A developer has introduced to Qualicum Beach council a plan to build a two-storey hotel along Memorial Avenue, and a five-storey multi-residential building along Hoylake Road East.
Daryoush Firouzli, the architect of the development, revealed the plan at the town's committee of the whole meeting on Jan. 8. The location is a triangular property currently zoned for residential purposes but also identified as commercial in the town's Official Community Plan.
Firouzli presented conceptual rendering and architectural designs to give council an idea of what the project would look like.
The plan for the property, close to the Qualicum Beach Memorial Golf Course and also the waterfront, entails building a 20-unit hotel on the Memorial Avenue side of the land and a 60-unit apartment building on the Hoylake Road portion of the property.
The residential building will feature two-bedroom units, which Firouzli said is currently in demand in the town. At the moment they are calling them condos and not apartments. They are planning to create 83 underground and surface-level parking areas.
Before the project can advance, the developer has applied for a zoning amendment from Commercial 9, which allows 78 hotel room units or 29 apartments units, to Comprehensive Development Zone 23 to add more density to the property.
Coun. Jean Young raised concerns about the visual design of the building along Memorial Avenue which she said is the gateway to the town.
"In our OCP, we asked for something that is a Qualicum Beach vibe, a little more iconic," Young said. "I'm seeing it and I've heard from many residents that this is a block. Pretty much a bland block, and it's been compared to just another apartment build like on Despard Street In Parksville."
Young asked the developer if they are open to making the design of the build more special for Qualicum Beach.
"I am pretty sure the developer will be open to revise at the direction of council but my experience is having the modern and simple building always works with everything," said Firouzli, who added since their presentation is for rezoning application, form and character of the building is often discussed during a development permit application.
Coun. Petronella Vander Valk pointed out that the area is almost exclusively one-storey, single-family properties.
"You don't seem to have made any attempt to fit into the neighbourhood," Vander Valk said. "So, you could probably could gain that same density if you lower buildings or a couple of lower buildings that were better sitting on your site rather than just one at the very top in a very residential area and one along Memorial Drive. Perhaps you could look at spreading the building out a bit more or some of the units or stepping down so that the building still provides its density but doesn't impose and impact the neighbourhood so negatively."
Firouzli said it's possible to spread the buildings but it will not be able to comply with the existing zoning.
"We have to be the block," he said. "We cannot be ... basically, if you're building the duplexes or triplexes, it still is not enough land to go up to the 42 (units). You can build it maybe maximum 20 units there."
Residents were not allowed to comment on the project and will not get that chance under the new provincial legislation that prohibits the town from holding a public hearing for applications that are in compliance with the OCP.
However, director of planning Luke Sales explained since council has not determined yet if the project is in compliance with the OCP, it would be best not to allow public input at the meeting.
"If council receive public input at this meeting, the council would no longer have the option of considering it to be OCP compliant," Sales said. "And the decision at some point in the future can be challenged on the basis of a procedural unfairness. So, that's why there is no public input today. A decision to allow public input or allowing public input today would force council into a de facto decision that it's not OCP compliant and that's not a decision that's been made."
Qualicum Beach staff will present to council a more report about this project and recommendations at a future council meeting.
