CITY of North Vancouver council has given approval to Onni Group's request for a massive redevelopment of the Safeway site at Lonsdale Avenue and 13th Street.
In a 4-3 split vote Tuesday night, council passed second and third readings of a rezoning bylaw that will allow the developer to build 344 condos in 24-storey and 18-storey towers, along with an eight-storey office tower and commercial units on the site.
The vote is one of the last steps in a controversial public process that has been at the centre of debate for council and the community for the last two and a half years. Couns. Pam Bookham, Rod Clark and Guy Heywood voted against the bylaw.
Onni and the city negotiated an agreement for the development to include 6,100 square feet of childcare space, approximately 12 units of affordable or assisted-living housing, a connection to the city's Lonsdale Energy Corporation, $1 million for future community amenities, $250,000 for public art, higher environmental building standards and employment-generating space in the office building, all in exchange for allowing the project to grow to almost double the density called for in the official community plan and to exceed the maximum height of 180 feet by 60 feet.
Mayor Darrell Mussatto acknowledged that not everyone would love the final design and many would be adversely affected, but said it was the right balance of density and amenities in the right location.
"This is the centre of North Vancouver, not just the city, and I think this is the right place to be putting this type of density - on a transit corridor, where people work, the highest employment generator on the North Shore (the hospital). I think, overall, it's the way to go. It does fit with the other densities here in the city," he said.
In the spirit of "not letting the perfect become the enemy of the good," Coun. Craig Keating said the amenities were too good to turn down, especially when Onni could have built a simple residential building that fit the OCP with the city getting nothing in return.
"When we compare this to what the alternatives might be, I think it is very much a commendable project. I have to say it is in fact because this project delivers so many important things that I certainly value and are in keeping with our official community plan - childcare, affordable housing, commercial revitalization at this spot, office space which we need to create jobs," he said. "All of these benefits are real."
Coun. Don Bell listed the many problems the proposal has had in its various iterations over the years, including traffic ingress on 14th Street, too large a footprint of the residential towers, shadowing on Stella Jo Dean Plaza and a lack of commercial storefronts on 13th Street, almost all of which Onni was willing to change after getting public feedback and requests from council.
"I have tried since the fall in terms of dealing with this to address those in discussions with staff, in discussions with individual residents who contacted me and in discussions with the developer," he said.
"Balancing, everything, I will support this bylaw."
For Clark, the passionate battle over Onni's proposal represented a battle for the future of the city.
"I've been at the table since 1983. I've seen a lot of development. . . . My view is we should have low, slow growth. Growth has picked up significantly and is well in excess of the one per cent target as somebody said last evening," he said. "I hear it time and time again in the barbershop, in the grocery store: 'What's happening to North Vancouver? We're losing control.' This is a chance for us to take it back."
Council was left between a rock and a hard place when facing the vote, Bookham said - having to choose between a bad development that is too big and dense, and no development at all.
"That is truly an awful position to be in: to feel compelled to accept what's on offer because the developer has signalled on various occasions that if we do no support what's on offer, he will walk away. He will leave us with a derelict grocery store and an arcane parking lot. Some choice," she said.
"On balance I do not feel the benefit to the community is sufficient to support the additional height and density."
Bookham also levied a parting shot at Onni after noting the importance of respect for community, the democratic process and duly elected officials.
"I think that Onni has been found wanting in that regard," she said
Despite saying he liked the development, including the controversial height and density, Heywood voted 'nay' in philosophical protest.
North Vancouver should not use its density bonusing system to take on issues outside of the city's purview like childcare and affordable housing, particularly while major city responsibilities like a rebuilt Harry Jerome Recreation Centre go unfunded, according to Heywood.
"We have a capital spending list that is over $100 million," he said. "We now have a proposal that does very little for those future costs for the city. . . . We have to start putting money away for infrastructure that we should be paying for with the benefits the development projects."
Coun. Linda Buchanan noted that there is a tremendous need for childcare space and affordable housing, regardless of whether other levels of government are proactive in offering it.
"These are people that live in our community now, and for us to sit and wait and collect cash for some piece of land that we think we're going to find in our very small five-square miles to develop some day ourselves, or for the province or the federal government to step forward, we are wishing on a dream. It's not going to happen. I do believe there is a responsibility within our community to support the people who live here who aren't as fortunate as some of the rest of us," she said. "When I think about all these benefits, it is a balance. With these amenities, the benefits far outweigh the density that some are opposed to."
Every member of council thanked the community, supporters and detractors alike, for their respectful and passionate contributions to the process.
Outside the meeting, Beau Jarvis, Onni's vice-president of development, expressed relief.
"It's been a long process, but we made it through. I'm just happy that we persevered a little bit. It was challenging obviously because we went through some serious issues with council and members of the public at the end of the last year, but I think we've overcome that," he said.
Thanks are owed to the supporters who came out in favour the project for almost three years as well as the critics whose feedback helped shape the development, added Jarvis.
