The District of Sechelt’s planning committee is recommending council give first reading to the Official Community Plan (OCP) and zoning amendments for the next phase of the Lions Housing Society’s Greenecourt project.
The first phase involved rezoning the eastern half of the site on Ocean Avenue in 2008 to allow for a 102-unit development consisting of a four-story building, a three-storey building and a “common amenities area.”
The 65-unit Jack Nelson Building was completed in 2012, but the other two buildings were shelved.
The Lions’ new proposal calls for the removal of the remaining bungalows on the property and the construction of a five-storey apartment building with 104 residential units, an office, laundry room and meeting hall.
Planning staff told the committee the change in design would allow the Lions to have 75 more units than the original plan, however it would also exceed the maximum height allowed in the OCP, which calls for maximum heights of between three and four storeys.
The staff report noted that the Lions Housing Society currently has a 200-person waiting list for units, which are affordable, independent-living, rental units targeted at seniors. “In order to meet the high demand and make the project economically feasible,” the report said, “the Society is pursuing a 104-unit apartment building, with common facilities, meeting hall and underground parking.”
The Lions’ partnership with BC Housing calls for a housing mix of: 20 per cent low income, subsidized; 50 per cent rent-geared-to-income; and 30 per cent at “affordable” market rental.
Coun. Alice Lutes said she’s been eager to see the second phase come forward. “In the short time from the original application to now the need has just increased and to try to keep up with that is incredible. And, I think this increase in density, though it might be uncomfortable to think something that big is downtown, I think it’s the appropriate place.”
Coun. Darnelda Siegers also said she supports the project. “I think this is very good proposal, much needed in the community. But we need to make sure the community is onboard with this and I’d like to see this move forward as quickly as possible if we can look at mitigating all the concerns and issues.”
Siegers also had a question about including child care services as an allowed use.
Director of planning Tracy Corbett said staff wanted to include it in the proposed zoning so that if the Lions decide to pursue the idea in the future it could be done without a new application. “There’s some evidence in other [similar] projects that this is a really good complementary use,” she said.
The OCP and zoning amendments could go to council for first reading as early as their Sept. 5 meeting, with a public information meeting in mid-September before the public hearing.
“It’s very important that community-driven things like this make it through the community process in the best way that they can,” Coun. Noel Muller, the committee chair, said. “We’ve heard so much about affordable housing and seniors issues, and I think I’m not alone on the committee when I say a proposal like this is more or less exactly what I was looking for.”
