The Red Door Housing Society has submitted a new application to the City of Delta to redevelop the Ladner Willows complex.
The proposal would see 146 units replace the existing complex.
Representatives with the society and others, including BC Housing and a communications firm, earlier this year made a pre-application presentation to council to go over the plan to redevelop the 40-unit low-income townhouse complex, located in the 5600-block of Ladner Trunk Road.
The new building would be five storeys including four storeys of residential units and one of above-grade parking.
Society executive director Bailey Mumford explained that they’ve made several changes to their organization including adding new members to their board with experience in affordable housing, changes in staffing at all levels including new, experienced property managers, as well as streamlining their internal processes to be more responsive.
He said they’ve “embraced a culture of continual improvement.”
A key change from a previous rezoning and Official Community Plan amendment proposal is an increase to a building setback, resulting in the loss of four units from what had originally been proposed.
Emotions ran high at a public hearing in June 2022 for the previous application to redevelop the site into 150-unit non-market rental complex, a proposal that was unanimously rejected by council.
Council received several pieces of correspondence in opposition including a 238-name petition.
Most speakers at the hearing voiced opposition, with area residents saying they are not opposed to more non-market housing, but were concerned about the scale, density and impacts to their neighbourhood.
Also speaking in opposition were remaining tenants of the complex, complaining about the state of disrepair and neglect by management.
During council’s discussion following the hearing, then Coun. Jeannie Kanakos said Red Door Housing needed to come back to the drawing board, describing the situation as “embarrassing.”
Coun. Dylan Kruger agreed, saying it was clear more work is needed by Red Door Housing to rebuild trust. He also noted the city has a housing crisis, but suitable developments are needed for everyone.
