Three months can make all the difference for a development, as a previously hesitant 麻豆社国产council has given the first three readings to a mixed-use building in Valleycliffe.
At a public hearing on April 15, councillors voted unanimously to move ahead with the six-storey development located at 38201 Westway Avenue.
The mixed-use building proposed by developer Jirout Martin, Westway Centre Corp. would feature commercial space at grade, surface parking, four rental residential levels (with 45 units), and a rooftop indoor and outdoor amenity area.
District planner Philip Gibbins shared details of the updated proposal, which was presented to council on Jan. 7 before being referred back to staff due to concerns over a height variance.
“The applicant has since made some changes to the application and provided some additional information for clarification based on the questions and comments from council at that meeting,” Gibbins said.
The application includes four variances, the first of which is a building height variance from “10.68 metres to 20.57 metres.”
“This is requested to facilitate the enclosed amenity area. Staff support the proposed increase in building height as it allows for retention of ground floor commercial and provides for a 100% market rental housing project, whilst also allowing for more compact development on part of the site,” Gibbins said.
Since the proposal was returned to staff, the developers have reviewed the zone to look for ways to reduce overshadowing impacts caused by the additional height.
“The roof overhang on level five has been reduced by two feet, which provides a small reduction in shadow impact,” Gibbins said.
“The applicant has also provided a shadow study to help quantify the impact of the proposal on the adjacent townhouses. This study compares the impacts to the windows and the backyards at the equinox as well as summer and winter solstice.”
The result of the study showed that seven of 10 windows would be impacted for one to two hours across the study time periods. The impact on the backyard would be limited to townhouses one to three, where they will lose one to two hours of sunlight around the equinoxes, but will experience no change to solar exposure around each solstice.
The second variance is reducing the usable open space from 1,670 square meters to 312 sq. m.
As a way to compensate for this, Gibbins said the developers have proposed an invasive species management and riparian restoration plan “which includes off-site remediation in McNaughton Park.”
The third variance is to the off-street parking requirements from 96 to 82 spaces.
“The applicant provided a parking study which reviewed the anticipated parking demand for the project, and the study anticipates demand for 72 spaces, where 82 are proposed,” Gibbins said.
The fourth variance is to change the number of trees per off-street parking spaces from one tree per eight parking spaces to one tree per 13 parking spaces
An environmental protection covenant will be required for the protection and restoration of riparian areas.
Gibbins noted that the developers have amended the riparian fence to the north of the site “to make it more robust and give more protection to this area.”
They have also agreed to a registration of a restrictive covenant, which would require a tenant relocation plan in the event of any further development.”
Of the 45 units, four one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit will be adaptable and accessible.
Public comment
Two Valleycliffe residents spoke at the public hearing about their concerns over the height and parking variances.
Andrew Moore said he generally opposed the height variance due to the impacts on sunlight.
“The impact on the increased variance over double what's allowed for the Creekside townhouses is very significant in a neighbourhood, which already receives a lot less sunlight due to proximity to the [Stawamus] Chief and Slhanay mountains,” he said.
Fellow neighbour James Sullivan said the parking variance of “roughly 15% less” would cause a negative impact for locals.
“My concern is twofold with this. One is that it means that it's likely going to cause an impact on street parking for adjacent residents, and ... 麻豆社国产has had an issue with parking, it's been an ongoing issue for a while, so I think it's gonna exacerbate the issue,” Sullivan said.
“And the second part of it is that I'm also curious about how future developments on this plot are going to accommodate any additional occupants, or any additional commercial space if there already is less parking than is required for the current proposed building.”
Council comments
Despite most councillors showing hesitancy over this proposal a few months prior, all members voted in favour of giving the housing development bylaw its first three readings.
“I do think that as we take stock of these sorts of decisions, we do have to weigh the pros and cons. We know that building housing comes with impacts, and I do think that the trade-offs here are worthwhile,” Coun. Jenna Stoner said.
“An additional 44 market rentals … is really important in our community, especially in the housing market that we're in, plus the addition of the commercial space, which will hopefully be more viable in what has been determined as a core neighbourhood hub for Valleycliffe.”
Coun. John French said his biggest concern at the January meeting was the shade impacts, however, he now supported this version of the proposal.
“I'm impressed with the lengths the property owner has gone to in addressing that concern that was raised back in January. It's great to see that the roof overhang on level five has been reduced to address a portion of the shade concern,” he said.
“The additional shading information that was shared with us this week is comprehensive and far more informative than the details that were provided to us back in January.
“We need these housing units. They're in demand, and I suspect that as soon as the paint is dry on the new units, if it goes ahead, there will be people moving in.”
Coun. Chris Pettingill was also supportive of the development, but said that future residents should not use on-street parking as a solution if they could not fit their vehicles in the provided parking spaces.
“With parking, the mode shift we need to hit to manage our transportation costs, quality of life, all those things is very clear. And so I think this is a reasonable variance,” he said.
“It won't work if everyone who moves here assumes they can have three cars and take up all the street parking. And so a piece that is not part of this, but is on us as a municipality, is to do a better job of managing the street parking.
“Basically, that means people shouldn't be expecting that public 'free parking' is your parking solution. You need to make sure you're renting or purchasing units that have the parking you need, and that's how we resolve the parking challenges.”
The development application will return for adoption at a later date.
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