One of the last remaining residents of the Little Mountain social housing complex is disappointed by the latest plan for the propertys redevelopment.
Ingrid Steenhuisen, who lives in one of four households left standing after most of the complex was demolished in 2009, says the latest proposal from Holborn Properties isnt much different than the developers preferred proposal in July for residential towers on the 15.2 acre site next to Queen Elizabeth Park.
We put so much time and effort into this, she said. Some have been on the advisory committee since it started. Some have been on the RPSC [Riley Park/South Cambie] housing subcommittee prior to the advisory group being created, and then some are longer ago than that, right through from the original open house to create the [community planning] process, and that was February 2004.
Holborn plans to replace the 224 social housing units that were built on the site in the 1950s with 234 non-market units. It also plans to add approximately 2,000 market units to the property. The perimeter buildings generally would be four storeys, a little higher along Main Street, and step up to six, eight and 10 storeys, with perhaps one or two buildings of 12 and 14 storeys in the middle, if all goes as Holborn has planned. The community has been willing, from the beginning, to have an increase in density and felt that the existing zoning, which would be five times what was here, was going to be enough of a change to begin with, Steenhuisen said.
The city told the community in July the density needed to provide community amenity contributions from the developer to fund a new Little Mountain Neighbourhood House and a 69-space daycare on the property. But the density proposed by Holborn is even higher.
Steenhuisen said a previous city report said 90 to 100 of the non-market units were to be provided in the first phase of development with the remainder replaced between 2014 and 2023. Former residents get the right of first refusal.
Joo Kim Tiah, president and CEO of Holborn, said the timing would have to be determined during rezoning, but he recognized social housing is a top city priority.
Open houses on the project are scheduled for Jan. 26 and 28. He said Holborn wants to make it clear to the community at the meetings that their concerns have been addressed. Tiah expects rezoning to start in February and to break ground by the end of 2012. He refused to speculate on when construction would be completed, saying the speed of construction is dependent on how quickly units sell.
B.C. Housing relocated residents from Little Mountain in 2008 after the agency and the city signed a memorandum of understanding on the sites redevelopment in 2007. Most of the buildings were demolished in 2009.
The provincial governments sale and redevelopment of the site is intended to fund the development of social housing in B.C.
Steenhuisen argued the former social housing development between Main and Ontario streets and 33rd and 37th avenues integrated well with the surrounding community. She worries the proposed development would feel like a fortress.
Tiah said one of the key features of the latest design is that it will be very permeable to pedestrians and cyclists.
Twitter: @Cheryl_Rossi
