A creative “what if” idea to essentially combine separate development proposals on opposite sides of the Trans Canada Highway in View Royal into one received a positive, if cautious reception from mayor and council Tuesday.
Representatives of Limona Construction admitted they were “going in the wrong direction” with a previous application to put 45 single-family homes on the site of Thetis Lake Campground at 1938 West Park Ln.
Having heard council’s feedback at the February meeting, the builders offered up a plan Tuesday that would place four five-storey condo buildings – 240 units – and 46 townhomes on that site. In exchange, a current residential development application for a similar-sized property at the base of Mill Hill at 200 Cheam Rd., directly across the TCH, would be replaced with provision of a green space amenity.
“We just wanted to ask if we were on the right track,” said project development consultant Mark Johnston, who presented the plan with Limona partner Mike Baier.
Limona is working with the owner of the campground, who wishes to retire, on purchasing and developing the 12.8-acre parkside land, which mostly contains long-term residents in modular homes. The builder has been working similarly with the Martino family, owners of the Mill Hill area property, on possibilities for developing their land.
Both development applications initially faced opposition from council, the campground for its lack of density and the Mill Hill proposal for its potential to carve up a chunk of the hillside.
Both proposals are still in the early stages, but Johnston said they were looking for a “win-win” scenario. If higher density development was approved for the West Park Lane site, it would allow Limona leverage to make an agreement with the Martinos to allow parkland on their property, he added.
“Because of the increased density, it allows for a transfer of value,” Johnston said. “We’d be able to take the Martino site and create an amenity for the Town by connecting trails and eliminating a big scar on the side of the hill.”
He added that the topography of the Cheam Road site would make it very difficult to build on.
Looking at the building proposal, Coun. Ron Mattson said he would like to see less townhomes and more condos, but Baier indicated the market for condos right now may not be able to support adding more units. Not only that, he said, any building over six stories must be steel-and-concrete construction, which drives the per unit prices higher.
“I’ve been able to hang my hat on everything I’ve done in View Royal so far, and I don’t want to make a mistake,” Baier said.
Coun. Aaron Weisgerber said he liked the mix of housing styles in the new proposal, and asked whether Limona had considered dedicating even one of the buildings to rentals. Baier said they had, but had not investigated it further.
Mayor David Screech also liked the mix of homes as well as the idea of preserving the Martino property as green space.
Mattson worried that a lot of trees would have to come down on the northbound edge of the TCH – comparing it to the denuded strips of land just up the road in Langford – but was told the berm and buffer would stay. Screech noted, “let’s not kid ourselves that you won’t be able to see this development from the road.”
The proposal will go back to Town staff to work with the developers before coming back to council. Planning director Lindsay Chase noted that it would need a rezoning and a change to the official community plan.
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