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Reduced parking for affordable seniors housing project supported

The Squamish Senior Citizens’ Home Society requested looser parking requirements
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The Squamish Senior Citizens’ Home Society were given their development permit on Tuesday night, clearing the way for the largest affordable housing project in Squamish.

 All of the variances that passed on Tuesday night for the 232-unit building were parking related. Council supported reduced parking with the rationale that a downtown seniors building will have fewer car owners.

“Generally, parking requirements prescribed to market housing do not reflect the parking needs

of non-market or seniors housing in well-serviced areas,” said planner Jessie Fletcher.

Under the existing requirements, 1.25 parking spaces are required for each unit. Street parking is not included in the number. The seniors' society requested that requirement be dropped down to 0.57 spaces per unit, meaning there will be 133 parking stalls instead of 290.

Normally, motorcycle and scooter spaces can count towards that total — although each spot only counts for half a space, and can only comprise five per cent of the total parking spaces. In the seniors' project, it will be allowed to form 11 per cent of the required spaces.

 

The third change was to visitor parking requirements — usually, one space for every four dwelling unit is required for visitors. That was dropped down to less 0.086 per dwelling unit, meaning there is a total of 20 rather than the unusual 58.

Finally, the normal requirement for bicycle space is two spaces per dwelling unit but has been lowered to 0.28 spaces per unit. If more are required, the society said storage lockers can be converted.

Comments from the public information session included concerns about an existing “parking crisis” in the Eaglewind development, as well as complaints about design, height and view impact.

The reduced parking requirements are consistent with similar housing projects in the Lower Mainland, said staff, and the seniors' society said the number of spaces is based on existing demand at the Cedars and the Manor.

Staff pointed out in the report that essential services like the pharmacy, The 55 Activity Centre and a grocery store are all within 300 metres.

Coun. Susan Chapelle supported the application but expressed concern about how seniors without cars will be able to access medical appointments outside the community.

“I’m concerned about people accessing their healthcare needs, and that’s a lot of seniors in an old building,” she said, suggesting a transportation solution is needed.

Council also agreed that the District will waive the Development Permit Application Fees of $33,800 and Building Permit Fees of $400,000.

The finished building will be five-storeys and is expected to completely clear the waiting list for affordable seniors housing in Squamish. The funding for the massive project comes from $9.5-million provided by BC Housing and money from land sold to Polygon Homes.

The main floor of the project will include a fitness centre, multi-purpose room, dog wash, guest bedroom, bed bug prevention system and kitchen space. The exterior space will have a courtyard, a children’s playground, gardens and paths that connect to The 55 Activity Centre.

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