Nanaimo city council is proceeding with re-zoning for an apartment complex in Harewood, but won't permit vehicle access to the site via neighbouring residential streets.
A re-zoning application for 56 apartments at 335 Third St. came before council at a meeting Monday, May 26, and several area residents spoke in opposition to the idea of traffic being sent through Wharton Street and Georgia Avenue to access the property.
The route was included as part a traffic review by Watt Consulting Group and commissioned by Seward Developments Inc. The review and a staff traffic engineering study listed risks of access via Third Street that included traffic volumes, left turns in front of oncoming traffic, limited space for turnout lanes, proximity to a bus stop, and other factors. Third Street is also about to be upgraded with raised cycling lanes and other amenities as an alternative transportation route. Wharton Street and Georgia Avenue have comparatively low traffic volumes, but residents and council members argued that higher traffic volumes on those streets could endanger pedestrians as those streets are narrow, have ditches and no sidewalks, and there are no plans to add sidewalks.
At a public information meeting last June at the Nanaimo Ice Centre, members of the public expressed concerns about site access, traffic, building heights, and protection of the Cat Stream that flows past the property. Delegates at this week's meeting expressed the same concerns.
Council was split over going with the city staff recommendation to access the site via Wharton Street and Georgia Avenue versus shifting access to the site from Third Street. Coun. Janice Perrino said she thought it was unwise to go against what staff had recommended.
“My concern is that staff give us their best direction that they think is the safest and I’m very hesitant to change it … I’m very much against going against staff who’ve spent serious amounts of time reviewing this at length and deciding what is the best and safest way for the traffic to go through,” she said.
Coun. Erin Hemmens said she heard quite clearly from the people who live in the neighbourhood that increased traffic on the side streets would be a burden, but couldn't support voting against staff's recommendation.
“I’m not a traffic engineer and, so, when the traffic engineers come and say, ‘This is where we think it should go,’ it’s hard for me to question that,” she said, adding that she was also keeping in mind cost implications of upgrades on Third Street.
Coun. Sheryl Armstrong said she thought the Third Street access was the safer route and reminded council that it “had no problem" approving development and increasing traffic along Metral Drive "and we heard that this is going to be a complete street too, so I don’t see any difference between the two.”
The re-zoning passed three readings, with council voting 5-4 to direct staff to secure a restriction to limit vehicle access to the site from Third Street only, with councillors Perrino, Hemmens and Ian Thorpe and Mayor Leonard Krog opposed.
Council voted unanimously in favour of Coun. Ben Geselbracht's motion to apply $40,000 of the developer's $410,000 community amenity contribution to habitat restoration of the Cat Stream, which flows past the development site. The remainder would be applied to the city's housing legacy reserve fund.
“I will definitely be supporting this,” Armstrong said. “That was one of the concerns that was raised by the neighbourhood, that they were concerned about the Cat Stream, and I think it’s a least a way to get money back to the community that’s being impacted by this, because right now they see no benefit from this project. Zero. They’re not getting sidewalks. They’re not getting lighting … so this is a way to at least help the community with one of their concerns.”
