The Nezul Be Hunuyeh Child and Family Services will not be reapplying for rezoning of the Sikh Temple on Ash Street in Fort St. James.
District rejected the rezoning application for a change from “institutional” to “commercial core” in the area zoned “residential” during the council meeting on January 12. But council had indicated it might be possible for a more specific rezoning application to be considered.
Aileen Prince, Chair of the Nezul Be Hunuyeh Board, said as far as Nezul Be is concerned, “we are accepting the decision of the council” and “I think the organization is moving forward on what we’ll be able to do.”
Prince said they are now looking at other alternatives and hoping to come up with another plan in order to relocate their business.
Their current location on Stuart Drive is very cramped, with offices being shared by workers and no meeting room space.
Prince said the Sikh temple would have allowed meetings and workshops to take place in the office building instead of having to find space in other locations around town, which is what they do now.
The current building Nezul Be works out of was rezoned for their offices before they moved in, and they had thought the process would be much the same, but hadn’t realized there was opposition within the community. Prince said, had they known, they would have attended the council meeting or tried to inform local residents of their plans.