A City of Revelstoke staff report into the Mackenzie Village development proposal, the large residential and commercial development concept in Arrow Heights, has been released.
It includes dozens of written public comments, and it appears residents are split into two camps. Supporters of the idea cite economic activity, jobs, tax base and affordable housing. Detractors say it has too many units, is too big, is out of character for the neighbourhood and will strain infrastructure like roads, sewers and water.
The June 2 report by the City of Revelstoke’s development services department recommends the developer provides seven items before the project is considered for bylaw readings.
(See the full report and comments embedded below.)
Developers, David and Shelley Evans, have applied for zoning amendments for the site at 1750, 1800 and 1816 Nichol Rd. These changes will allow for their proposed multi-use unit-block development to go ahead.
A number of changes have occurred to the development plans since the original proposal was submitted, including the number of units, which developers reduced by 25%, at the city’s request, to 1,200 from 1,580. At this time, no request for any further reduction appears likely.
Councillors will again review the development proposal at the upcoming June 9 meeting. The agenda shows a recommendation from city staff for councillors to request more information from the developers on the seven items.
These items, the result of discussions with experts and from public input, are: a financial impact assessment, a traffic study, a preliminary infrastructure and servicing study, an environmental report, a parks and trails plan, a waste management plan and a housing agreements strategy.
The financial impact assessment will address the financial impact to the city with the extra amount of residential units, and will look at the site developed in two formats, as a standard single family subdivision and as the proposed mixed use development.
A civil engineer is required to study and report on the expected traffic volume and flow and review the access points to the development site as well as the intersection of Nichol Road and Airport Way and the Illecillewaet River crossing.
The development will be constructed as a phased development over ten years and the infrastructure and servicing study will address an overarching plan for what infrastructure is required and when. It’s also recommended that housing agreements be incorporated into the proposed zoning districts. Housing agreements offer flexibility for emerging community housing issues and will address whether the development needs extra density at the time of construction.
The many dozens of public comment forms provided along with the report list many concerns about the project.
These include concerns on the variety, size and number of units, sidewalk safety and availability for children walking to the nearby school, snow removal access, the availability of local jobs for the development’s residents and the impact on local water and sewerage infrastructure.
“Looks like a great idea. I don’t think it looks too crowded,” wrote a supporter. “We need more affordable housing for young people and even for older people looking to downsize. It’s a nice neighbourhood, I wouldn’t mind living there at all.”
“We all live in Arrow Heights to have space, we didn’t want crowded neighbourhoods,” wrote another person with concerns about the project. “The city needs to have in place first a secondary access to Arrow Heights before any more development occurs on this side of town. The traffic flow now is ridiculous in the winter.”
Trying to summarize all the comments here would be a pretty thankless task. Have a scroll through the PDF document below for a taste of the many dozens of comments.
A June 2, 2015 report into the Mackenzie Village development proposed for Arrow Heights by Revelstoke Mountaineer
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