The Cowichan Green Community’s long-time plan of constructing a food processing and innovation hub facility on the 1.37 hectare property on Beverly Street it is leasing from North Cowichan is moving forward.
North Cowichan council gave the green light for the project to proceed at the site on 2431 Beverly St., located next to Alexander Elementary School, at its meeting on Oct. 18 in a 5-2 vote.
CGC began in 2001 as an environmental-based community outreach project delivered under the auspices of the Green Door Society.
Since then, the organization has grown to become an important hub for sustainability in the Cowichan Valley, with a strong focus on food security.
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CGC has already established farming initiatives and other programs, including an incubator seed farm and an agricultural equipment library, at the Beverly Street site.
The food processing and innovation hub project will see the construction of a 446 square-metre commercial building and associated works on the property.
It will be a single-storey structure with a height of 6.5 metres that will accommodate a commercial kitchen, office and training rooms, washrooms, and approximately 223-square metres of cold and dry storage space that is expected to be subleased to Cowichan Valley Co-operative, known as the Cow-op, the region’s first online farmers’ marketplace of locally grown and processed food.
A staff report by Rick Brundrige, a contract planner with the municipality, said the project is not a conventional form of commercial and industrial development.
He said the facility will support agricultural activities on the property and elsewhere in the Cowichan Valley, and provide services commonly occurring on larger farms.
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“The food and processing innovation hub will provide these services at a centralized location that will be accessible to smaller agriculture producers and food processors,” Brundrige said.
“While the facility clearly supports agriculture, it is also in an urban location that is highly visible and will result in a higher intensity of use similar to processing and distribution uses that occur in commercial and industrial zones.”
Brundrige said the CGC has provided reports from qualified professionals for addressing potential environmental impacts, and staff is recommending issuing the CGC a development permit for the project that would include the relaxation of the requirement to pave the parking lot.
But Coun. Bruce Findlay said at the meeting on Oct. 18 that he has several concerns with the project, and asked if the site is the right spot for an agricultural-processing facility.
He said in the staff report, a hydrologist identified a significant risk of the project to the ground water in the area, which is a red flag for him.
“One of the comments in the staff report is that we wouldn’t hold the non-profit organization to the same standards as other developers (for this project),” Findlay said.
“The standards are there for a reason and we should hold all developments to that same standard. I think the project should also have a paved parking lot, especially being so close to schools and with all the dust and exhaust so the welfare of the children is a concern.”
Council voted to allow the project to proceed, with Findlay and Coun. Tek Manhas opposed.