The design of the Boundary Women’s Transition House got the go-ahead from Grand Forks city council following an occasionally heated meeting on Monday. Council approved the development permit for the transition house, which has been controversial among neighbouring residents since the million-dollar investment by BC Housing was announced last summer.
The Boundary Women’s Coalition, which is spearheading the project for a new transition house with BC Housing, submitted a development permit application to the city. The permit application began a public document on Thursday and was added as a late item to Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.
Dara Sutton, executive director of the Boundary Women’s Coalition, was on hand to answer questions, as were other coalition staff, volunteers, BC Housing staff and project architects.
Lukas Armstrong, principal architect on the project for Cover Architectural Collaborative Inc., gave a brief presentation outlining the sustainability features and overall design of the facility on the land.
Armstrong said the firm is aiming to have the building meet “passive house” certification, which will result in 80-90 per cent less energy used, in addition to other sustainable features.
The building will be finished in grey stucco and light wood, with the entrance to service offices facing 19th Street with transition housing entrance less prominent on the building. The finish is designed to be “zero maintenance,” as well as durable and will have a yard and garden space for clients of the transition house.
“We don’t want this to necessarily pop. We intend this to be a quiet project in form and finish,” Armstrong said. The building is projected to have a 200-year lifespan.
While the question before council dealt with the form and character of the building, several members of the gallery disputed the building’s zoning. They said the issue was in the interpretation of the city’s zoning bylaw, and felt a transition home does not belong in a “Multi-Family (R-3)” residential zone.
“I cannot find anywhere in the bylaws that [the transition house] does fit, but that does not mean you can just shoehorn it in just because B.C Housing owns the land,” said Brycen Place resident Dwyane Panter. “If it does not fit in the zoning bylaws then change the bylaws, and everyone in the city gets to express their opinion.”
However, Manager of Development and Engineering Dolores Sheets said that while there is no exact language in the zoning bylaw for transition houses specifically, it is the opinion of the city and city planner Dave Smith that the multi-family zone is the best fit and reflects the spirit of the bylaws.
“We don’t draw those lines and we are not going to segregate a portion of our community. They are members of our community, they belong in our community and surrounded by community. It does fit,” she said. “ We can never account for every eventually in every zone, we look for the best fit. It is compatible, it is residential.”
The transition house will be located on 19th Street between 68th and 70th Avenues. According to the memo prepared for council, it will provide “a minimum” of six beds and replace the previous shelter for women and children fleeing violence or at risk of violence. In response to questions about the second stage housing originally proposed, Sutton said the project had been “shelved” for at least a year.
“What you have is the transition house, which is located in the 19th [Street] area. The original plans, in many iterations included townhouse units. The affordable housing piece has not been approved, we extended and expression of interest in that, but there are a number of things we need to do and that has been shelved for a year now,” she said.
Neighbouring residents also said they were concerned that there had not been public input on the development; in a letter to council that was made available to the Gazette, Brycen Place resident Connie Hajdasz said they had continually been promised consultations and meetings over the last year which had never happened.
“I would like to make it very clear that at no time did the BWC or BC Housing conduct any public meetings as they had promised to do for the past 11 months,” the letter stated.
Both BC Housing staff and Sheets said that since the development meets requirements there is no burden of consultation, as the case for any other developer.
“Typically we do not engage in public consultation, no site signage, we know there have been concerns. That is not part of our process, however we are open to communicating with the residents,” said Sairoz Sekhon, manager of women’s transition housing for B.C. Housing.
“We would not put any other developer through that process with an apartment building or townhouse. We would not expect them to weigh in with the neighbours as long as they are meting all the rules,” Sheets added.
Sutton said she has communicated with residents in the area, including a letter about the development permit application distributed in July with proposed drawings and contact information for herself and Sekhon. She said she has received a positive response from many of the neighbours she spoke with.
Hajdasz said she surveyed neighbours and received an overwhelmingly negative response on the location of the transition house and the amount of communication done.
A typo in the Committee of the Whole meeting agenda originally sent the decision to the Aug. 21 regular meeting; Chief Administrative Officer Diane Heinrich said because there is no resting period required for development permit applications that typo should be corrected and the decision brought to the regular meeting that evening. Council voted to ammend the motion to bring it to Monday’s evening meeting.
Several councillors questioned that timeline, however Armstrong said that it was in the project’s best interest to be approved sooner rather than later.
“The funding is coming from the province and with a new government we want to make sure it moves forward. The project moving in this construction season in the spring would be important for this timeline,” he said.
Council voted to move it forward to the regular meeting of council on Monday night. At that meeting, the application was approved with Coun. Neil Krog voting against.
“We are here to decide on form and character, and we have heard a lot of other concerns. I have heard concerns from people who own property in Brycen place and others who live there and are without an issue,” Coun. Christine Thompson said. “I think we need to move forward… we have management to provide us with advice and I accept the advice they have provided.”