West Point Projects was looking for an ideal location for its next project and seemed to have found it at 1575 Bernard Ave. But the neighbours of the property have different ideas.
The Lutheran Church vacated its former building on the site decades ago, moving to the Mission.
A daycare known as Monkeysa国际传媒 Play颅house tried to make a go of it but relocated in 2012 to a property better suited for pick-up and drop-off. The building was in need of extensive repairs and remained vacant from 2012 until last summer when it was demolished.
However, it was also going into an older established neighbourhood including many two- and three-storey apartments. City councilsa国际传媒 debate on the development proposal centred around whether it was an appropriate site, a microcosm of debates over developments for decades.
As Tuesdaysa国际传媒 public hearing showed, the neighbouring residents 鈥 many of an older generation 鈥 were sensitive to the size of a six-storey apartment, the loss of views from their Bernard Avenue hilltop, increased noise, increased traffic and above all, what seemed like a radical departure from a quiet church.
West Point, a real estate development company based in sa国际传媒, had already completed the 127-unit Akin at 815 Leon Ave. It now has under construction 195 rental apartments at 1994 Springfield Rd., the former Art Knapp property.
The 1575 Bernard Ave. property has numerous advantages: itsa国际传媒 a large property at 0.55 hectares, it lies midway between the bustling downtown and Parkinson Recreation Centre, it is close to numerous retail businesses on Harvey Avenue and it sits beside a major public transit route.
Under the multi-family apartment housing zone in the new 2040 Official Community Plan, that transit route location means any proposed building could go as high as six storeys.
The key presentation came from a supportive housing advocate and council member since 2008. Coun. Luke Stack cut to the chase: 鈥淭his application goes right to the heart of our Official Community Plan. One of the things that councils over the years have wrestled with is how do we start growing our city when we are not chopping up our mountainsides because nobody wants to cut down mountainsides any more.鈥
Developers can鈥檛 build on protected agricultural land and residents say the Mission already has too much traffic to build more houses there, he said.
鈥淭he question is as we grow, how are we going to accommodate new people coming to the community. One of the fundamental principles of our new 2040 OCP was we would densify our core centre, particularly on transit routes. If we don鈥檛 do that, it means sa国际传媒 is just not going to grow. Something has to change,鈥 he argued.
鈥淲hen I look at this site, which has basically in my opinion been an eyesore for about the last 10 years, we have a beautiful building opportunity right beside Parkinson Rec Centre, right beside the Landmark business centre and on a transit corridor,鈥 Stack said. 鈥淚f we look at this and say: 鈥楴o, no, no, we can鈥檛 densify this site,鈥 we are not going to be able to accomplish any of the objectives that we want to do.鈥
The three adjoining properties are the exact same zone, he noted. 鈥淚 think it is totally appropriate that they ask for this. This is exactly the type of location that we鈥檝e been hoping for to see redevelopment.鈥
That appeared to sway a number of councillors and in the final vote, only Coun. Gord Lovegrove and Ron Cannan were opposed to the rezoning.
鈥淲e are really pleased with the re颅sults,鈥 said Corey Makus, a partner in the West Point company, 1575 Bernard Projects Ltd., on Wednesday morning. 鈥淲e are excited to bring much-needed new housing here to sa国际传媒.鈥
The proposed development is for approximately 150 units of long-term rental housing with ground-oriented townhouses wrapped around a two-level parkade with apartment housing above.
鈥淭he neighbourhood is a mix of single-family dwellings, duplex housing, multi-dwelling complexes and institutional uses. It is an appropriate location for increased residential density and housing,鈥 he said.
