Parksville council has granted a development permit for a four-storey mixed use building next to Corfield Plaza.
The building, at 187 Bagshaw St., will be mostly residential units, plus commercial space on the ground floor purpose built for an established non-profit, according to a presentation to council by Nigel Gray of MacDonald Gray Consultants.
It will have 53 residential units, which includes 22 one-bedroom units, 24 two-bedroom units and seven units with three-bedrooms.
“I was really appreciative to see that there’s some three bedrooms in there because we’ve had requests, I’ve had requests,” said Coun. Sylvia Martin, after a presentation by the developer to council. “I’m a new councillor but I had requests during the campaign and since. We need more three bedrooms.”
The ground floor will contain seven accessible residential units, according to a report by Blaine Russell, the city’s director of community planning and building.
Mayor Doug O’Brien said he supports the project and was pleased with the addition of the accessible units on the ground floor.
The name of the non-profit organization was not revealed at the time of the meeting which raised concerns for some members of council.
READ MORE: Proposed retail cannabis location divides Parksville council
“I don’t agree with the whole, ‘hey vote on this today, we’ll tell you tomorrow what the intended use is’”, said Coun. Adam Fras.
Coun. Mary Beil added that it is important to “be mindful of what is going into a commercial space that is so close to residential areas.”
Both Fras and Beil said they appreciate aspects of the proposal including the mix of residential units, accessibility, energy conservation and walkability.
The building is designed to meet or exceed Step Code 3 of the BC Energy Step Code, an optional compliance path in the BC Building Code that local governments may use to incentivize energy efficiency in new construction. The design also includes passive solar considerations and pre-ducting for future solar panels.
The variance permit was requested to increase the maximum height from 11 metres to 16 metres. Parking will be underground.
Council voted unanimously to approve the development permit and variance permit during its July 17 meeting.
The name of the organization that plans to move into the ground floor was not available as of Aug. 10. The property is owned by Three Dog Ventures Ltd., Inc.
Your community. Your news. Sign up for our free Newsletter and follow us on Twitter.