Councillor blasts committee decision to block developer request

Ward 1 Coun. Darren Hill said he's concerned city council's planning and development committee has effectively “snubbed its nose” at 224 affordable rental units.

“I just can't believe that there was no will to consider coming to a compromise, or a solution,” Hill said of Monday's session.

The committee voted to reject a request by developer Arbutus Properties to remove a hold placed on a parcel of land in Rosewood, where Arbutus wants to build the sister tower to its Parkway apartment building. The city has had a hold in place on the land since 2014, which prevents development until the parcel has adequate sewer and water service.

Arbutus has committed to building the required services and says the work is expected to be finished by year-end. Murray Totland, Arbutus's director of planning, told the committee the company just wants to put in the building's foundation this year. He said Arbutus faces a deadline to get started in order to keep Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. funding it secured under a program meant to encourage affordable rental housing.

Hill isn't a member of the committee, but sat in on the session, so was allowed to ask questions. He tried to steer the conversation toward having Arbutus get a permit that would only allow for the foundation, but said he's left stunned that the project has now stalled at the committee stage.

“I think it was the wrong decision. I think it should have been all of council having a conversation about this, not a committee of five,” he said, adding he's concerned the vote could jeopardize the apartment complex, and other Arbutus projects, such as a long-sought downtown grocery store the firm wants to build in Midtown Plaza.

Ward 2 Coun. Hilary Gough was among the committee members who voted to keep the hold in place.

She said these are an important tool for the city to keep developers accountable; otherwise there's a risk the city ends up on the hook for installing services.

She said there's a balance to be found between flexibility and the risk the city takes on, and she felt city staff had done their job in assessing the request.

“This isn't simply about removing the hold symbol on one property,” she said, adding this is a lengthy process roughly equivalent to a rezoning. She said she was also concerned about the precedent it would set.

“The technical requirements simply haven't been met. Making exception to that would have implications for what expectations we could have about using that tool in the future, and how seriously that tool will be taken.”

Gough said she remains confident the second building will go up, even if it's not exactly on the timeline Arbutus requested.

Totland told Postmedia on Tuesday that it was still too early to know exactly how the decision will affect Arbutus's plans, both for the tower and for the grocery store.

He said all Arbutus's projects are tied together, with cash raised from completing one often flowing into the next one.

“When something doesn't quite fit — or goes astray, shall we say — it just creates a lot of uncertainty with that plan,” he said.

Totland said that while the company is “befuddled” by this week's decision, Arbutus is far from done, and that setbacks are part of the ebb and flow of the development business.

“We're still going to try and deliver quality projects,” he said. “We'll regroup and refocus and try to move forward.”