lot of people sit back and say, 'Little communities can do these things too,'" Mayor Barry Janyk said.
The awards recognize communities for progressive steps in planning, healthy living, heritage, sustainability, environmental best practices, and community involvement.
Key to LivCom judges selecting Gibsons were the town's Upper Gibsons neighbourhood plan and the geo-exchange system being developed for the area. The exchange will be used to heat local homes and businesses with minimal carbon emissions and provide a source of revenue for the town -- a first in North America. Judges praised the neighbourhood plan for promoting energy conservation and social interaction and encouraging alternate forms of transportation.
Gibsons also took top prize overall in the world in the "planning for the future" award.
Yet the planning and the development regulations that so wowed the international judges have also sent a clear message to real estate developers: plans had better fit Gibsons' guidelines.
Two years ago, when Vancouver-based Wesbild Group floated a proposal to build a 110,000-square-foot Walmart in the regional district just outside of Gibsons, it ran up against a bylaw that outlawed any commercial or retail space over 27,000 square feet in both Gibsons and the neighbouring Sunshine Coast Regional District. And plans for a 109-unit waterfront condominium project have been shelved after a number of failed attempts to win community approval.
Operators of a proposed passenger ferry service to Vancouver, after failing to reach an agreement with the Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority in 2008, had announced plans to begin running a daily commuter ferry beginning March 1 from a public dock outside of the village. As of press time, however, that scheme appears to have stalled due to parking restrictions.
Access to the city is via BC Ferries, which has roundtrip fare of $52 for a car and driver.
Waterfront plan
Gibsons overall strategy for the waterfront may keep some large developments at bay, a move applauded by most residents. When the consultant design firm Matrix Architecture presented Gibsons' vision at an open house last fall, the response was resoundingly in favour.
"I saw people dancing, literally, out of the hall afterwards saying 'They got it, they got it, they got it,'" director of planning for Gibsons, Chris Marshall, told the Coast Reporter.
Consultants presented a series of charette sketches, maps and models that summarized and balanced all the input from residents, property owners and stakeholders who attended previous open houses. Basically, the public wanted more green space, public waterfront access and a retention of the small village character. Large-scale developments like a previously proposed hotel-convention centre or condos do not appear in the plan. Instead, a much smaller scale hotel and convention centre is envisioned, but not on the waterfront.
"It's not that they're saying 'no development'; they're saying 'development that fits in with the existing character of the community,'" Marshall said. Marshall notes that a recent permit for a two-storey commercial building was approved within three weeks because it met the city's guidelines.
Not everyone is town is thrilled that Gibsons is gaining a reputation for stringent development standards.
Gibsons missed out on the biggest real estate boom in years, said realtor Darrin Goss, pointing to other Sunshine Coast communities that have seen a rise in construction, mostly condominium projects and high-end detached houses. And the numbers bear it out.
Permits plunge
In 2009, while building permit values soared to $63.5 million in the Sunshine Coast Regional District, up from $55.5 million a year earlier, Gibson permit values plunged 50 per cent to $4.5 million, the lowest level in years. Mayor Janyk notes that, since 2000, building permits in Gibsons increased from $3 million a year to as high as $22 million, in 2007. He says the recession, not restrictions, caused permits to decline in 2009.
The battle to keep Gibsons' downtown a bucolic village has paid off for tourism, according to local bed and breakfast operators. All five members of the Gibson Gateway group of B&B operators say they were nearly fully booked prior to and during the 2010 Olympics. "People are seeking tranquility," summed up Donna Kosmuk, who runs the Oceans Breeze bed and breakfast.
Despite the perception of slow growth, there was a 29 per cent spike in new business licences in Gibsons in 2008, and the town completed a long-planned new skating and recreation centre. Gibsons is taking over a parcel of commercial and industrial zoned land from the regional district, and has approved a residential subdivision, also in the upper part of town. The 190-unit subdivision, by a local developer, is to include a mix of detached, multiple-family housing and at least five affordable homes. The town has also made secondary suites in private homes legal, though there are restrictions on short-term rentals.
The average house price in Gibsons is around $425,000, with many condominiums selling for less than $250,000. The town remains a buyer's market, with a large inventory of resale homes on the market. Goss said rental investors should look at buying a duplex, or one or two condominiums. "You can buy a two-bedroom condo for $175,000 that will rent for $950 a month," he said.
Sechelt
Sechelt, larger than Gibsons and about 15 kilometres north, has seen a flurry of residential development over the past few years, though its permit values also fell sharply in 2009.
An example of projects in the works is Seaside Villa Estates, which will phase in a total of 38 condominiums, with eight townhomes already built and sold in the first phase. As in Gibsons, most residents of Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast support a cautious approach to large-scale commercial and residential developments. The majority apparently consider it a key reason why the area remains one of the best places to live on the planet.
– Frank O'Brien/Coast Reporter
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