Ucluelet wants to support the local volunteer-run food bank by selling the non-profit group a small piece of parkland for $1.
The plan is to bring a new structure, similar to a mobile home, to the site to replace a 40-year-old pre-fab that’s wearing out.
If an alternative approval proposal now underway succeeds, the district will close a half-acre section on Tugwell Park’s northwest corner and sell it to the local food bank for $1.
Under the conditions of the agreement, the town will have the option to buy back the site if the food bank does not operate for six consecutive months, if the site is not maintained, or any time after 20 years.
Food Bank On the Edge’s new proposed site is on higher ground, making it safer from a potential tsunami.
Chris Martin, food bank society president, said Friday that major donations, including $100,000 from the District of Ucluelet, are paying for the bulk of the building costs. So far about two-thirds of the cost of the $325,000 new building has been covered.
The society hopes to raise $100,0000 for land improvements and infrastructure, such as required utility services. Some construction businesses are donating their time.
The current 1,200-square-foot building “is bad,” Martin said. “It’s ready to go.”
The siding, roof and interior are all the end of their lifespan, the food bank said on its website.
“It’s been this way for a long time,” said Martin, who is looking forward to working out of a place that is “clean and healthy.”
The new 1,300-square-foot building will provide more storage for donated food and allow volunteers to work more efficiently, the food bank’s website says.
Martin said several large families regularly rely on the food bank, which is open on Tuesdays and delivers monthly hampers to Ucluelet, Tofino and nearby First Nations. She said the number of people who need assistance continues to grow.
Under the alternative approval process, at least 10 per cent of electors need to register their opposition to a plan for it to fail. The Ucluelet AAP ends March 13.
In recent cases on the Island, the Capital Regional District and Nanaimo have run into opposition with their use of the process.
The CRD board approved a plan to borrow up to $85 million to buy land and partner with other bodies to increase affordable housing after an alternative approval process failed to attract enough opposition to kill the plan.
In Nanaimo, the city wanted to borrow $48.5 million to update its old public works facilities, but after mistakes were twice discovered in how the process was run, the city cancelled the AAP.
