Dear Editor:
I would like to address what I believe are three of the most fundamental issues that indicate that the proposed development and consequent rezoning of the 1300-block Marine Drive in Ambleside is inappropriate: there have been no other proposals; Ambleside is dying; and financing for the new public safety building (PSB).
A number of council members say they don't believe this is the "right" project for Ambleside, but there have been no other offers and they are tired of looking at an empty lot and degraded retail facilities. What has actually been done in a systematic way to attract other offers? Did council and its advisers aggressively pursue bids from prominent urban developers to buy the police station public land at a price that made sense under the Official Community Plan? Was a competitive auction set up for bidding within an OCP framework? Were "advisers" commissioned to determine creative ways to finance a new PSB and publish those results for West Van taxpayers' review?
No, total confusion was created by opening redevelopment to negotiable height and density limits considered to be "in the public interest." How is public interest measured? By maximum financial return? I don't think so. That is the job of private sector CEOs, not public sector councils.
Some council members claim Ambleside is dying. Absolutely untrue. The only part of Ambleside that is dying is the 1300-block. From 14th to 19th streets, Ambleside Village is comprised primarily of stable, viable, tenants (many have been in business a long time), and it has no more than normal retail/service turnover that is regularly injecting new merchandise and services. The retail and service shops that understand the West Van market are reasonably healthy and have enjoyed reasonable longevity.
So, why is the 1300-block dying? After Esso left, council opened the block up to a non-OCP development framework that created tremendous uncertainty over development, tenure and longevity. Grosvenor acted quickly and bought up all the private properties, probably paying a price above that warranted for development within the OCP, and it gave them leverage over the whole block. Once Grosvenor took control of half the block, nobody else could or would bid for the police station land. Tenants did not want to stay as they could not get tenant security.
Grosvenor and council then put West Vancouver residents through a protracted but flawed public consultation process to maximize density and financial returns in a way that might be palatable.
Council claims they have an obligation to obtain the maximum financial return for the police station land. But that obviously has led us to a very contentious, win-lose community issue, and council is faced with the possibility of creating either an irate powerful developer or a large irate portion of the community. That does not need to happen.
I believe change must start with a refusal to rezone the 1300-block. Council should then charge its "advisers" to get creative on financing the new PSB. Council could package the 1300-block and the 16th and Esquimalt/Fulton home of the current fire hall. These properties could be sold as a package through a competitive bidding process and the Esquimalt/Fulton property could be used to provide some negotiable height and density flexibility for the package while the 1300-block would have to be developed within the OCP. Grosvenor would probably have an advantage in this bidding process, which is probably fair, but they would not have total control, as they have now.
This process would take some time, but council would attract competitive, transparent bids, have the "right" development on the 1300-block, eliminate the toxic community divisiveness, obtain good financial and community value for the new PSB, probably with modest positive or negative tax implications.
It is not too late to stop the train and re-orient the process to produce the "right" development for Ambleside. But it would be too late if council approves a 1300-block rezoning that authorizes the "wrong" development. That is irreversible - a journey of no return.
Barry Hall
West Vancouver
