It’s likely to be a full house at Saanich council chambers Monday night as councillors get a first look at a proposal to bring 104 units of housing to the Swan Lake neighbourhood.
Abstract Developments has plans for a seven-storey mixed-use building in a neighbourhood that had decidedly mixed feelings about the size and impact of another Abstract project, a 25-unit townhouse complex that was approved by Saanich council in the spring.
That townhouse project at the northeast corner of Rainbow Street and Sevenoaks Road is right around the corner from the latest project, which envisions replacing three single-family homes at 801, 811 and 821 McKenzie Aven. with one large apartment complex.
That might be why the company opted to meet with council sitting as committee of the whole, which allows council to make suggestions and guide the project in the early stages, with the idea it might face less resistance when it comes back to the district for approval. “We requested to go to committee of the whole as an additional opportunity to engage with mayor, council, and the community and to collect input on our application prior to entering the public hearing process,” said Abstract chief executive Tavish Rai.
Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock said it’s an unusual situation, as Saanich does not typically consider land-use applications as part of committee of the whole.
“This one’s a bit unique. It’s coming forward sort of incomplete. There are pieces of it that still need to be considered and the applicant is putting this in front of council in order to get some guidance on how they would complete the project in the hope that it would be approved,” he said.
Saanich is expecting a long night on Monday. Other than a public forum, it is the lone item on the agenda for the evening.
Murdock said the scheduling was prudent given that they expect the development to draw a crowd.
“But I’m not totally sure yet what that [reaction] is going to look like. It’s hard to tell if this one has the same impact of the one that was on Rainbow Street, because this one isn’t in the neighbourhood — it’s on the edge fronting onto McKenzie.”
Murdock suggested there are likely to be more of these kinds of projects coming to the district given the housing shortage and new housing-unit targets set by the province.
In an effort to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing, last month the province set a goal for Saanich of 4,610 new units within five years.
“It’s very clear that we are going to have to move forward on a considerable increase in the number of homes that are approved,” Murdock said.
But he also noted that while large projects like this can tick a lot of boxes, they are not easy decisions for council as they must be considered through the lenses of location, policy frameworks like official community plans and local area plans as well as the kind of impact they will have on infrastructure.
Abstract’s plans for the three combined sites on McKenzie include 18 studio units, 64 one-bedroom and 22 two-bedroom units, though Saanich staff have already encouraged inclusion of some three-bedroom units.
The building will have one commercial unit at ground level, and two levels of underground parking with 89 parking spaces, which is 67 short of what the existing bylaws require.
Abstract is proposing $520,000 as a community amenity contribution to be used by the district as it sees fit.
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