Does Delta have enough infrastructure to handle all the housing growth eyed for the Nordel Social Heart?
That was the question Mayor George Harvie posed during council’s discussion last week on an application to redevelop a commercial building into a high-density mixed-use complex.
Council approved the proposed six-storey building, which will include 84 residential units and 12,325-square-feet of commercial space, to replace the 7-Eleven at the northeast corner of 84th Avenue and 112th Street.
The project is consistent with the Urban Centre (UC) designation for the site in the new Official Community Plan, intended for mid-rise and mixed-use buildings generally up to six storeys.
The comments from members of council were positive, reiterating it is the right development for the location.
However, Harvie, who also voted in favour, wanted council to know the water and sewer capabilities for the area, as well as traffic impacts, saying that information is needed rather than looking at those issues project-by-project.
“It’s the first of two other projects we know are being looked at across the street and I’m wondering, with regards, can we have some information back on how our infrastructure that exists there today can support any more development in that area. I’m looking insofar as our ability for sewer capacity, water capacity and for overall traffic…With regards to water, this council needs to be ensured that the water capacity will be enough for the fire department,” Harvie told engineering director Steven Lan.
Lan said that he will provide a report back on some of the modelling already done as far as water and sewer, and can provide more information on additional transportation demands in the area.
Coun. Dylan Kruger wondered whether the information requested was already part of the new OCP update exercise, that projects that meet the OCP designations still require the appropriate level of infrastructure support.
Across the street is Nordel Place strip mall, which last year was sold.
In 2021, the Nordel Centre strip mall, directly across 112th Street from Nordel Place, was also sold. Plans to redevelop either have not been announced.
