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Commercial Drive development alarms neighbourhood

Developer says design improved based on feedback

An East Vancouver resident group is worried about the proposed rezoning application for land at Commercial Drive and East 18th Avenue.

Cressey Development submitted the application, which envisions the rezoning of 3365 Commercial Dr. and 1695 to 1775 East 18th Ave. from single-family dwelling to comprehensive development. The proposal, which is under the city's Rental 100 program, involves five lots — one is owned by the city and would be sold to Cressey if the rezoning is approved.

A 1911 building would be relocated from one area to another area of the site and it would be converted into two market residential units, according the plan. Three townhouses would be built behind it. Meanwhile, a four-storey building connected to a six-storey building adjacent to Commercial Drive would produce 112 secured market rental units — 25 studios, 45 one-bedrooms, 32 two-bedrooms, and 10 three-bedrooms.

cressey

But Cedar Cottage Area Neighbours (CCAN) argues the proposal is too dense, not compatible with the single-family neighbourhood and would result in the loss of too many mature trees. CCAN also says the proposal would “reward speculative land assembly,” arguing the city lot, which includes the vestiges of a small stream, should remain in the city’s ownership for future generations to enjoy.  

“The thing that really doesn’t fit is the notion of going from the green [area] you can see from the top of the 18th Street hill to a bunch of concrete,” explained Lesley McLean, a CCAN spokesperson.

“So if you reduce the scale of the proposal, the logic would say you don’t need as big a parking lot and you aren’t going to kill as many trees.”

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McLean added that this kind of proposal doesn’t bring extra funding for community amenities.

“So, it’s how many [developments] can we absorb without our services being reduced. We wonder if the infrastructure is there,” she said.

McLean would prefer to see a small apartment building at 3365 Commercial Dr,. where the old house is located, and some townhouses around the city-owned plot with a pocket park.

“And then it fits in with the neighbourhood vision,” she said.

Jason Turcotte, Cressey’s vice president of development, said the application is the result of several iterations of design that were in response to an initial open house held a couple of years ago, as well as discussions with the city’s planning department.

Turcotte said the developer has tried to respond to public concerns, including retaining additional trees and continuing to look into options to save more trees.

“We certainly heard some concerns about parking and the number of units,” Turcotte added. “We had initially proposed some commercial space in the project, so that’s been eliminated, and by virtue of that we were able to increase the number of residential parking stalls substantially. So we heard some of the feedback, whether it be from the neighbourhood groups specifically or just people who attended our first open house and we’ve tried to incorporate a bunch of that in this redesign.”

He maintains Cressey has made major strides towards a more suitable development, including its proposal to save five of seven trees in a grove at the corner, which is the most prominent stand of trees on the site.

An open house about the application runs from 5 to 8 p.m., May 21 at the Croatian Cultural Centre.

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