Qualicum Beach council is looking at proposal for a five-storey, mixed-use building that could include a medical clinic on the ground floor.
Council discussed the scope of a 55-unit project proposed for 201, 207, 211 First Ave. W during its June 18 meeting, and ended up with a request that staff work with the applicant on a scaled-back version that could see the building lowered to three storeys.
The three lots would be consolidated, with some sections of the building three storeys tall, while others will be four or five storeys, according to a presentation by Luke Sales, director of planning.
The applicant has proposed to donate a ground commercial unit to the town, for use as a medical clinic or other community use.
“This proposal includes an offer that if the town wants to incorporate into the zoning the height as proposed and the density as proposed they will transfer the commercial space to the town at no cost,” Sales said.
The project would require a zoning change from residential to Comprehensive Development Zone 22, a site-specific zone created in response to this application which would increase the allowed density from 34 units to 55 units and ground floor commercial.
Coun. Anne Skipsey said the "scale and the height" of the building are too tall, and added council would need increase the zoning height from 12.75 metres to 20.6 metres.
She made a motion that town staff work with the proponent on a three-storey proposal.
“We keep hearing again and again when we do our OCP that it's the small-town character that people like the most about Qualicum Beach,” Skipsey added.
Coun. Scott Harrison said to require the developer to scale back to three storeys would effectively turn down the donation, since the project would not have enough units to make it work financially.
“This is a rare opportunity to basically have a medical clinic gifted to the town," Harrison said. "I’d suggest if we want to have a hard limit on [the number of storeys], we’d have to be very generous about things like tax status, offering multiple years tax free to make the money work.”
The town needs the density, Coun. Jean Young said, and added that Qualicum Beach already has multiple buildings that are five storeys tall.
“It’s all about density, the province is saying that we’re not building enough and here’s an opportunity where a developer is going to do, you know, these added units and so I’m in favour of this project,” she added.
Coun. Petronella Vander Valk said the proposal does not meet the town's official community plan requirements, and that council needs to respect the neighbours. She added the town has other options it can consider for a healthcare facility.
According to Sales, town staff believe the project complies with the OCP in terms of location, use and density.
“The OCP does discuss height and discusses that three stories should be generally considered the maximum, higher buildings can be considered on a case by case basis,” he said.
Mayor Teunis Westbroek said he would like to see the project move forward and encouraged council to look for a compromise.
His amendment to Skipsey's motion, which changed the wording to include "reduce to three storeys with some flexibility that still maintains the character of the town" was passed.
