Residents brace for fight over Holyrood Gardens development
City planners got an earful Wednesday from Holyrood residents angry at the scale and speed of a proposal to redevelop the western edge of their community into a high-density housing complex.
The Holyrood Gardens project, which calls for 1,200 units in a fiveblock strip along the Valley Line LRT, is set to go to city council for a rezoning decision Monday.
On Wednesday, the city held an open house to show how the community’s views had been used to revise the design. But for many residents, the changes were insignificant to a project they called too tall, too dense and too rushed.
“The city has pushed this through to accommodate LRT and LRT housing, but they have disregarded an older group of neighbourhoods here that have been around forever,” resident Travis Klymchuk said. “This is going to be a nightmare.”
Deanna Scott, a senior who lives in a condo near the project, said residents are not opposed to a redevelopment. But at 1,200 units, the project will create major traffic headaches on the neighbourhood streets, especially since the LRT tracks will make it difficult to get onto the main roads, she said.
The community is also concerned about the height of three buildings along 85 Street — a 22-storey building and two 18-storey towers.
The latest plans call for the height of the towers to remain the same, but the buildings will be “sculpted” differently to provide a better transition from the singlefamily homes they will overlook, said Kalen Anderson, the city ’s director of planning co-ordination.
The new design also moves the buildings further away from those homes. Raj Dhunna of Regency Developments said his company has also committed to include a handful of three-bedroom units for bigger families.
As for complaints the project is being rushed to a vote before the upcoming election, he said the community has known about it since last November. Waiting for a new council to deliberate could push construction back to 2019 and escalate costs, he said.