City of Powell River will be giving notice of city council’s intention to consider a temporary use permit to allow commercial recreation and entertainment use at a Duncan Street location.
At the March 5 committee of the whole meeting, city planner Rachel Pukesh outlined an application for a permit at 7339 Duncan Street, opposite the city’s airport lands.
Pukesh said the property was zoned M1 (general industrial) and has a 5,000-square-foot building that dates back to the 1970s, which has been vacant for a couple of years.
“The applicant for this temporary use permit has applied to operate a commercial recreation and entertainment facility,” said Pukesh. “All proposed activities are not permitted in the M1 industrial zone. The broad range of uses, such as batting cages, indoor soccer, birthday parties, an axe-throwing range, that kind of thing, do not broadly fit under the health and fitness centres permitted use.”
Pukesh said a zoning change would require an amendment to the official community plan. She said the applicant, instead, is seeking a temporary use permit to allow the proponent to establish the business and wait out a comprehensive rewrite of the city’s official community plan.
“Planning staff are supportive of council issuing a temporary use permit for this property based upon an analysis of the consideration established for temporary use permits in the city zoning bylaw,” said Pukesh. “The range of proposed uses also occur in a fully enclosed building and are considered compatible with the nearby uses along Duncan Street, the airport across the street, and the residential properties further north along Bowness Avenue.”
Pukesh said the applicant has had difficulty finding a facility of sufficient size that was appropriately zoned. She said the permit is valid for a three-year term, with the ability to have a three-year extension, for a total of six years.
“Issuing a temporary use permit now would give the applicant enough surety to establish his business in the community while also giving staff and council the time to complete a comprehensive official community plan update that would provide more clarity on the broad range of uses permitted in industrial lands,” said Pukesh.
Mayor Ron Woznow said it is excellent that an entrepreneur is trying to utilize a building that has been unoccupied since 2021.
Woznow made a motion to give notice of council’s intention to consider issuance of the temporary use permit to allow commercial and entertainment use at 7330 Duncan Street. The motion passed unanimously.
Join the Peak's email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
