Delta council has denied a proposal to put up a 3.5-storey office and retail building on 12th Avenue and 53A Street in Tsawwassen following a public hearing on Monday.
Council’s vote was unanimous with Coun. Dylan Kruger calling for residential housing to be a priority.
“This council should be supporting more housing in Tsawwassen,” said Kruger, who added he gets calls on almost a weekly basis from citizens asking if he knows of anywhere to live. “I just can’t in good conscience, in this context of the housing crisis that we’re in, support changing the designation for a site that is currently housing, to commercial.”
If that exact project was closer to 56th Street, he’d support it, “because it is a good-looking building.”
He pointed out that it’s an office building with potential use for medical services and said he’d like to see an application for residential use with plans for green space below the power lines, instead of a parking lot, which was proposed in the application.
“Great building, wrong location. We need more housing and this council, I really believe, should be supporting more housing in Tsawwassen,” Kruger said.
Coun. Alicia Guichon said she heard from residents that the project should be more of a mixed-use concept that will blend into the area.
“I think the application could be improved … and address more of the residents’ concerns,” she said.
Mayor George Harvie said he hoped the developer would go back to staff and work on an alternative design.
“Personally, I thought the development was OK, until such time as it included that single family residential lot,” he said.
The proposal has been a controversial one for neighbours, who said the building didn’t fit in the residential area.
Roberta Bradshaw, representing 26 owners at Heron Place on 54A Street, spoke against the proposal saying it’s in a great family area, “as opposed to a large, intrusive building,” and that owners she represents were hoping the project will be revised.
However, Keith McGee favoured the idea and said that having a nice office building will attract professionals.
He’s a recently retired lawyer and couldn’t find modern office space in Delta and had to open an office in Surrey.
“So having offices out here to attract professionals, I think, is really important to stop people having to commute … into places like Richmond, Ladner, Surrey, for their professionals,” McGee said.
Resident Tanya Hawke created an online petition that drew 366 supporters and said they support the commercial development at the corner, but not as was currently proposed.
She just wanted to pause and take another look at the proposal, adding that the building was too large and too high for that corner.
