FOR a congregation- looking to fund a new church, 19 new townhouses on Mathers Avenue may be the answer to their prayers, although not everyone is giving the project an amen.
The North Shore Unitarian Church, located at 370 Mathers Ave., West Vancouver, has made a tentative deal to sell their land to Darwin Properties. Contingent on council approval, the developer would look to build 19 units at 370 and 380 Mathers, using those profits to fund and build a more accessible Unitarian church, likely close to mass transit.
West Vancouver council approved the commencement of a community consultation on the project March 18, in the hopes some compromise or consensus can be reached before the proposal returns to council.
Ranging from 2,000 to 2,300 square feet, the townhouses would likely sell for between $1 million and $1.5 million, according to Darwin Properties president Oliver Webbe.
"It's going to be targeting housing options for baby boomers looking to downsize and also some entry-level housing for single families," he said.
The development is a dense and unsightly threat to property values and community character, according to several neighbours who opposed the project.
"Nineteen homes right through the centre of our neighbourhood just doesn't feel like character to us. It feels like an invasion," said David Lusk.
Lusk spoke on behalf of 36 families in the neighbourhood who oppose the development.
The motives behind the move also came into question, with a few opponents of the project discussing the church's impending financial windfall and Coun. Michael Lewis mentioning the church's tax-exempt status.
"Do you feel any obligation to basically go from being a place of worship and a charitable community-focused organization now, to become, basically, a real-estate developer?" Lewis asked, drawing what sounded like gasps from the many Unitarians who packed council chambers. "On what basis is this to the benefit of West Vancouver?"
"No one from the church is making a penny," argued John Biasucci, member at large of the church.
The decay of the building and ascent of church attendance have made the proposed exodus a logical choice, according to Leslie Gibbons, vice-president of the North Shore Unitarian Church.
"We're hidden in a residential area. We are not serviced by public transit," Gibbons said.
Among the church's burgeoning 400-member congregation are many seniors who no longer drive and have difficulty getting to the Mathers Avenue location, she said.
"Our 43-year-old rather decrepit building has become inadequate and obsolete. The assembly halls are now too small for our congregation," Gibbons said. "Most troubling, the building is not adequately accessible to the disabled."
A few neighbourhood residents suggested a smaller development might be appropriate, but the developer was reluctant to offer a smaller vision.
"I think that by reducing the number of units that would substantially reduce the options for the North Shore Unitarian Church to remain on the North Shore," Webbe said, discussing the construction and land acquisition costs associated with moving the congregation to a new location.
Given the gulf between the project's supporters and the neighbours, both Lewis and Coun. Mary-Ann Both favoured rejecting the proposal as it stands.
"I don't think these two parties are close. They're clearly not," Lewis said.
"If we're going to get people all riled up, we better be pretty committed to what staff is proposing, and I can't say that I do feel that about this property," agreed Booth.
The small homes are intriguing, but the density doesn't suit the neighbourhood, according to Booth.
Without the development, six homes could be built on the lots, each with the possibility of secondary suites.
Pushing the project forward is essential in attempting to broaden the scope of housing in West Vancouver, according to Coun. Craig Cameron.
"I think it's important to go back to that housing plan that we just passed, because we either mean it or we don't," he said, discussing the housing action plan passed earlier in the evening as well as the official community plan's call for a variety of housing. "Building six large houses with basement suites will replicate what we have throughout the district. It won't meet a need that is unmet."
Several speakers cited traffic woes as their reason for opposition.
"As people who actually use this intersection daily we need to consider whether an evaluation based on a typical intersection is appropriate for our intersection," said neighbour Bob Thomson.
Currently, the church hosts a daycare and a preschool, adding up to 74 children who use the centre daily. "You cannot convince me that is a worsening of the traffic situation," Cameron said of the development.
Cameron rejected arguments about the project's unsightliness and high density, as housing on Esker Lane features higher density than Darwin's proposal.
"What are we left with? Well we're left with: we don't want change. And that's fine," he said.
If the district is serious about housing diversity, this proposal should not be categorically rejected, according to Cameron. "We come up with a shining example not having monster houses and we all say, 'No, not here,'" he said.
The final development may be smaller than 19 units, but a compromise can be found, according to Cameron.
"I do think that there is a middle ground that can be reached."
