After many years of sitting vacant, the gravel lot in Murrayville that once housed the Township civic facility is being redeveloped.
On Sept. 11 council gave first and second reading to a proposal from Zenterra Murrayville Titleco Ltd. to build 61 townhouses and 48 apartment units on the three acres, located in the 4800 block of 221 Street.
At one time, that area was designated as the institutional and administrative centre of local government in the Township, as many facilities, including the W.C. Blair Recreation Centre, the 91原创 School District and the RCMP detachment, are located on that block. But after the Township鈥檚 civic building was relocated to Willowbrook in 2005, the land it was situated on was deemed surplus and sold to the company Quorum.
Zenterra later purchased the lot and is now requesting the land use designation be changed from institutional to multi-family three. They plan to extend 48A Avenue down the centre of the lot and build a four-storey apartment building on the north end that will feature one bedroom, one bedroom plus den, and two bedroom units. The south side will have three-storey townhouses with double garages.
Currently, the gravel lot is being used by many people for parking 鈥� something that has several councillors worried.
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Coun. Charlie Fox said the proponent has responded to the required on-site parking 鈥渆xtremely well,鈥� but the parking for the surrounding buildings could become a challenge.
鈥淲e have to ensure that W.C. Blair can accommodate their people and the school district can accommodate their people on their own properties so that there isn鈥檛 this overlap and people can鈥檛 find parking to go to our recreational facility,鈥� he said.
Fox also noted that there are plans to eventually build a pedestrian overpass on Fraser Highway to connect the recreation centre to 91原创 Memorial Hospital, and hopes the project does not get compromised by this development.
Coun. Kim Richter, Angie Quaale and Petrina Arnason all echoed Fox鈥檚 concerns.
Richter said that while spending time at the hospital this summer, she witnessed the gravel lot full of parked cars every day. She believes many of the cars belong to employees of the hospital.
鈥淲here are they going to displace themselves to? And are we ready for unintended consequences as a result of that displacement?鈥� she asked.
Ramin Seifi, Township general manager of engineering and community development, said that staff don鈥檛 know if there will be any displacement, but they are looking at providing more parking at the adjacent Murrayville Outdoor Activity Park.
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Quaale asked how far they are from constructing the pedestrian overpass, to which Seifi replied 鈥渁 ways away.鈥� They only have about 25 per cent of the funds needed at this time.
Arnason noted that many neighbours also raised concerns about parking during the developer-held public meeting on Dec. 1, 2016. She asked if they could create a decal program for those who park at the community facilities.
鈥淚t may not be 100 per cent effective, but at least it would be something in terms of registering to people that the parking is meant for a particular purpose and not just the overflow parking from other facilities in the area,鈥� she said.
A public hearing for the development proposal will take place on Monday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Fraser River Presentation Theatre, 4th floor, 20338 65 Ave.
miranda@langleytimes.com
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