City of Vancouver staff plan to bring the proposal to transform Casa Mia into a care facility back to city council for re-referral to public hearing once it’s ready to go due to the long delay in rescheduling it for public hearing.
The proposal was supposed to go to public hearing March 13 in 2013, but the city postponed it the night before because staff and the applicant — the Care Group — hadn’t settled negotiations associated with the Heritage Restoration Agreement (HRA) around allowing public access to the main floor of the Spanish Revival-style house, which is located at 1920 Southwest Marine Dr.
Brian Jackson, the city’s head planner, told the Courier that the agreement is now ready to be signed. It would be put in place once the zoning bylaw was enacted should the council approve the application.
“The Heritage Easement Agreement negotiations have concluded. But the applicant for Casa Mia put the application on hold. The applicant was going to speak to Vancouver Coastal Health about its interest in securing affordable beds as part of the application before coming back to us,” Jackson explained. “As a result of the delay, we will be recommending that the project be re-referred at city council before proceeding to public hearing.”
Gavin McIntosh, a spokesperson for the Care Group, wouldn't talk about the project. He said in an email that the Care Group is not in a position to add comments at this time.
The Care Group wants the city to rezone the site from single-family residential to comprehensive development so it can build the care facility.
The 20,700-square-foot Casa Mia mansion features a ballroom where Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Count Basie performed.
The development proposal envisions saving the house, designating the exterior and adding an addition. The facility would house 62 beds — 30 fewer than initially proposed. The building height for the addition is also lower than initially proposed.
The mansion is not protected from demolition, so the city is willing to consider a proposal in order to conserve it. The city has also said it sees a need for health care facilities that allow seniors to age in place.
The Southlands Community Association has been critical of the project and had asked for a public hearing to be postponed until a review of the Southwest Marine Drive area took place in order to create comprehensive plan that also takes into account other heritage estates.
Joe McDermid, a spokesman for the association, said Wednesday that the group’s position hasn’t changed.
“But we write letters to the city. We ask for updates. We are met with silence. We ask for the opportunity to be involved in the planning of the neighbourhood and we’re met with silence,” he said.
“I’ve lost count of the number of letters we’ve sent at this point — not just correspondence saying don’t do X with Casa Mia. As we’ve said all along, there’s a great number of things going on in the neighbourhood and as a community all the neighbours would like to be involved. And nothing. Just silence from the city.”
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