Vol. 26 No. 75
Local food bank is‘sitting in limbo’
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COMOX VALLEY RECORD
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A division of
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September 21, 2011
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WEDNESDAY
ANNIVERSARY
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NCE 1986
www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
GREEN RED HOT
All’s fair at fair
City hall trying to help find good site with right zoning
Taylor Green team’s minor league player of year ■ 17
GRAPES NOT SOUR
Scott Stanfield
don’t have enough off-street parking for the proposed use,” said Record Staff MacKay, who is trying to help The Comox Valley Food Bank Hampton find a suitable location. needs a new home because land- “We’re keen on finding a spot for lord Habitat for Humanity needs them to be. the space at 1755B 13th St. in “We recognize the contribution Courtenay. to the community ... More people The food bank thought it had will be leaning on their services in found an alternate site at Cous- years to come, I think. We respect ins Avenue in the Tin Town light that and acknowledge that.” industrial area, Besides offbut the city won’t street parking, the allow it because of Cousins Avenue All our clients zoning. is also inadpark on the street, but site “We’re kind of equate for loadsitting in limbo in the place we were ing and unloading right now. We’re looking at we figure vehicles such as actively looking we could park about bread trucks. The and we’re trying issue is not about to find something,” the same amount of complaints from Comox Valley Food vehicles down there. I businesses, MacBank president thing it’s just part of Kay said. H a m p t o n Jeff Hampton said this NIMBY (Not In does not conthis week, noting sider parking the issue of off- My Backyard) thing to be a major street parking for … Everybody thinks noting a clients. we need the food bank issue, greater number He said the 13th Street locale con- but nobody wants it in of food bank clients walk or ride tains room for nine their backyard. a bicycle than volunteer vehicles Jeff Hampton drive a vehicle. and a food bank He counted 17 van. “All our clients park on the cars in the vicinity while a big street, but in the place we were lineup formed last Thursday looking at we figure we could morning during hamper distripark about the same amount of bution. At this point, the food bank vehicles down there,” Hampton said. “I think it’s just part of does not need to vacate the this NIMBY (Not In My Back- premises by a certain date. The yard) thing ... Everybody thinks owners need to give 60 days we need the food bank but nobody notice when the time comes to vacate. wants it in their backyard.” “But they know if they give No so, according to City of Courtenay senior planner Gina us a notice to vacate, then pubMacKay, who said the food bank lic opinion could be very nasty,” is in a commercial zone but the Hampton said, noting the food area at Cousins Avenue is indus- bank and Habitat for Humanity both rely on donations to trial. “They can’t be accommodated survive. reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com on that site with parking. They
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Council reacting well to Pidcock measures Lindsay Chung Record Staff
After learning what the Salvation Army is prepared to do to address the concerns of people living near its shelter on Pidcock Avenue, Courtenay council moved a bylaw forward this week that would allow 24-7 operations. Council had postponed third reading of the zoning amendment bylaw that would allow the shelter at 632 Pidcock Ave. to stay open 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the Sept. 6 council meeting to allow consideration of a Good Neighbour Agreement between the Salvation Army and the city after hearing from concerns from nearby residents at a public hearing.
“I’m fully committed to the need for extended hours for the existing shelter and how vital it is we do that before the rainy season comes, but it was hard not to be moved by the concerns expressed by elderly residents who came forward at our last meeting,” said Coun. Doug Hillian. “I was somewhat concerned by their perception that concerns they had raised in the past had not been followed up on.” The Salvation Army is proposing a Good Neighbour Agreement between itself and the city which details how the Salvation Army will manage its operations and work with the neighbourhood to address issues such as noise disorder, any criminal activ-
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Kevin Kane and brothers Tom and Chris Hooper grew up together in Kelowna, learning to play instruments in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1983, they became the Grapes of Wrath, and this Saturday night, the folk rock band whose music reached gold and platinum record sales in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is coming to Courtenay to play the Sid Williams Theatre Season Opener Rock Concert with the Odds.
...Full story on page ■ 29
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KIDS AND ANIMALS went together well at the Black Creek Fall Fair during the weekend. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK