The area around the 22nd Street SkyTrain station will undergo a massive transformation in the decades ahead.
As part of the update to the official community plan, the City of New Westminster is contemplating new land uses around the 22nd Street SkyTrain station. Highrises, midrises and townhouses are among the housing forms that will be allowed in the Connaught Heights neighbourhood in future years.
Planner Lynn Roxburgh said transit development areas are places where more intensive, mixed-used developments are expected, so the area around the station is considered appropriate for densification. She said it’s proposed that the highest density would be located around the station, and decrease as it moves away from the station into the residential neighbourhood.
In addition to introducing new types of housing to the single-family residential neighbourhood, the plan would see some retail space on Seventh Avenue.
On Monday, council considered three land-use scenarios for an area bounded by Sixth Avenue and Edinburgh Street, and 23rd Street and the lane east of 20th Street.
* Option 1: Four highrises and three blocks designated for midrises (buildings up to a maximum of six storeys).
* Option 2: Six towers and two blocks designated for midrises.
* Option 3: Eight highrises and the lowest amount of land designated for townhouses of the three options being considered.
Roxburgh said there continues to be a “really big divide” about what people want to see in the plan, with some wanting more density and others preferring less. The official community plan is contemplating how the area will develop in the next 25 years.
While council members unanimously support the introduction of highrises near the 22nd Street SkyTrain station, they provided staff with feedback on the appropriate mix of highrises, single-family homes and townhouses. Staff will incorporate the public and council feedback into a draft land-use map and official community plan.
Coun. Patrick Johnstone said the city needs to think of the neighbourhood completely differently than it does today because it is currently a car-dependent area, with very few services and no sidewalks in some locations. He stressed the need to address the neighbourhood’s transportation issues and to provide more greenspace in the neighbourhood.
Although highrises and townhouses will be built in around the 22nd Street SkyTrain station in the future, Mayor Jonathan Cote said single-family homes will still be the dominant land use in the area. He said it’s “completely incompatible” to have only single-family homes located next to a SkyTrain station and a “frequent transit network” that’s well served by buses.
Coun. Chuck Puchmayr said the city will need to look closely at impacts on local infrastructure as the plan unfolds in the coming years.
“We have to do this right and make sure it triggers growth in a responsible way,” he said.
