Prince George city council took the first steps towards approving a new recreational vehicle dealership on Giscome Road at its Monday, July 28 meeting.
On behalf of O’Brien Developments, McWalter Consulting applied to the city to redesignate 4330 Giscome Rd. from Service Commercial to Light Industrial under the Official Community Plan and rezone it from Z16: Blackburn Commercial to M2: General Industrial.
The subject property is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Giscome Road and Old Cariboo Highway, just south of Highway 16 near the correctional centre.
In July 2024, council approved rezoning a portion of the property from AF: Agriculture and Forestry to Z16: Blackburn Commercial as well as amending the land use for parts of the property zoned Z16 to include self-storage and warehouse developments.
Since that was approved, David McWalter of McWalter Consulting wrote in a letter to the city, “Mr. Dan O’Brien, and his company (Number 270 Holdings Ltd.), have spent in excess of four million dollars upgrading the former Ruffs Greenhouse operation into a modern warehousing facility.”
McWalter also wrote that the property has been cleaned, with all debris removed, tree storage structures repurposed into warehouse building, fences erected, building secured, exterior lighting installed and some landscaping completed with more scheduled this year.
“The renovated buildings now house multiple tenancies including a healthy mix of commercial and industrial activities,” McWalter wrote.
“In the short time since the finalization of the 2024 rezoning, the property has attracted more industrial tenants than commercial tenants. The most recent potential tenant to express an interest in relocating to the property is (Sullivan Motor Projects) RV Sales.
“Unfortunately, the existing Z16 zoning designation does not support all of the sales, rental and repair activities proposed by SMP Sales. Therefore a rezoning to M2 (General Industrial) is required.”
If the company moves to the site, McWalter’s letter said that it would create a fenced outdoor display area that will have a paved and landscaped road access created for it.
“This new access to the Old Cariboo Highway has already been approved by city staff and will be constructed in the spring of 2025,” the letter said. “All of the repair and servicing of RV’s, including the sale of parts and accessories will be housed within one of the renovated warehouse buildings.”
The letter explains that other tenants occupying the buildings on the property include Metercor (a contractor for FortisBC), Gary Young Agencies, Northern Metallic Lube, Bid Right Contracting Ltd., Taylor Professional Driving School and O’Brien Training.
Should the OCP and rezoning applications be approved and SMP moves to the property, the letter said 48,000 square feet of building space will be occupied at the site.
A trip generation letter written by L&M Engineering also attached to the agenda said that existing traffic and future RV sales wouldn’t not be sufficient to require a full traffic impact study though additional analysis would be recommended if the developer pursues more construction.
At the July 28 meeting, director of planning and buildings Deanna Wasnik said a public hearing will be required before the item receives final reading because of the OCP amendment.
Councillors Susan Scott and Cori Ramsay recommended the project be moved forward, saying they had visited the site and saw substantial improvements made.
First reading of the OCP amendment, first and second readings of the rezoning bylaw and the approval of the public hearing were all approved by council unanimously.
