Richmond city hall was busy in 2022.
In addition to the municipal election when two new councillors were elected, city council approved several big developments.
But land-use wasn’t the only issue on the table – city council also decided to revisit its flag policy after neither a pride flag nor a Every Child Matters flag were flown this year.
Taxes are going up – as they do every year – but city council voted a substantial increase this year, compared to last.
And, finally, developers could end up paying more in fees to build in Richmond, something that one Richmond developer says will be passed on to homebuyers.
Strata complex converts to rental
A 40-year-old strata apartment complex, Ascott Wynde on Garden City Road just north of Granville Avenue, will be torn down and replaced with a rental building.
Two mature trees, however, sit on the current property, and this was enough to make two city councillors vote against the proposal.
The development was opposed by Couns. Harold Steves, Carol Day and Michael Wolfe.
This was the first strata windup in Richmond after the provincial government changed the law so only 80 per cent of owners needed to approve shutting down the strata and selling a complex as one unit.
Azure Drive rental buildings opposed, but approved
A 50-unit townhouse complex on Azure Drive – just west of Richmond Hospital – will be replaced by four buildings with 330 rental units.
But the complex will be located on the periphery of a single-family neighbourhood, and this decision didn’t sit well with these residents.
These residents came out in force to the public hearing, bringing up concerns about the size of the rental complex, how their privacy would be impacted, but also expressing a fear of increased crime due to the number of renters.
In the end, city council voted to approve the new rental complex.
Herrling Residence saved
There aren’t many older buildings left in Richmond, much less in City Centre. When a 1930s-era single-family home in the Capstan area looked like it was destined to meet the wrecking ball, city council decided to take another look at it to see if it could be saved.
A month later, the developer, Dava Developments, came back with a proposal to move the Herrling Residence to an adjacent site, which they also own.
City staff seemed the 1932 Herrling Residence, which currently houses the Richmond Capstan Alliance Church, “significant as a tangible link with the City Centre’s interwar development boom.”
The original owners were Joseph and Elsie Herrling, and the building was constructed in the “period revival” style that the report notes hearkens back to a period of “domestic values and ideals of an earlier age.”
5.89% tax increase coming in 2023
Property taxes in Richmond will go up 5.89 per cent in 2023, slightly higher than first anticipated as city council decided to extend hours at the Steveston Outdoor Pool.
This compares to last year when the budget increase was 3.86 per cent.
Key drivers for increasing the budget are higher RCMP and E-Comm (9-1-1 service) costs, the latter of which will go up $1 million next year.
Two-thirds of the E-Comm increase is a result of a collective bargaining agreement with its union, while the rest of the increase is technical changes to its system.
E-Comm, which handles police, fire and ambulance calls, is being mandated by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to overhaul its system, which will modernize large aspects of it – like having the technology to know where people are calling from – and expand it to allow other emergency services to be included in the system.
Of the 9-1-1 calls that come to E-Comm, about 63 per cent are for police, 31 per cent are for paramedics and six per cent for fire departments.
27-acre Oval-area parcel could be ‘destination’ for Richmondites
One of the biggest land purchases in the province took place in Richmond in late 2021 and early this year Keltic Canada explained their vision for the property to the Richmond News.
Keltic Canada bought a 27-acre parcel across the road from the Olympic Oval for $300 million. It’s currently zoned industrial but is earmarked for residential development in the Official Community Plan.
Keltic’s plan is to turn it into a residential area with shops, restaurants and other amenities.
The developer wants to build two million square feet, of which three-quarters would be residential and one quarter commercial and office buildings, integrated into the Oval precinct. There would be a six-acre park on the property.
“The vision is to have a great place to live and socialize, but we really see a possibility of a destination for other local Richmond residents and Metro Van residents,” explained Steve Jedreicich, senior vice-president of development with Keltic, something that’s active in the daytime and evenings.
Landa Oval development paused
Just next door to the Keltic property, Landa Oval has proposed a residential/hotel complex. This passed first reading in November, but at the last public hearing of the year, city council decided in a 6-3 vote to press the pause button until traffic issues could be sorted out.
Several residents from the neighbouring Ora development, which includes condos and businesses, including a T+T Supermarket, told city council about the traffic chaos in the back alley, worried the Landa Oval development would add to this chaos.
Homes on Steveston waterfront nixed
Whether a strip along Steveston’s historic waterfront should have private homes on it or not was hotly debated this fall at city council.
The short stretch on the south side of Bayview Street between 3rd Avenue and No. Road, where the Blue Canoe and other services are located, was eventually earmarked by city council for commercial and industrial only, removing any residential uses.
Historically, the area was part of Steveston’s “cannery row” with massive cannery buildings built right up to the waterfront.
Now, buildings will be limited to nine metres – about 36 feet – down from previously 20 metres, which was the recommendation in the Steveston Area Plan.
On Dec. 19, at the public hearing, Evan Dunfee argued to allow residential in the area, saying the Steveston Area Plan envisioned it to have “large cannery-style mixed-use residential and commercial buildings that revitalize the riverfront while paying homage to the history of the area.”
City staff had recommended eliminating residential use saying having condos could undermine the city’s objectives of “maximizing public use and access to and along the waterfront.”
The architect for a proposed residential/commercial development on the strip spoke at the public hearing against removing residential uses.
“If we lock in with no residential, we’re going to limit ourselves and not do a long-term game plan for the village,” Ken Chow told city council.
In the end, city council voted 6-3 to eliminate residential and impose a height restriction of nine metres along this strip on Bayview Street. Couns. Alexa Loo, Andy Hobbs and Chak Au voted against these changes.
Proposed fees for developers ‘punishing’: Dana Westermark
Developers in Richmond could pay much higher fees to build residential, commercial and industrial buildings. The city just finished collecting feedback on its proposed increases to development cost charges (DCCs), the fees developers pay to the city to support things like roads, sewers and flood protection infrastructure.
City council gave preliminary approval to these increased DCCs already in July and then the proposal was sent out for public consultation.
The City of Richmond will need almost $2.8 billion over the next 25 years to build all the roads, sewers, drainage systems and other infrastructure it needs.
And two-thirds of this could come from development fees.
Fees paid by developers could increase between 42 and 54 per cent.
But the biggest jump will be for major industrial projects, with DDCs costing the developer about $220,000 per acre, up from the current $103,000 per acre.
Dana Westermark, a Richmond developer, called these proposed DCCs “punishing,” saying they will ultimately be passed on to buyers.
“It affects the end price of all housing,” he said. “(It’s) delusional thinking somehow development will absorb the cost and it won’t get passed on.”
Flags didn’t fly
City council will be revisiting its flag policy in the near future.
But this was too late for city hall to fly a Every Child Matters orange flag on Sept. 30 and a pride flag in July.
Steveston resident Andrew Reid challenged Richmond city council to change its flag policy to allow the pride flag to be raised in Richmond.
On top of that, he asked city council to fly the orange Every Child Matters flag on Truth and Reconciliation Day, a day to reflect on the residential school system.
In order to fly these flags, however, the city’s flag policy needs to be modified.
Wolfe tried to push through the former the week before Truth and Reconciliation Day, but procedurally it was too late to make the change.
