The southeast corner of Chesterfield Avenue and 18th Street may double in density next year.
City of North Vancouver council voted Monday to advance to public hearing developer MacLean Homes’ bid to build a six-storey, 87-unit rental development at 1730 Chesterfield Ave. The hearing is set for Jan. 22.
The new project would replace the three-storey, 43-unit apartment currently occupying the site, possibly leaving tenants to pay rents that “significantly exceed current rents,” objected resident Joley Switzer.
“I would like to be more certain of my future because life is too short to be hanging on tenterhooks and perhaps agreeing to less than satisfactory interim accommodation,” Switzer wrote.
Nine units in the new building are set to be offered at 10 per cent less than mid-market rates. By July 2017 averages, that would roughly equate to $1,350 for a studio and $2,520 for three bedrooms.
The developer is offering the 10-year discount in exchange for extra density, rather than a cash contribution of $2.88 million.
MacLean has applied to boost their project’s floor space ratio – which measures a total floor space against lot size – to 2.54, an increase of more than one third.
Many attendees at a spring information session supported the project, noting the “dire need for more rental stock,” according to MacLean Homes vice-president Josh MacLean.
The site is surrounded by two- and three-storey buildings that range from nine to 46 units.
At 54 feet, the building will block the sun for neighbouring Tudor Court, according to board of directors president Richard Warnes.
The building’s top floor will be slightly stepped back to help the project fit into the neighbourhood, according to a city staff report.
The project includes lane paving and new speed bumps, but Warnes warned the lane is already congested, causing pedestrians to “hide in the bushes or hug the fence when two cars are passing.”
Citing parking concerns, Coun. Don Bell voted against the project.
With 56 parking stalls for residents and visitors, the project would exacerbate parking spot scarcity, according to Bell. The project does include 143 spots for bicycles.
The development is slated to include 53 one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedrooms, 10 three-bedrooms and six studios.
Earlier in 2017, council approved a five-storey, 34-unit rental building at 1549 Chesterfield Ave. as well as a 27-unit co-housing development over three lots on the 2100 block.
