A Kiwanis proposal to build two new rental buildings at the society's West Vancouver complex received unanimous support from district council Monday night.
The rebuild of the seniors housing site located between 21st and 22nd streets at Gordon and Haywood avenues, not only got the go-ahead but also received the benefit of approximately $800,000 in waived municipal fees.
"Tonight marks for me personally a four-year journey," Bob Heaslip, president of Kiwanis Seniors Housing Society of West Vancouver, told council in front of a council chamber packed with Kiwanis residents and supporters.
"We believe we've arrived at a project that is very balanced and meets the concerns as stated by the design review committee, also yourselves and staff internally."
Following the vote, he said construction is expected to begin by spring assuming council authorize final approval and a building permit.
The two new buildings will provide 137 new units with 10 bachelor suites, at a floor-space ratio of 1.5. They will replace an older rental building featuring 51 bachelor units. The remaining residents of the bachelor suites have been placed elsewhere on the North Shore, said Heaslip, and will get first dibs on the new units.
"We have 175 hopeful seniors on a waiting list - it's astounding," he said.
Rents haven't been calculated for the new units, adding to some anxiety by residents over potential increases, including resident Michael Pope who spoke at the meeting. Heaslip said Kiwanis will do everything in its power to keep rents low while maintaining enough money for upgrades, and have the power to remortgage the Kiwanis Court building, which is now debt free.
Still, he said, suggestions to add more bachelor units to achieve affordability goals were counter to demand. "When we had those 51 units we couldn't give them away," he said
The new one-bedroom units will be 538 square feet, said Heaslip, slightly larger than previous units, while the bachelor suites will be between 400 and 420 square feet - which includes both storage and space to fit a wheelchair, ensuring all residents can "age in place" without having to be moved in the building. He said the units have to work for 80 years.
Viv Christison, speaking on behalf of Lionsview Seniors Planning Society, said they wanted to "completely and totally celebrate the project," imploring council to waive development cost charges to help keep rents low. "Even a small increase in rent can mean loss of housing security for some of West Van's long-term residents."
Councillors agreed, but there was some discussion on whether Kiwanis could change the number of bachelor units or the size of the units at this late stage in the game. Coun. Michael Smith's view that any details should be left to the society eventually prevailed.
"I would suggest that we accept that they obviously know what they're doing rather than trying to tinker with the configuration for the building, the size of the units," he said.
Council unanimously supported the zoning change, OCP amendment and waiving of fees for the project for second and third readings. Kiwanis is also requesting Metro Vancouver waive development fees for regional services, including water and sewer hook-ups.
