New Westminster is concerned a proposed development could set a precedent for infill housing.
The city has received an application to rezone 234 and 238 East Eighth Ave. from single detached dwelling district to single detached dwelling districts so the applicant can subdivide two lots into three, and build three houses on the new lots.
“This proposal concerns me,” said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr. “This is one I look at as extremely precedent setting.”
If council approves this application, Puchmayr believes the city will see “numerous” proposals of this nature coming forward.
He said the city has taken steps to protect heritage homes and the flavour of middle-class neighbourhoods.
Bev Grieve, the city’s director of development services, said the application is one of the few examples the city has seen where someone is seeking to create three lots where two now exist. In most cases, she said applicants seek to create two lots from one large property.
Grieve said staff believe it’s a topic that should be discussed further as part of the update to the city’s official community plan.
“It was felt by staff that this type of approach was premature,” she said.
Council rejected the application on the basis that it is premature to the official community plan review that will be done on appropriate infill housing, that it would set a precedent that would negatively impact the neighbourhood’s existing housing stock and affordability and that the subject site is located outside the normal walking distance to the frequent rapid transit network.
