Chip Wilson's giant dock angers Sunshine Coast neighbours
Once again, Chip Wilson’s home improvement plans are raising objections. This time it’s about where the lululemon founder wants to stick his giant dock.
The owner of British Columbia’s most valuable private home is upsetting neighbours of his other home on the Sunshine Coast, thanks to his proposal to build a huge dock for all his boats and his seaplane.
Wilson has requested the permission of the provincial government to construct a 2,498 sq. ft dock and two 3,106 sq. ft breakwaters on the shoreline south of his mansion located at 11329 Sunshine Coast Highway on Middle Point Bight, between Pender Harbour and Sechelt, according to the Vancouver Sun.
Currently there is a small moorage on the north side of the 20-acre property, however this new, much, much larger dock would replace that one.
Members of the community, including residents, the local planning council and the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) are angered by the billionaire’s plans.
“Ten neighbours have sent letters of concern to the district about the plan, worried what such a large structure would do to wildlife, and their own serenity,” notes CBC Vancouver.
The area where Wilson wants to stick his giant dock happens to be a spot beloved by swimmers and paddle boaters, and also an ecologically sensitive area; it is “home to eel grass beds, the feeding grounds of the endangered marbled murrelet and a rockfish conservation zone,” adds the Sun.
During a January 8 planning and development committee meeting, SCRD planning technician Lesley-Ann Staats said the dock as proposed is “not something anyone’s seen before,” notes the Coast Reporter. Staats told the Sun locals see the dock less as a that belonging to a private home and more of “a marina.”
Wilson’s plan indicates he intends to use the dock to “moor two 24-foot runabouts, one 47-foot cruiser, and a variety of small watercraft.”
The SCRD opposes the project, but does not have final say on the proposal. At this point all they are able to do is to present the Crown with their strong objections to Wilson’s plan.
Wilson, who has similarly ruffled the feathers of locals in the Point Grey Road community where he built his massive $57-million compound, is opting not to make public comment while the application for his giant dock remains pending.
Featured image: Looking north up Malaspina Strait (Photo by Ken McMillan/Flickr)
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