The general manager of the Coquitlam Express is hoping some city councillors will reconsider their decision to deny the hockey club a temporary use permit to use a vacant warehouse space at 1750 Hartley Ave. as a gym facility.
Tali Campbell said the five councillors who voted against the team’s application to use the industrial space for up to three years may not have had a full understanding of its request.
Some of the councillors during Monday’s debate said allowing a gym in a building zoned for industrial use would set a bad precedent.
Coun. Robert Mazzarolo said the city needs to protect its dwindling industrial areas and the jobs they bring to the community.
“The activity can be accommodated in other places with appropriate zoning.”
Mayor Richard Stewart added, “If we approve a project like this, we would end up with the floodgates open.”
Couns. Asmundson and Trish Mandewo expressed concerns about limited parking at the location that had been formerly occupied by an electronics manufacturer.
Campbell said the Express organization, which now numbers 130 young players in various academy programs as well as the BC Hockey League junior team, has outgrown its current training facility in a warren of rooms in the basement of a city-owned building across the street from the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex. He said organizations located on the second floor are also complaining about the noise.
“Everything is crammed,” Campbell said. “We make do, but we get complaints every day from our upstairs neighbours.”
Campbell said the Express spent more than eight months looking for a suitable location to move its gym facilities, and the warehouse space behind the Home Depot on United Boulevard fit the bill.
“The size was good, the price was good,” Campbell said, adding the location just down the hill from Poirier would just be a “stop-gap” until the Express can secure a permanent solution. He said the temporary gym would be used exclusively by the players, who would be bused in groups to and from their scheduled training sessions.
Coquitlam’s senior manager of economic development, Eric Kalnins, said commercial spaces suitable for a gym facility are “hard to find” in the city.
Coun., Craig Hodge, one of four councillors who supported the Express’ application, said the nature of industrial use is changing and the club does provide employment.
“It’s not industrial, but it does provide jobs and create growth,” Hodge said.
Coun. Dennis Marsden agreed.
“This is supporting a local business,” he said of the gym plan.
Campbell said changes in NCAA eligibility rules that now allow players from the Canadian Hockey League to attain scholarships to Div. 1 programs have increased competition to attract them to Junior A leagues like the BCHL. Giving players a good experience on and off the ice to continue their development is a prime consideration.
“You have to provide a state-of-the-art facility in junior hockey these days,” Campbell said. “It’s the fabric of our organization.”
In the meantime, the Express has dismantled its current training facility and players will be able to work out at a local commercial gym, OT Performance, for the next three weeks. Beyond that, though, remains uncertain, Campbell said.
“If council doesn’t reconsider, we’ll have to go back to the drawing board.”
MARIO BARTEL 