Fans and foes of a proposed expansion of Urban Academy are getting a jump on the public hearing.
Urban Academy wants to expand its existing location at 101 Third St. by building on an adjacent site. Along with its existing school in Robson Manor, the new building would allow the school to accommodate up to 450 students by 2022, which has raised some concerns about livability issues such as traffic.
“We had about seven people speak – five in favour, two opposed,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote about delegations at the Jan. 12 council meeting. “It is kind of building up to a public hearing that we know is coming in a couple of months. It’s not unusual to see people starting to come out earlier.”
Urban Academy purchased an adjacent site on Manitoba Street and hopes to expand by building on that site.
The Manitoba Street site is currently home to a two-storey rental apartment containing eight units.
On Jan. 12, council received a staff report and a tenant relocation plan from Urban Academy that addresses how tenants of the existing rental apartment in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood would be accommodated if the project proceeds.
Coun. Bill Harper said it’s “premature” to consider a tenant replacement plan because council has yet to consider the actual application.
“It almost looks like there is some sort of bias in the approval,” he said of considering the tenant relocation strategy before dealing with the application.
Coun. Mary Trentadue said the application needs to be dealt with before council considers a tenant relocation plan.
Urban Academy Society is applying for a heritage revitalization agreement for 101 Third St. and 228 Manitoba St. and an amendment to the official community plan for the Manitoba Street site to allow it to expand by constructing a new building on those sites.
Julie Schueck, the city’s heritage planner, said the city’s secured market rental housing policy requires applicants to bring forward a tenant relocation strategy if a rental building is to be demolished as part of a development application.
“It is not in any way intended to be a decision on the application,” she said.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said some community members are “anxious” about the proposal. He said that dealing with a tenant relocation strategy at this time may send out a message that council has made up its mind.
“It’s basically saying, let’s wait on the project before we start to give the A-OK to anything there,” Cote said of council’s stance. “It really was a non-decision. It was just saying we have a public hearing coming up in the next couple of months, let’s let that process go through.”
