A home-based medical clinic will have to get approval after Lake Cowichan council voted down a zoning bylaw allowing it to operate in town.
According to a staff report, last year the town approved a building permit to allow the applicant to expand their residence to accommodate a medical clinic.
However, Lake Cowichan contract planner Brigid Reynolds said while the current zoning bylaws allow for home-based facilities in the municipality, this clinic exceeds what is allowed.
“In March or April, the applicants were seeking their occupancy permits, but when I reviewed it my professional interpretation of this use, that it exceeded the scope of that use,” she said “While it did meet the size requirements, the scale of the use requires certain standards for public assembly use.
“Based off the assessment, I couldn’t sign this off as a home-based business, I suggested to the property owners that they make an application to rezone the property.”
Reynolds said rezoning the property to include a medical clinic isn’t impossible but it’s not something that can happen right away, especially given the circumstances.
“The medical clinic is still an accessory use to a residential use, we did discuss a commercial zone, but that would require an amendment to the official community plan (OCP) and a rezone to the property,” she said. “Given the nature of how this has unfolded, we thought this is a possible option that would allow them to open the clinic.”
Mayor Tim McGonigle agreed there was a lot of confusion for this application, from all avenues of communication, and suggested council and the town do what they can to make sure members of the community have access to medical care.
“The facility meets the zoning, the only problem is the usage,” he says. “Given the administrative oversight of the previous application, I feel it’s only prudent to do what we can to accommodate the occupancy of this facility.
“Especially since we are subjected to very little medical opportunities in West Cowichan.”
Amendments to the zoning application were defeated after a tie 2-2 vote on the matter, with councillor Lorna Vomacka and Carolyn Austin voting against it, while McGonigle and councillor Aaron Frisby voted for the motion.
