Steps have been taken to ensure that two buildings at the Twin Gables Motel site in Crofton are stable enough to remain standing.
A recommendation had come from staff that one building on the site be demolished within 30 days, and that the former manager’s quarters be inspected by a professional engineer to ensure it did not need to be demolished as well.
Crofton Quay Developments spokesperson Blaine Mercereau told council that steps have been taken to brace the one structure, which was leaning over 8 inches out of true; and an engineer’s report has already been obtained certifying that the manager’s quarters are not in danger of collapsing.
“They’ve put some substantial cross bracing in that building,” North Cowichan Director of Development Services Scott Mack said of the first structure. He also reported that the buildings have been boarded up more effectively to prevent access.
Council directed that North Cowichan’s building inspector be provided with professional engineering reports confirming the stability of the two buildings.
Mercereau presented Crofton Quay’s plans for moving ahead with redevelopment of the Twin Gables site, which have been on hold since 2013, when a proposal for a marina failed due to difficulties getting approval for dredging and relocating contaminated soil.
The first stage of the redevelopment will be filling in a gully that cuts through their properties, a project he said could be carried out in 2016. That work will require provincial approval.
“We are trying to move forward with it now,” Mercereau said.
Crofton Quay will then request that the southern boundary of the Twin Gables site be expanded to make more room. The remaining property to the south, they intend to sell.
Step three would be redevelopment of the Twin Gables site, work that could commence in 2017, Mercereau said, if other stages go as planned. Twin Gables is considering ‘a retirement community, with one level units near the ocean.’
Longer term Crofton Quay is considering a ‘scaled down’ version of their original marina project. “How that will look is to be decided,” he said, noting that plans for dredging and containing contaminated soil have to be developed and approved.