Revised Tantalus Gardens plan for Horseshoe Bay heads back to public hearing

A year and a half after West Vancouver council halted a Horseshoe Bay development plan on the site of a former church, the project is back – this time with four more small single-family homes but minus the duplexes and parkade.

In the latest version of the plan for Tantalus Gardens, QUMA Properties is proposing to build 10 small two-storey single-family homes of 1,780 square feet on four lots in Horseshoe Bay. The lots between Wellington and Nelson avenues at Rosebery Avenue include the site of St. Monica’s Anglican Church, which the parish members and the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster closed in 2013. The property was sold in July 2018.

The latest Tantalus Gardens plan comes over a year after council voted to put the original development plan – which included a mix of single-family homes and duplexes over a parkade – on ice.

Neighbours at the time voiced concerns about traffic and parking, that the units wouldn’t be affordable and would result in too many trees being lost. Mostly though, they lamented the potential loss of the public assembly zoning where the church stands.

In the face of those concerns, in October 2019, council voted to put off a decision on the project until after the Horseshoe Bay local area plan was completed.

The plan has since been completed.

As it now stands, half of the four lots in the development are within the local area plan, and rezoned to allowed for infill housing, while half are outside but directly adjacent to the plan boundary.

In the current plan, the parkade has been scrapped in favour of attached garages.

The development, which includes three and four-bedroom designs, would provide needed “missing middle” housing, according to a staff report, and be similar in size to older houses in the Horseshoe Bay neighbourhood, but significantly smaller to many homes being built in West Vancouver today. Basements could also be used as secondary rental suites.

The development would also bring in over $373,000 in community amenity contributions that could be used toward promoting the goals of the Horseshoe Bay local area plan, according to staff.

At a public information meeting held earlier by the developer, some of the same concerns expressed by residents to the earlier plan were raised by those attending, including the loss of the historic community gathering space in the church and potential cost of the houses proposed.

Council members addressed the issue of the church in giving the rezoning and OCP amendment bylaws for the development plan first reading Feb. 7.

Coun. Bill Soprovich said some people expect the municipality to save St. Monica’s for public use but said that would involve the district buying the property, putting money into a new facility and paying for staff and programming – which is unlikely. “We don’t own it,” he said. “The developer owns it.”

Mayor Mary-Ann Booth pointed out that since the time the church was a focal point for the community, there have been other community amenities built like the Gleneagles Community Centre and private daycares.

She said it could be argued there are more community spaces now in Horseshoe Bay than there were in the past.

Council voted to send the project to a public hearing on March 7.

Coun. Nora Gambioli recused herself from the vote and discussion, saying she owns property in the area.