Development would transform Dollarton
Some area residents worry about increased traffic congestion if huge venture proceeds
One of the largest development proposals in the history of the North Shore was headed to district council Monday night, but some residents and local politicians fear nearby roads won’t be able to handle the thousands of new residents, workers and tourists the multi-use project could bring.
The Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Darwin Properties venture calls for 18 buildings, ranging from two to eight storeys and filled with rental housing, office space and hotel rooms, according to a report by district staff to council. They would be built in the Maplewood North Innovation District, between Dollarton Highway and Mount Seymour Parkway, about 1.5 kilometres east of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.
District staff recommended councillors refer the project to public hearing, but at least one councillor, Jim Hanson, is strongly opposed.
“I’m trying not to froth at the mouth at my anger at this proposal,” Hanson said in an interview early Monday. “I think it’s exactly the wrong move at the wrong time for our community. … We have a crisis developing with respect to transportation.”
Nadine Sheppard, a longtime Deep Cove resident, spelled out just what that transportation problem seemed to be.
“We are a body of land that has these two veins that connect us to other areas,” Sheppard said, referring to Dollarton Highway and Mount Seymour Parkway — the only routes in and out of areas east of Highway 1 such as Deep Cove, Seymour Heights and Dollarton.
The routes are getting busier with increased development in the area, and residents are feeling the pain of heavy traffic, she said. “We’re really getting slammed.”
The proponents want to build 230 market rental units and another 450 affordable rental units, as well as a 56,000-sq.-ft. hotel at the site. The development also calls for more than 1.35 million sq. ft. of employment space for “innovation industrial, business, office, commercial retail, service and personal service” uses, according to the documents.
Also included in the proposal are a central plaza for recreation and cultural use, new parkland, expanded wetland, and a waterfront area. The proposed district would be built to encourage alternative forms of transportation such as car sharing, transit and cycling, according to the report. Included in the proposed project are plans to construct additional lanes on Dollarton Highway and a new connecting road to the Mount Seymour Parkway.
It is unclear from the district report who owns the land that is up for redevelopment. Staff at the district referred Postmedia to the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Darwin Properties on that question. Neither immediately responded to requests for information.
Councillor Roger Bassam said he was in favour of the proposal.
“I’ve been a major proponent of looking at Maplewood as a centre for economic development for the district for many years,” he said.