THE District of West Vancouver endorsed the exterior design of the municipality's new Public Safety Building Monday, placing the planned fire hall by 17th Street and the police hall close to 16th Street, much to the dismay of some local residents.
The plan provides the best support for the firefighters as 17th Street is 1.82 metres wider than 16th Street, allowing emergency vehicles from the fire hall to manoeuvre easier, council said.
However, local residents near the new PSB site state their homes and those around it will face major negative impacts.
"I'm here today to ask you to defer voting on this item in order to give us some time to resolve the significant issues about the proposal for the fire station right across from our building," said Patricia Bowles, a resident whose home is in view of the proposed PSB site.
A two-year construction process will leave home-owners unable to sell within that time, and those who do will have their properties devalued from the PSB, Bowles said.
"Clearly owners will be unable to sell their condos within that time period unless they practically give them away," she said.
"It does not seem fair that by choosing this option you are costing the owners huge disruption in convenience, both in the short and long term."
Bowles and other residents asked council to take time to speak with residents and come up with good ideas to reach a compromise.
Paul Gagnon, another concerned resident who lives on 16th Street, said that as a father he's concerned about the safety of his children and a new PSB with the police station will only encourage more traffic into the area.
Coun. Bill Soprovich agreed with Bowles and Gagnon and asked council to defer voting.
"More dialogue is needed," he said. "We owe it to our citizens to get a consensus before we move on. I think it would be win-win to everyone."
Coun. Craig Cameron seconded Soprovich's views, but their motion was defeated.
Mayor Michael Smith said there's no need to hold up the architects' work since staff will be working with local residents either way.
Coun. Michael Lewis voted against the motion, stating council was too slow in their decision making and now was the time for action.
"The reality is we're going to build this public safety building in this quadrant," he said.
"This council is not really good at making a decision, so I think it's time to get on with it and let's go people."
Said Smith: "I think we should pass a motion for staff to work with those people and come up with solutions that people are going to be satisfied with."
The motion was passed and staff will work with residents in the area while the architects begin working on their next phase in the design process.
Staff are also preparing the many possible funding options for the PSB.
A previous council decision to exclude property taxes from paying for the building was rescinded when Cameron asked staff to look at all options to pay for it, and council unanimously voted in favour.
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