Councillors in Sechelt have sent a proposal for a multi-storey building at Wharf Avenue and East Porpoise Bay Road back to the drawing board because of objections to its height.
After a May 23 public hearing on zoning and official community plan amendments, where several people raised the height issues, the applicant agreed to change the building from six storeys with a maximum height of 19.62 metres to five storeys.
The original six-storey proposal called for 47 residential units and 93 sq. metres (1,100 sq. feet) of commercial space on the ground floor. Five storeys would still allow the same number of units, but with a smaller floor area.
Most the existing homes in the neighbourhood are single-family dwellings. There is also a three storey mixed-use building on the lot immediately south of the project site.
A report from planning staff presented at the June 20 council meeting said while reducing the height would reduce the density, it would also mean a loss of some of the community amenity contributions, including affordable housing, that were negotiated for the original proposal.
“Dependent on the decrease in density, that could result in a loss of one or more affordable housing units,” the report said. “There may also be other trade-offs that would be required to make the project feasible, such as reducing the amount of underground parking and instead providing above-ground parking, which in turn would reduce the amount of open, landscaped space.”
Coun. Noel Muller was one of the most vocal opponents of the original project and said a reduction of one storey was not enough to change his mind. “I think that what council should really be considering is that we have a lot of these little pocket neighbourhoods, as I call them, that have their own distinct character to them,” said Muller. “We’ve seen these people coming out in force to try to preserve that character and that’s something I’ve sided with in the past and I’m going to side with on this one as well.”
Coun. Doug Wright took a similar stand, saying that issues around traffic and height haven’t been properly dealt with. “Five storeys does not blend in with that community… I believe that a four-storey building fits in with the entire community. I also think it fits in with that pocket community.”
The only councillor to speak in favour of the five-storey option was Darnelda Siegers. She said some units would be at a lower price-point that would improve affordability and some were likely to become long-term rentals and that, although the OCP allows for four storeys without amendments, reducing height could actually create a bigger footprint. “If we do a five-storey building the footprint is smaller, it can be moved back, it will impact less of the houses,” she said.
Mayor Bruce Milne, who said at first reading in April he thought there was “much to commend this project to Sechelt,” said again at the June 20 meeting that he saw the project as a game changer but didn’t see any likelihood that the rest of council would be swayed and that the public hearing feedback sent a clear message.
“There is no question the community that’s living there doesn’t want that change, whether we think it’s good or not,” said Milne. “I’ve always thought there’s no sense in having public hearings if you’re not going to listen to the public.”
Earlier in the discussion, Coun. Darren Inkster said in light of those concerns, “I will be erring on the side of the third option the planner gave us, which is looking at lowering the height further.”
After the five-storey option was defeated, with councillors Inkster, Mike Shanks, Muller and Wright opposed and Coun. Alice Lutes absent, council voted in favour of referring the application back to staff to work with the developer on possible changes.
