Upon further review, more than 10 units might work on a Laburnum Road parcel of land for Qualiucm Beach town council.
Council has directed staff to work with the applicants of 560-570 Laburnum Road, with an eye to possibly amending the proposal and making it more suitable for families.
The developer originally wanted to put 60 units on the land. Council balked. The developer then suggested 30, but that also didn't fly with council, which eventually gave approval for 10 units (plus the two existing homes on the property) in October.
Mayor Teunis Westbroek brought forward a motion at council on Monday after hearing comments around the table and at Official Community Plan (OCP) review meetings about the need for family housing.
Councillors Anne Skipsey and Barry Avis voted against the motion Monday to revisit the proposal.
Skipsey said that while she wants affordable housing in the area, she wouldn't be supporting the motion since the piece of land should be in the OCP discussions for west Qualicum Beach. She said it was putting the cart before the horse.
Westbroek said he spoke with the developer, C.A. Design, to see if it was possible to ammend the proposal. Westbroek said he was told several of the units could be duplex lots, which looks like one large home, but would have more than one unit for families.
On Monday, Coun. Neil Horner said to say this site has been difficult for council would be an understatement.
"My thought when I approved the 10-unit subdivision was I was doing the great Canadian compromise between the 'no way, no never' on this side and 'yeah, 60 sounds fine to me' on the other," Horner said. "Well, it didn't really turn out the way I'd anticipated. It looks like it's going to be 10 giant lots for Richie Rich and the Richersons and nobody else. If that's the case, they'll probably be vacant for a large portion of the year."
Avis said he's been clear for the past few years that he doesn't think this is the right spot for development, adding that he's voted no to proposals seven or eight times.
"The proposal that came to us two years ago, on co-housing development of this area, sounds like it might be very similar in the amount that's being proposed now with this motion," Avis said.
Two years ago, two co-housing groups wanted to develop along Laburnum Road. Co-housing, according to Canadian Cohousing Network, describes neighbourhoods that combine the autonomy of private dwellings with the advantages of shared resources and community living.
Avis said that if council goes ahead with this project, there has to be some children living in the homes. He said the development adjacent to Qualicum Beach Elementary School doesn't have one child living in any of the homes.
"I have a feeling that this will end up about 27 homes, on smaller lots, at probably the same prices or more than the project across the street and there will probably not be any children living there unless we do something about that," Avis said.
Coun. Bill Luchtmeijer said there is no way to guarantee who lives in the homes.
"If the developers change their mind and build affordable housing or two-storey housing with bedrooms upstairs, no one is going to guarantee the occupancy of it," Luchtmeijer said.
"However, if we build 10 large homes on 10 large lots, there's almost a guarantee that they won't be family homes."
Luchtmeijer said that as a council that they want a community that's all-inclusive, and that includes clearing the way for homes that families might be interested in buying.
"As a council, we can build walls around here and say you have to have kids to live here or you have to be over 55 (years old) to live here, but I don't think we want that kind of community," Luchtmeijer said.
Westbroek said CAO Daniel Sailland is working with the applicant and employees of Cloudhead Games, which would like to expand its operations in town, to see what they would need in terms of homes and price points.
The next regular council meeting is on Monday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at town hall (660 Primrose St., Qualicum Beach).