12-unit townhouse project gets green light in Edgemont

A 12-unit townhouse development that took multiple years to receive a go-ahead has been approved for a site in North Vancouver’s Edgemont Village.

The townhouse project, at the corner of Brookridge Drive and Ridgewood Drive, will see 12 three-bedroom townhouses, ranging in size from 1,800 to 2,000 square feet, built in five buildings on what are now three single-family lots.

Two of the units will be accessible townhouses.

District of North Vancouver council gave third reading to the project at its regular meeting Jan. 8.

A staff report on the project noted the site is within an area designated “residential periphery” under the Edgemont Plan, earmarked for multi-family housing up to 2.5 storeys high.

The project includes 27 parking spaces equipped with electric vehicle charging outlets, as well as 28 bicycle parking spaces.

The project will also provide $1.3 million in off-site upgrades, including sewer, water and storm water upgrades, boulevard planting, a bike lane extension and new bus shelter along Ridgewood Drive and new sidewalks and parking pockets on both streets.

Key issues raised about the project include ongoing concerns with traffic volume and parking in the neighbourhood. Three traffic studies were done and concluded the impact of the townhouse project is expected to be minimal, according to a staff report.

Several council members spoke about their support for the project as something that will benefit the community by providing housing for the “missing middle.”

Coun. Lisa Muri said she still has concerns about more development contributing to traffic pressures.

“We were told that if we built density, transit will come and people will get out of their cars, but that hasn’t happened,” she said. “It’s not getting better, it’s getting worse.”

Muri added the development falls far short of being affordable. “The kind of developments we’re building are multi-million-dollar units that are very expensive,” she said.

Coun. Betty Forbes shared those concerns, saying, “I really, really want affordable housing in the district, and this is not affordable housing,” though she added that “affordable” is a relative term.

“It’s affordable for the Edgemont area,” she said. “Although it’s not affordable the way I define affordable.”