West Van Municipal Council approves version of Ambleside apartment plan

On Monday night, city council adopted a slimmed-down version of West Vancouver’s local plan for the Ambleside apartment area, two weeks after the same plan was rejected.

The plan adopted on Monday lowered the maximum height of future buildings in several areas after the council heard concerns at an earlier public hearing about the prospect of “non-stop high-rise construction”.

In particular, the maximum height of future apartment buildings in the “Hollyburn Corner” area across from the West Vancouver Community Centre has been reduced from 14 storeys to four, and the maximum on former land-use sites in the 1300 block of Clyde and Duchess Avenues has been reduced from 14 storeys to 12. Infill housing on a large site at 2222 Bellevue Ave. — the “Pink Palace” apartment building — is to be sited so as to minimize the impact on views of surrounding apartments, according to the new plan. Redevelopment on church and public meeting sites has also been reduced in some cases and should be encouraged to be ground-level on sites along Esquimalt Avenue, the plan says.

“I think these measures will go a long way toward addressing the concerns we’ve heard from the community,” said West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager.

Councillor Linda Watt agreed, saying she saw many community members as uncomfortable with the way some of the earlier changes – involving higher building heights – were implemented.

But Sager made it clear that the council is not finished with the plan and plans to submit further amendments in September to address specific locations.

The plan, which is intended to guide the future development of the Ambleside apartment complex in the area, has already gone through several previous versions.

At a public hearing in June, several building owners, including the owners of the iconic 1960s ‘Pink Palace’, owners of Ambleside Towers and the Ambleside Tenants Association, spoke out in favour of allowing higher density and infill housing on large lots to create more housing. Several members of St Stephen’s Anglican Church – which is also considering a redevelopment – ​​also spoke enthusiastically about the plan.

Several residents of a former land contract building at 1340 Duchess Ave. also spoke out in favor of higher density on their property, adding that the current owners are currently dealing with “very costly repairs” and that higher density is needed to make redevelopment of the building economically feasible.

However, other residents expressed concerns about the height of the planned high-rise buildings.

Several people also raised concerns that if a development proposal included a building height of up to 14 stories and that height was already in the OCP, there would be no further public hearing on the plan under county rules.

At the July 8 meeting where the plan was rejected by council, both councillors Christine Cassidy and Linda Watt said the building heights in the plan were too high in several areas along Marine Drive.

“I also think we need to look at, consider and respect the views of organisations like ADRA (the Ambleside Dundarave Residents Association) who represent many citizens within that community,” Watt said.

Councillor Nora Gambioli noted that young people who came to the public hearing had urged the council to create more housing, adding that it was the council’s job to consider the future needs of the entire district.

On Monday she said she had preferred the plan with higher maximum heights, but would support the compromise agreement reached by the council.

Earlier this month, the council unanimously approved a new policy for rental housing replacement and tenant assistance, designed to help tenants who are at risk of eviction due to redevelopment plans.