Cheers from landowners and developers resonated in West Vancouver council chamber Monday night after councillors unanimously approved a development permit application for Area 3 East of the Rodgers Creek development area.
With approval at hand, the site, located immediately north of Mulgrave school, is now open for development, subdivision and single-family-house construction on 21 of the 42 single-family lots.
Yet permit approval did not come without lengthy debate over environmental concerns and zoning bylaw variance issues, as well as recognition from council of the ever-receding West Vancouver tree-line.
"It's precious and we want you to pay attention to your surroundings," warned Coun. Bill Soprovich on Monday night. "We want to make sure that this development doesn't create a massive development -- we really are very serious about the enclaves that we could create and the green left in-between and the natural state outside the development."
To date, council has approved Area 1 and Area 2 for development, and house construction is currently underway at both of these sites. Area 3 East, which is just under 10 hectares and sits generally west of Rodgers Creek, contains 45 lots, including 21 standard lots, as well as 21 smaller single-family lots, two cluster housing sites, and an apartment, estimated to be five or six storeys -- all subject to a further development permit.
The development area, owned by British Pacific Properties Ltd., Ancore Developments Ltd., Showmark Rodgers Creek Development Inc. and Canada Charpac Developments Ltd., is home to five watercourses, including Rodgers Creek and a number of tributaries of Pipe Creek, making it an environmentally sensitive land requiring protection.
At Monday night's meeting, West Vancouver Streamkeeper Society, a recognized partner of the development working group, was represented and voiced support of the environmental strategy for Area 3 East, which involved collaboration with the district's environmental co-ordinator, Steve Jenkins, and environmental consultants, including Alex Satori.
"Streamkeepers' view of this is narrow: it's about the streams, about the ephemerals, it's about our set-backs in habitat, and I can tell you that we were quite comforted by what we saw and the explanations we were given," said Stramkeeper president John Barker.
Council also weighed in on zoning bylaw variances prior to approval of the development permit.
To make allowance for the steep terrain of Area 3 East, a number of zoning bylaw variances were incorporated into the development permit, including provisions for grade calculations for determining building height, and over-height retaining walls, estimated to be as high as four metres (13 feet) on some lots.
"These are not huge variances, but cumulatively they sound like a lot," said the district's manager of community planning, Geri Boyle.
Coun. Bill Soprovich raised concerns over the stability of the over-height retaining walls.
"How do you get stability from an eight-foot wall?" asked Soprovich.
"They would have to be constructed under engineering requirements," said Boyle in response.
Richard Cook of Jorden Cook Associates, a Vancouver-based planning firm, reassured Soprovich that "we won't have houses built on stilts, we won't have houses that are flying in the air, but ones that fit and set in the ground quite nicely."
Questions were also raised by Coun. Trish Panz over the possibility of future requests from home owners looking to remove trees in district-owned parks to make way for skyline view, and by Coun. Michael Evison, who pressured Boyle to consider the fiscal impacts of the project and the burgeoning cost of maintaining park land and trails, inherited though development of the region.
"We are looking at how to minimize the costs on the district," said Boyle. "Our parks department is insisting on certain types of planting . . . and we have even gone a step further and we are in the midst of negotiating with British Pacific to actually have them take on responsibility for the Chippendale right-of-way for the next 10 years, until the area has matured."
Overall, council showed great appreciation for the work and collaborative approach adopted by the developers.
"I think the process has been very extensive, and very inclusive, you worked very closely with our planning staff" said Coun. Michael Lewis, directing comments towards the developers. "I think you have kept us, and the public well-informed as you've gone through development of Area 3 East and I have no hesitations."
The next stage for development of the Rogers Creek Area will be Area 3 West, which has just one landowner and is slotted for the creation of estate-size single family lots.
