Delta council at its Oct. 21 meeting gave preliminary approval for a revised high-density residential development on Ladner Trunk that won’t have designated rentals.
The application for the site at 5349, 5359 and 5367 Ladner Trunk Rd. and 4834 and 4844 53 St. includes a 222-unit market residential apartment development with accessory office space on the ground floor.
An original proposal, which received preliminary approval following a public hearing last year, included 87 rental units as well as 11 fewer units overall.
Comprising of two, six-storey buildings, the revised application has more units with no rentals included.
A public hearing is no longer required for the revised application because it is consistent with the site’s new Official Community Plan (OCP) designation.
An existing city-owned lane runs in a north-south direction from Ladner Trunk Road along the southeast boundary of the site and in an east-west direction between the properties to 53 Street.
To consolidate the properties, the applicant requested the closure, cancellation and purchase of the portion of city-owned lane, which hasn’t changed from the previous application.
A draft agreement in the original application would see the city paid $1.8 million, while the development would be required to indemnify the city for all costs that may be incurred related to the lane closure.
The owner would also have to pay the cost of any necessary works or claims to satisfy the city’s statutory obligations to provide another means of access to the adjacent property as a result of the closure.
Eastlink, the owner of the east adjacent property at 5381 Ladner Trunk Rd, previously noted concerns regarding the potential loss of access to their property, parking, and impacts to their business operations during the first application.
A report to council notes that, since then, staff have been engaging with them to better understand their concerns and potential impacts on their property should the lane be closed. Eastlink outlined their estimated costs related to the impact of the lane closure on their property at $1,384,008.
Under the terms of the draft conditional road closure and transfer agreement, the applicant is responsible for those costs, the report notes.
However, the applicant, Hardeep Bassi, Bassi Properties/Highmark Homes Ltd., requested an amendment to the agreement so that that they would only be required to provide $25,000 towards Eastlink’s claim of impact costs.
Staff have reviewed the request and are not supportive of adjusting the terms of the draft agreement previously considered and given approval in principle by council, which required the purchaser to indemnify the city for all costs that may be incurred or associated with closing the lane, the report notes.
“It is important to note that the city considered the road closure and sale at the request of the owner. Further, the city is required to meet provincially legislated requirements to close a road and dispose of public land including receiving fair market value. The owner could decide to abandon the lane closure should the costs exceed what is viable for the proposal at which point a revised application and design would need to be considered,” the report adds.
