Aldergrove is one step closer to new, non-market housing on the site of the former Alder Inn, after council began a rezoning process for the site.

A unanimous vote on Monday, Nov. 20 will turn a cluster of lots at the corner of 272nd Street and Fraser Highway into a future mixed-use zone.

There was little discussion among council, but Mayor Eric Woodward thanked municipal staff for moving the project forward quickly, and said he hoped the site would become a long-term public asset.

The collected lots, just under one acre total area, are already owned by the Township itself.

Although the Township鈥檚 report did not contain detailed plans for the site yet, the report noted that the official community plan for the area has a goal to 鈥減rovide flexible, affordable, and mixed housing options with an aspiration to have a diverse range of housing options for people of different abilities, incomes, and ages.鈥�

One object of the plan is to create more rental housing, and to support vulnerable residents.

The rezoning would redesignate the entire site as high-density mixed use, which would allow stores or other uses on the ground floor, and residential housing on upper floors.

Whatever is eventually built there, the site is across the street from the Alder Grove Town Centre mixed-use project, currently under construction.

An open house on the future of the site is planned for early December.

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The Alder Inn, which housed a bar, a liquor store, hotel rooms, and 91原创鈥檚 last strip club, had been in operation since 1948. It suffered a serious fire in September of 2019 that displaced tenants in the upper floor and closed the restaurant and bar.

The following summer, the Township voted to demolish the building.

The municipality spent $5.4-million to purchase the hotel as well as two neighbouring lots, and then demolished the existing inn building at a cost of about $250,000.

Since then, the former Inn site has been used as a public plaza, with benches and lighting, and has hosted a number of community events.