City council approved third readings for two bylaws bringing a large housing development proposed for College Heights closer to fruition at its Monday, Dec. 2 meeting.
Four residents spoke in opposition to the project during a public hearing on the subject.
The proposed project by Ridgecrest Development Group covers 1.91 hectares of a 29.2-hectare plot of land located at 2800 Vista Ridge Dr. and 8640 St. Lawrence Ave.
The developers are applying for the property to be rezoned from RS2: Single Residential to RM5: Multiple Residential, for the neighbourhood’s designation under the Official Community Plan to be amended from Neighbourhood Residential to Neighbourhood Corridor and for three restrictive covenants to be removed to allow for the project to go ahead.
At both a July 25 open house at the Columbus Community Centre and at an initial public hearing at the Sept. 25 regular council meeting, residents expressed unease with several elements of the proposed development.
That included concerns over whether the multi-family development would match the character of the typically single-family home neighbourhood and a lack of space for new students at Southridge Elementary School.
However, the biggest concern was the potential impact that many new residents could have on traffic. Though the extension of Ospika Boulevard across Highway 16 could help relieve traffic pressure, it’s unclear when that project will go ahead.
Because of the traffic concerns, council voted to defer a decision on the project until an updated traffic impact study could be completed. Because of that deferral, council had to hold the public hearing in its entirety a second time.
Representing the developer at the Dec. 2 public hearing was L&M Engineering. Since the first public hearing, manager of legislative service Ethan Anderson said five more pieces of correspondence were received with regards to the project.
Planning and development director Deanna Wasnik said city staff was recommending council approve the project.
She said the city has reviewed and accepted L&M’s new traffic impact study, which recommends that the city install a four-way stop at the intersection of St. Lawrence Avenue and Southridge Avenue.
Addressing the future Ospika connector, she said the city has not yet assembled a cost estimate for the project and would have to work out details with the Ministry of Transportation as it would cross Highway 16.
During L&M’s presentation, planner Megan Hickey told council that the project aligns with the future envisioned for the area under the Ospika South Neighbourhood Plan.
Hickey also addressed concerns aired by both residents and councillors at the last public hearing on the form of the housing, the housing density, traffic concerns and secondary uses.
She said the company is proposing the property be placed under a restrictive covenant preventing the construction of apartments as well as preventing clubs and convenience stores being built there.
Also proposed was a covenant reducing the housing density of the development to 75 units per hectare down from 125 units per hectare. These proposed covenants would need to be in place by fourth reading of the bylaws.
Another L&M representative, engineer Tanner Fjellstrom, said at the meeting that the traffic study was made before the covenant restricting density was proposed, which could mean that the real traffic figures could be lower.
According to him, the report accounts for traffic during the school year
In the future, he said several roads in the area are intended to be expanded and extended, including St. Lawrence, Glen Lyon Way and Eastview Street.
He said roads in the area are within the traffic thresholds for collector streets.
Some residents expressed concern over limited emergency access to the area at the last meeting. Fjellstrom said there is a paved trail in the neighbourhood blocked by bollards that could be removed in an emergency scenario.
City staff said it might be possible to keep that path plowed through the winter in case an evacuation is needed in case of something like a wildfire.
The first member of the public to speak, who said she lived in one of the three houses at the very end of St. Lawrence, said she still has concerns over transit access going forward until Ospika is punched through.
Addressing the covenants, she said she didn’t understand why the property is still proposed to be rezoned to RM5 if the developer was going to restrict itself from building what that designation allows for.
The second speaker said he had concerns with potential blind spots and vehicles having trouble slowing down if the intersection of St. Lawrence and Southridge is made a four-way stop.
He also said he worried about traffic flow in the wintertime, having seen snow on the steep hill narrowed the road on his way to the meeting.
As for the Ospika connector, he expressed doubt that it would be built anytime soon unless Prince George has a major population boom.
The third speaker said while the intersections in the traffic study are within acceptable limits, it was his perception that they were approaching those limits. If the streets are icy, which he said they were on the night of the meeting, he said traffic might not have time to slow down if the proposed four-way stop is installed.
The bollards on that path would make it very difficult to clear in an emergency, he said.
The fourth speaker said the draft Official Community Plan doesn’t align with this proposed program as it proposes a decrease in urban sprawl. She wondered if the development would hamstring the new OCP if approved.
Following the public comments, Mayor Simon Yu asked the L&M representatives why they don’t propose rezoning to RM3 rather than RM5 given the proposed covenants.
Hickey said other housing forms are still available to the developers if it is rezoned to RM5.
Third reading of the rezoning and OCP amendments passed by a margin of seven in favour to two against, with councillors Kyle Sampson and Brian Skakun voting against both.
Only Skakun voted against implementing the developer’s restrictive covenants.
Fourth and final reading of the bylaws will be withheld until the property owner agrees to the covenants and they are officially registered to the property’s land title.
