The conclusion of two City of North Vancouver council items that could add up to more than $1.36 million is set for Monday.
Debates on funding the West Keith Road bike path and revising the city’s density bonus policy were both put on hold at the Feb. 6 meeting due to the absence of Couns. Craig Keating and Holly Back.
The city should refrain – at least for now – from spending $230,000 on a bike lane between running east alongside a multi-use path between Bewicke to Mahon avenues, according to Coun. Pam Bookham.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” she said. “I do not believe that the demand for a path up this part of the city is a huge priority at this point.”
The project – which would also arch uphill along West 13th Street between Eighth Street and Chesterfield Avenue – was defended by Coun. Linda Buchanan.
“I think this is a project that we need to move forward in order to really get the people who are living – sort of Marine Drive and beyond – to be able to get up that hill and connect with our other greenways into the central core of the city,” she said.
Before debate proceeded, Mayor Darrell Mussatto suggested the item be deferred until the full council was present. Council voted unanimously to defer the item.
The city previously appropriated $80,000 for the planning and design of the bike path.
The project has been buttressed by a $342,500 grant from the BikeBC program.
If approved, construction on the bike path would be scheduled for early summer.
More than $1 million may hinge on council’s density bonus policy debate scheduled for Monday.
A five-storey strata-primary project on the 100 block of West 23rd Street would ordinarily cost the developer $2.07 million under the city’s density bonus and community benefits policy.
However, the “developer believes that their site requires special consideration since the city’s rental loss concerns … would not apply,” according to a city staff report.
In a letter to the city, owner Mike Rakis noted no rental apartments would be demolished to make way for the 40-unit building.
The three lots are currently occupied by duplexes.
Rakis also pointed out that the city’s density bonus policy was enacted after the proposal was first floated in 2014, and that the project is in line with the city’s official community plan.
The developer is proposing 32 strata units and eight rental apartments along with a $942,133 community amenity contribution.
Staff recommended the developer pay the full amenity fund of $2,076,553.
While the project does include eight rental units, those apartments would: “address the higher end of the rental market demand,” noted a city staff report.
However, that the void of high-end rental housing has been filled by other projects, according to city staff, referring to 239 new market rental units that have been created since the adoption of the community benefits policy in May 2015.
The West 23rd Street site is “one among many development properties in the city … which are designated in the (official community plan) for a higher density of residential development,” according to the staff report.
The report also mentioned the city’s density bonus policy “has been consistently applied” since May 2015, reducing the need for negotiation and offering community accountability.
“Introducing variability in the way the policy is applied can result in reduced clarity,” according to the report.
There is no option in the city’s community benefits policy for a mixed rental and strata project, according to a city staff report.
Monday’s council meeting starts at 6 p.m.
