By Dominic Abassi

Nanaimo Council supports luxury car dealerships in spite of official community plan

Sep 19, 2018 | 6:41 PM

NANAIMO — Despite being told it contrasts a longstanding vision for the area, Nanaimo councillors clamoured to support a $10 million proposal for two new car dealerships in the City’s north end.

On Monday night, councillors ordered staff to move ahead with a rezoning application allowing for Porsche and Subaru dealerships on the site of the old Long Lake Nursery, on Wills Rd. near the Island Hwy. and Rutherford Rd.

The rezoning application was so inconsistent with the City’s 10-year-old official community plan (OCP) staff wouldn’t even accept the request, first taking it to Council for direction.

The OCP envisions a transition to a mixed-use multi-family neighbourhood with increased residential density, creating a walkable neighbourhood close to services. The immediate area is already home to several condo buildings, some small businesses and a hotel. It’s tucked in behind a commercial plaza and across the street from Nanaimo North Town Centre.

Director of community development Dale Lindsay told Council the City is seeing a “significant shift” in the community where properties along the highway previously thought of as commercial are being used for multi-family residential. He pointed to developments underway across from Home Depot on Metral Dr. and behind the Woodgrove Crossing plaza.

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“We’re seeing compliance and uptake with our vision in the OCP with having people actually live in and around services, with the intent of creating that walkable environment,” Lindsay said.

“The recommendation is to not proceed with the application. If Council does direct the alternative…It would not change staff’s recommendation.”

But after hearing an impressive delegation from a high-profile planner coordinating the rezoning, and support from Nanaimo’s Chamber of Commerce, councillors unanimously agreed with a Bill Bestwick-led motion to allow the application to move ahead.

The project is being pitched by the GAIN Dealer Group, a network which owns more than a dozen luxury automotive dealerships including Mini, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Audi and BMW dealers in Nanaimo. GAIN is largely owned by a Toronto-based doctor.

The group brought in well-known and renowned planner Mark Holland to help push the rezoning forward.

He spoke eloquently and convincingly during his 10-minute delegation to Council on Monday, poking several holes in City staff’s claim the project was a poor fit for the area.

“You’re achieving a steady eroding of the bad reputation Nanaimo had in the planning world as a purely car-oriented environment,” Holland said. “However…our argument is this lot is next to a four-lane highway at 80 km/h, a super-busy intersection with Mostar right immediately there. And while there are some other uses, this is not a nice little pedestrian village.”

He said the dealership represented a $10 million investment in the community, one that would bring with it 70 full-time, well-paying jobs. As Nanaimo continues to grow, Holland said it will need more car dealership capacity.

“This introduces a new business, the Porsche dealership which is not here now. This is money that is leaving the city to go to Victoria and other places to buy these vehicles.”

Holland said the purpose-built dealerships would include extensive pedestrian improvements, with new sidewalks, a safe crossing and an enhanced transit stop. He said their studies found the addition of the dealerships would have no impact on traffic volumes in the area.

A former City of Vancouver planner, Holland has won awards for his innovations in creating sustainable communities and “agricultural urbanism.”

His glowing support of the car dealerships and contravention of the OCP seem in stark contrast to some of his previous plans and comments.

In a community vision plan formulated for the Town of Ladysmith, Holland wrote of the town’s need to transition away from “reliance on the car” in order to insulate the local economy from future rising fuel costs.

Hired recently by a group of concerned Colwood residents to review that community’s OCP, Holland was quoted as saying “the official community plan is one of the most important documents in the entire governance of a municipality” and has substantial influence.

Coun. Ian Thorpe said he was surprised by staff’s disapproval of the proposal.

“To me it comes down to what is the best use of that important piece of land. At this point I can’t see it as residential. I think this project at first glance has been well thought out, has a lot of benefits and would be a benefit to that part of our city,” Thorpe said.

Coun. Diane Brennan, a strong proponent of following the City’s OCP and planning documents, said she can see both sides of the argument and looked forward to moving it ahead to the public hearing stage.

Ultimately, the issue will be dealt with by the incoming Council. Staff will now work through the rezoning process before bringing it back to Council for a vote. A public hearing will also be required.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi