An open house Thursday night, hosted by the proponents of a 34-unit single family development on a portion of the old J.H. Boyd property, didn’t attract much interest, but they hope a second one this coming Thursday does.

John Kelly and Jon Roler were clearly disappointed by how few people showed up for the two-hour session in the Lake Cowichan Pentecostal Church, located at 57 King George Rd. in Lake Cowichan.

“I thought there would be a lot more interest,” said Roler, shortly after talking to a couple of people about their plans.

A second open house will be held on October 22 at the same location, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The proposal calls for homes ranging from 1,200 square feet to 1,700 square feet, with the average lot at 4,950 square feet. To move forward with their development proposal, Kelly and Roler have applied to have 5.1 acres of the property rezoned to residential from public parks and institutional, with the public hearing scheduled for October 27 at 6 p.m. in the theatre of Lake Cowichan Secondary School.

The proposal also includes selling four acres of the old J.H. Boyd property, where the building is, to the Lake Cowichan Christian Fellowship Church, pending approval of the rezoning application on the other portion of the property.

The four acres would not have to be rezoned to accommodate the church.

The church said it intends to locate a new church on the property that would include a youth centre and possibly a community hall.

An earlier rezoning application on the entire property by Kelly and Roler was denied by town council in February of 2008. Kelly and Roler bought the property in August of 2008.

In October of 2008, the previous town council then agreed to amend the official community plan to discourage private development on P-1 zoned lands.

“I hope there’s more interest for the second open house,” said Roler.