Dear Editor,
Re: “90-unit rental building planned on three single-family lots in Richmond city centre"
Our family was one of the first families to live on Spires Road when it was developed in the early 1960s.
Spires Road was one of the first, if not the first, subdivisions in Richmond.
Archival research showed that this 100+ lot single-family home (SFH) subdivision was created by purchasing back portions of properties on Cook Road and Westminster Highway and then re-developed with an oval configuration.
Spires Road had no sidewalks, no street lighting (installed later), no sanitary sewer hookup and only open ditches for drainage.
It was soon found the Spires Road septic fields were failing, resulting in the massive installation in mid-1960s of sanitary sewers.
Our property was sold in 2017.
City Official Community Plan (OCP) changes resulted in zoning Spires for multi-family townhomes with heights in the range of three storeys with underground parking.
Current zoning also states assembly by developers requires a minimum of three lots.
However, the Richmond News article states that new provincial legislation will override the city OCP, thus no public hearing required.
So what's the future of the Spires Road area?
The current city zoning itself overwhelms and dwarfs the existing single-family homes.
Currently, Spires is effectively a war zone.
Infrastructure (sanitary and storm sewers, sidewalks, water, power, gas, etc.) is installed piecemeal per development as opposed to completing the entire required upgrade for Spires area.
The result is traffic and access through the area is often blocked as infrastructure is installed, given there are only two entrances/exits.
My estimate is perhaps 20 per cent of Spires has been developed. This current zoning infill will take years.
The six-storey 90-unit proposal?
The predictable fallout is once this precedent moves forward, lawsuits will commence.
Several completed and sold projects on Spires were bought on the understanding the city’s original OCP applied with three-storey townhouses the maximum allowed.
Few, if any, predicted a provincial override.
Imagine buying a new condo only to realize that a six-storey building will soon be built adjacent or nearby.
Parking for 90 units will be a horror show. Property assessments will skyrocket. What will the resale market be like?
The new provincial "zoning override" rules apply throughout B.C. Single-family neighbourhoods are not protected.
A colleague and I are creating a documentary re: Spires Road past and present.
As the city has effectively used the Spires Road area as an "alpha test" for 60-plus years, perhaps our upcoming documentary will benefit the public as a "heads-up warning" of what can and likely will happen in your city and your neighbourhood at any time via new provincial rules.
While we have to respect and accept progress, ambushes and overrides are not fair nor should they be acceptable.
R.A. Hoegler
Richmond
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