823-841 Sixth Street

At their December 14, 2020 meeting, Council directed staff to explore options for enhancing the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund, with the intent of providing Council with more opportunities to support more affordable housing projects per year. Staff was to report back with a recommendation regarding the City financially supporting the project proposed by Aboriginal Land Trust Society (ALT) at 823-841 Sixth Street once this work was complete.

As noted in a previous project update, the applicant has stated that this project is reliant on funding from each level of government, including the City. The applicant has also stated that a financial contribution from the City would greatly improve the application’s likelihood of success in received funding from BC Housing.

The work to explore options for enhancing the Fund is now underway. However, it cannot be completed within the timeline required for BC Housing’s consideration of funding the proposed project.

As is typical, BC Housing does not expect to fund offsite costs “over and above” the typical offsite servicing and infrastructure. As this project does include higher than typical costs staff identified $631,000 that could be allocated to the project. This includes:

• the Electrical Utility funding the added off-site utility requirements associated with providing three phase overhead power to the site property line (maximum $100,000);
• funding the implementation of the Uptown Streetscape Vision (maximum $115,000), including: the Sixth Street cyclist route ($25,000) and the multi-use path ($90,000); and
• funding being allocated from the Affordable Housing Reserve Fund (maximum $416,000) to towards the offsite servicing and infrastructure costs for the project. A total made available due to another project with allocated funding no longer advancing in 2021.

At their meeting on May 3, 2021, Council supported a grant of $631,000 to be provided by the City toward the offsite servicing and infrastructure costs. The allocation of these funds are subject to: staff review and acceptance of the project proforma; approval of project funding from BC Housing; and approval by Council of the proposed Official Community Plan (OCP) and zoning bylaw amendment applications. All other project costs would be the responsibility of the applicant.

The project was presented to the Advisory Planning Commission (APC) at their meeting on March 16, 2021. The APC is a City advisory body made up of nine members of the public appointed by Council. The role of the APC is to advise Council on an application such as this, which requires a change to zoning and the Official Community Plan. The APC makes a recommendation to Council, either supporting or not supporting the application, but it is solely at Council’s discretion whether to approve or not to approve the application.

The APC meeting was advertised by:

• Mailing postcard to all owners and occupants within 100 metres (328 feet) of the site. A total of 176 postcard were distributed.
• Sending letters sent to the Glenbrooke North Residents Association, New Westminster School District, and New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society.
• Posting information on the Be Heard New West project page.

Correspondence was received from 91 people. Through this correspondence, a total of 37 people expressed support for the project (41%), 52 were opposed (57%), and 2 did not express a clear position (2%). A letter summarizing the petition previously submitted to the City in opposition of the project was also submitted to the APC. At the meeting, the APC heard from 27 speakers, of whom 12 spoke in favour (44%), 13 spoke in opposition (48%), and 2 did not clearly state a position but suggested changes to the proposal (7%).

After receiving the correspondence and hearing from the speakers the APC unanimously passed the following motion:

THAT the Advisory Planning Commission support the Official Community Plan amendment and rezoning application for the proposed affordable housing project at 823-841 Sixth Street.

To learn more about the APC or review the staff report and correspondence received please visit: www.newwestcity.ca/apc.

The minutes from the meeting will also be available on the APC webpage after the next meeting.

The applicant-led engagement process took place from January 4 to 27, 2021. Options for comment were provided through email, the comment feature on the applicant’s project website, and virtual meeting sessions. The engagement activities as well as a summary of questions and comments received can be found in the Applicant-led Engagement Summary (prepared by the applicant).

The feedback will be considered by the applicant as revisions are made to the project. In addition, the feedback has been received and reviewed by staff. This feedback is being compiled with other feedback submitted directly to the City. A summary of all the feedback received will be included in a staff report that will be submitted to Council prior to their consideration of whether or not to support the project.

What We Heard

City staff has summarized the feedback received during applicant-led consultation, with the primary comments expressed relating to the following:

• The size and density of the development in relation to the surrounding neighbourhood context – Issues were raised about the overall size and height of the building as well as about shadowing impacts on adjacent properties.
• The proposed location of the development within the city – Some residents questioned the appropriateness of this location for the proposed building as opposed to elsewhere in the city. Others expressed support for this location as an appropriate site for a multi-unit development, given the proximity to the high school and transit, and the walkable nature of the area.
• Inconsistency with the Official Community Plan (OCP) – An OCP amendment is required to accommodate this form of development in this location. Questions were raised about the appropriateness of amending the OCP to accommodate this development. Some residents commented that OCP amendments should be considered if a substantial societal and community benefit, such as the affordable housing proposed in this application, is provided as a result.
• Affordable housing in the community – Comments were made in support of this development which responds to the region’s housing crisis and a need to increase the amount of affordable housing in the city.
• Reconciliation and inclusivity – Comments were made that this project is a step forward in terms of reconciliation and promoting inclusivity in the community, and that this development could benefit the community by providing multigenerational living and by promoting intercultural communities.
• Parking – Issues were raised about the amount of parking proposed on site for the building’s residents and about potential impacts to on street parking.
• Traffic impacts – Issues were raised related to increased traffic volumes in the area and in the back lane.

The applicant has stated that this project is reliant on government funding, and has applied to funding programs under the Provincial and Federal governments. While the applicant had requested a financial contribution of $2.4 million from the City, the City has not allocated any funding to the project in the 2021-2025 Capital Plan. Staff has been directed by Council to report back on options to provide more financial support to affordable housing projects in the city. A date has not yet been set for this report. Given the number of affordable housing initiatives throughout the city, and the current affordable housing funding structure, it is likely that if money is allocated to this project, it would be less than requested by the applicant.

Click here to view the updated shadow analysis.