Delta council on Monday (Sept. 11) agreed to send a proposed 211-unit residential development along Ladner Trunk Road to a public hearing.
Requiring an Official Community Plan amendment, the application would see the consolidation of several properties at 53 Street and Ladner Trunk Road to build a rental apartment building comprising 87 units and a market condo building with 124 dwelling units.
Two older, single-detached houses at 5349 and 5267 Ladner Trunk Road, would be demolished while the rest of the site will be vacant. The current zoning of the site is single-detached residential.
An adjacent funeral home at the corner of Ladner Trunk Road and 53 Street is not part of the proposal and would remain.
The proposed development would consist of a two-storey building podium and two L-shaped four-storey residential buildings above for a total of six storeys. The podium would consist of one level of parking and two separate building entry lobbies on 53 Street and Ladner Trunk Road at ground-level and a half-storey of internally located parking wrapped by exterior facing residential units on the second level.
The development would also include 12,443-square-feet of common outdoor amenity space consisting of a children’s play area, open lawn, covered patio, sitting and dining areas, as well as a two-storey, 3,600-square-foot common indoor amenity building.
The applicant is also proposing to acquire an existing dedicated lane that runs through the properties from Ladner Trunk Road to 53 Street to incorporate into the development site area. The lane was originally dedicated as road in 1927 at the time of the original subdivision.
As far as the potential traffic impact, a planning department report notes that a traffic study has been provided by the applicant and has been reviewed by staff.
The assessment notes that the development “would be well served by transit” along Ladner Trunk Road, while a second driveway access was added to the proposal by the applicant in response to public concerns about the potential increase in traffic on 53 Street.
A traffic analysis indicated that all study area intersections and movements are currently operating within acceptable levels during peak hour periods and that the proposed development would generate approximately 80, two-way vehicle trips during the peak hour periods.
That translates to an average of approximately four additional vehicles on the road network every three minutes, the report notes, adding that a future traffic operations analysis indicated that all study area intersections and movements are anticipated to operate within acceptable parameters, therefore, no intersection improvements are required.
The owner of the property to the east of the proposal, Persona Communications Inc., also known as Eastlink, through its legal team sent a letter to the city indicating the company “strongly opposes” the application “because of the significant negative impact” including, among other concerns, a reduction in visibility of its place of business to traffic and customers along Ladner Trunk Road and loss of use of the laneway by Eastlink, its suppliers and customers.
The public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25.
