Saanich residents will get a chance to weigh in on the future of a former church in Cadboro Bay next month.
A public hearing — an increasingly rare land-use event — will be held on Sept. 16 as developer Mike Geric Construction seeks amendments to the official community plan to redevelop the site.
The plan details an intention to build a mixed-use project with 50 units of housing.
Recently adopted provincial rules prohibit public hearings for certain residential development applications that are consistent with a municipality’s official community plan.
Public hearings are required only for land-use changes that involve OCP amendments or to establish bylaws for heritage revitalization agreements and designation of heritage properties.
Geric needs an amendment to remove the site at 2625 Arbutus Rd., the former Cadboro Bay United Church, from the institutional lands designation and to retain the site’s primary growth area land-use designation.
Saanich council passed the motion unanimously to move the application to a public hearing.
Coun. Colin Plant noted that heading to an open hearing is designed to take the temperature of the community and hear what residents have to say.
Plant stressed that the vote to move the project forward was not an indication of support for the application.
The project being considered is a four-storey apartment with what the developer calls institutional use on the ground level. It has been suggested the space could be used as a school.
Three three-storey townhome complexes are included in the project.
In total there will be 50 units of housing, 24 of them in the apartment building and the rest in the townhomes. The residential units will have underground parking.
The project envisions community amenity contributions worth $195,688, more than $30,000 in excess of what is recommended.
That money would be split with $65,000 for the Saanich affordable housing reserve fund, $90,000 in in-kind contributions and improvements to a public pathway, $20,000 for a crosswalk, $5,000 for a bus shelter and $15,000 in road improvements.
Saanich staff have recommended that council approve the project and the amendment to the OCP as it advances objectives of the community plan, meets or exceeds development permit guidelines and provides significant amenities beyond the recommended amenity contributions.
Staff noted that the development would provide housing diversity and supply, help in creating 15-minute communities, and integrate sustainable transportation with land use.
