Council OKs new office for gas company

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Coastal Gas Link will have a regional office at 760 Kinsman Place in the city after a variance request was passed by council.

City staff suggested the request be denied, one that asked the company be able to lease the 488.47 square metres available, since in that area one tenant is only supposed to lease 280 square meters of space. The rules would have allowed two tenants to lease the space as long as a fire wall was constructed between them.

A tenant like Coastal Gas Link is preferred, according to the Official Community Plan, in the downtown or business area, hence the zoning requirements in place to encourage the type of development wanted in the particular area.

However, there is a disconnect, an LCM planner said, between what the plan is asking and what is available on the ground.

Some of the attractions of the space Coastal Gas Link wanted included a beautiful new space, access to the main arterial road, in this case Fifth Avenue, and the fact it is on a quiet cul de sac.

The company made other arrangements for housing its fleet of vehicles since they can’t be parked there overnight.

Coun. Dave Wilbur said if there was no appropriate space available in an area supported by the OCP, he was leaning towards approving the variance.

He added it might be appropriate to postpone the decision until staff could return with options for Coastal which matched their needs within the appropriate area.

Coun. Lyn Hall said he felt it sent the wrong message to postpone the decision, since it was likely Coastal had looked for itself in other areas.

The variance passed unanimously.