Westminster Toyota has no plans to speed around town with brand new cars and trucks.
The business applied to the city for a temporary use permit that would allow it to store vehicles at 502 20th St. while it pursues redevelopment of its current site on 12th Street. Jim Hurst, a development planner with the city, said the site would be limited to 150 vehicles, which would be contained within fencing on the site.
“This is mostly a storage lot for new vehicles,” he said. “Predominantly, they keep their used vehicles on site.”
According to Hurst, the volume and activity now being proposed for the 20th Street site is “far below” what took place a few years ago, when it was used as a staging area for the ministry of highways when it was doing work in the area in 2010.
River Drive resident Gerald Thomson expressed concern about safety issues associated with increased traffic accessing the site via River Drive.
“There are kids playing in that street,” he said. “It is a narrow street. It is already congested.”
Thomson told council he’d like mitigation measures to be implemented including speed bumps on River Drive, restricted hours of vehicle movement in and out of the car lot (including none on weekends and evenings), increased signage and greening of the site to include trees to counteract an increase in carbon gases generated by vehicles.
After accepting delegations on the issue at its Aug. 25 meeting, council approved the temporary use permit.
Kristen Butt, a representative of Westminster Toyota, said the company appreciates residents’ concerns about vehicle traffic and speed, and plans to train staff on how to travel in the area. She said the cars won’t travel on the lane and won’t be speeding through the area.
“They are brand new. … They are in pristine condition,” she said of the vehicles to be parked at the site. “The will not be driven at a high speed.”
Butt promised council that Westminster Toyota wants to be respectful of the neighbourhood. She noted that if someone visiting the car dealership on 12th Street wants to see one of the vehicles located in the parking lot, a lot person would be sent up to get it and bring it back to the dealership.
Sign variance denied
New Westminster city council has denied a new request to vary sign bylaw requirements for 7-Eleven.
In July, council approved a variance to the sign bylaw so 7-Eleven could place five signs at 485 East Columbia St., instead of the two that are permitted in the bylaw.
The city later received a request to amend that variance and allow a total of six signs, a request staff recommended that council reject as they considered it “in excess of the need to address business visibility” and concerns it would also result in the streetscape being dominated by signs.
Coun. Betty McIntosh said she passed by a 7-Eleven in another community and noticed it had far fewer signs. She thanked staff for their recommendation.
“The variance they have already got is sufficient,” she said. “The exposure they are going to get on that corner is enough.”
