The Red Door Housing Society will submit a new application to redevelop the Ladner Willows complex.
Representatives with the society and others, including BC Housing and a communications firm, were on hand for a presentation at Delta council’s committee of the whole meeting Tuesday to go over the plan to redevelop the 40-unit low-income townhouse complex, located in the 5600-block of Ladner Trunk Road. The proposal would see a 146-unit complex replace the existing structure.
The new building would be five storeys including four storeys of residential units and one of above-grade parking.
A formal rezoning application has not yet been submitted.
An amendment to the Official Community Plan (OCP), a public hearing would be required as part of an application as the current OCP for the site has a maximum of 48 units.
This June, emotions ran high at a public hearing for the earlier application to redevelop the site into 150-unit non-market rental complex, a proposal that was unanimously rejected by council.
Society executive director Bailey Mumford told council this week that they’ve made several changes within the Society, including adding new members to their board with experience in affordable housing, changes to staffing at all levels including new, experienced property managers, as well as streamlined their internal processes to be more responsive.
He said they’ve “embraced a culture of continual improvement.”
The city’s planning department notes that a key change in this proposal would see an increase to a building setback, resulting in the loss of four units.
The society’s power point presentation said, “We heard the feedback from council and the community during our previous application and we have acted on it….Red Door Housing Society has made changes to our team and operations in response to this feedback, and to align with industry best practices for community engagement, project development, operations and maintenance.”
A Delta staff report on the latest proposal notes the next step for the owner is to prepare detailed architectural and landscape plans and supporting documentation before submitting a formal development application.
Upon receipt of an application, staff would prepare a report to council advising of a public engagement process.
