Grosvenor gets Ambleside green light

The most praised and protested buildings in the history of West Vancouver can now be built in the 1300-block of Marine Drive following one last tooth and nail council debate Monday.

Grosvenor development group's terraced seven and six storey buildings will house 98 units as well as retail and office space, bringing some much needed architectural significance to the area, according to Mayor Michael Smith.

"With all due respect to our neighbours in North Van, drive along Marine Drive in North Van. You see a lot of shapeless boxes with no character, no nothing. Is that what we want West Vancouver to look like?" he asked.

Following construction, Ambleside will see a 10 to 16 per cent jump in business, according to Grosvenor. That increase is critical for many flagging businesses, Smith said.

"We have a lot of businesses at Ambleside that put their money up to try and feed their families. .. surely we owe them a vibrant, healthy, active business community, and it's not right now."

The notion that Grosvenor will be good for business was challenged by Coun. Nora Gambioli.

Grosvenor's development will bump the total retail space in Ambleside to 300,000 square feet. Approximately 220,000 square feet is as much as the area can handle based on productivity, according to Gambioli, referencing a recent district study.

"That's why businesses aren't doing well in Ambleside. We already have too much retail," she said.

The development has created a "frustrating community dissonance dynamic," according to Gambioli, who took issue with the building's height and design.

"It is too urban, it is too modern for Ambleside village. Ambleside is more natural, more subtle, more quaint, more seaside village, and more respectful of our heritage," she said.

Grosvenor's development is not out of context with its surroundings, according to Smith, who noted a 10-storey building near the corner of 19th Street and Marine Drive.

"If you come into Ambleside we have about 50 buildings that are taller than the Grosvenor project," he said.

Couns. Craig Cameron and Bill Soprovich jousted over who would have the last word on the issue.

Last March, council voted in favour of cutting the development down by 30 feet. Cameron and Soprovich also backed a failed motion to see the height reduced an additional 15 feet.

Each building should have been reduced by one floor, according to Cameron.

"The developer in refusing to do this has missed an opportunity to put forward a project with broad community support," he said.

Reducing the building's height would not have taken away the project's economic viability, according to Cameron.

"Simply put, I don't believe they would walk away," he said. "A project at five or six storeys in this location would still be profitable and it's absurd to suggest otherwise."

Besides allowing for the purchase of the police building, council's decision carries other major implications for the rest of Ambleside, according to Cameron.

"There's no way the north side of the 1300-block is staying at two storeys if the south block is going to be moving over to seven storeys," he said.

Building heights in Ambleside will stay low, according to Soprovich.

"To fear-monger that suddenly we're going to see six storeys everywhere - it isn't going to happen with me."

While he was initially "absolutely floored" by the height of the project, Soprovich noted the major increase in property values across the district.

"If it's Grosvenor or anybody else, it's still a huge amount of money that's going to be needed. They have to get their end, that's reasonable," he said.

Soprovich noted the division in the community over the project.

"I apologize to the people that were against it, because I know where you're coming from. I realize your sense of logic. You know, sometimes to be logical isn't to be right," he said. "I think that many of us will be down there one day - if it goes through - and say, 'This was the right thing to do.'" Coun. Michael Lewis previously said the project wasn't the Eiffel Tower, but it also wasn't the London Wheel.

"Is this going to revitalize all of Ambleside? I don't think so, but I think it goes a step in the right direction," he said.

The development will leave a legacy for future generations, according to Coun. Trish Panz.

"The first voice that I listen to is citizens who are not born yet," she said.

While Grosvenor's project has been gestating before council for nearly two years, revitalizing the 1300-block of Marine Drive has been on the agenda for decades, according to Panz.

The development also offers significant returns to the district's endowment fund, Panz said.

She also responded to Cameron's statement that council did not have a plan for the rest of Ambleside.

"I'm not quite sure what Coun. Cameron's vision is for the future of Ambleside because we actually do have a strategy going forward and we're implementing it and that's coming from decades and decades of work."

Once completed, Grosvenor's development will likely include a coffee shop, florist, dry cleaners, and possibly a fitness centre and yoga studio.

The development includes 215 underground parking stalls for residential use and 99 spots for commercial use.

Coun. Mary-Ann Booth recused herself from the discussion.