The Chemainus Town Centre revitalization project is underway and will take shape this summer with the help of HB Lanarc.
North Cowichan council recently announced they have retained the Nanaimo firm’s consulting services to help put a plan into place.
‘It was apparent that HB Lanarc’s team has the qualifications and innovative approach to develop a plan and a set of development standards that will allow Chemainus to achieve its longstanding vision of a town heart that is vibrant, walkable, pedestrian friendly, and green, while showcasing its waterfront location as an exciting focal point of the community,’ stated a press release.
The Nanaimo firm is being paid $60,000 by taxpayers to produce the Chemainus Town Centre Revitalization Plan and a set of development standards toward a vision of a town heart that’s vibrant, walkable, pedestrian friendly, and green, staff said.
HB Lanarc’s Senior Landscape Architect Doug Backhouse said the firm is working on background review and will undergo a design workshop in June.
“We’re really listening at this point for good ideas and putting those ideas down on paper,” he said. “Over the summer, we’ll develop some of those plans and ideas that come out of that workshop and, in the fall, we’ll do open house in Chemainus and show the results.”
By fall, Lanarc will deliver a draft land-use plan, and comprehensive core policies, plus design guidelines toward downtown development for buildings, infrastructure and amenities toward a streetscape and public vision.
“We’re very much looking forward to working with that group to help them give some shape to their ideas going forward,” Backhouse said.
— with files from the Cowichan
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