Parksville residents can soon weigh in on a proposed residential development at Wembley Mall, with a public hearing set for early April.
Council gave second reading to an official community plan amendment and a zoning and development bylaw amendment that would facilitate the proposed five-storey mixed commercial residential building at the mall property.
The developer recently agreed to reduce the building's maximum height to 18.3 metres, down from 20 metres, following council feedback in January.
The preliminary design shows 70 residential units, with retail space on the ground floor.
“We’ve reduced the amount of retail on the ground floor by only providing retail for about 50 per cent of the building depth," said Leo Mariotto of ICR Projects Inc. during a presentation to council on March 3. "Which would give us about 6,400 square feet of retail.”
The units will include 33 one-bedroom plus den units, eight two-bedroom units, 26 two-bedrooms plus den units and three three-bedroom units, according to Mariotto.
The three-bedroom units will be two levels, he added, and will have access to the open area facing the Wembley side that will include amenities such as a playground and picnic tables.
Coun. Amit Gaur expressed concern about the potential for increased traffic as a result of the development, as well as other nearby housing projects.
“Having walked Church Road myself, it’s a very busy road and it’s also on the major bike route to Qualicum Beach, so there’s a concern among bikers and pedestrians, in increased traffic," he said.
A 2023 traffic impact assessment concluded the development will not trigger the need for road improvements, as it only concerns the south side of the property. It also said an extension of Stanhope Road is "assumed to occur when the north site develops".
The project was first presented to council back in 2023 and since then the project has been scaled back and no longer includes the north side.
Gaur asked if the developer would consider agreeing to a covenant to build the connector from Stanhope Road to Ackerman Road, as a condition of council approving the OCP amendment.
“This is important for us, personally and to know that if this is the density we’ll be living with, and the people would be in the area, that there is actually a plan," Gaur said.
Mayor Doug O'Brien said it is too far into the development application to ask for a covenant.
“You would probably be looking to do that when the developer comes forward with this visionary plan at the other end of the mall,” O'Brien added.
If approved, the planned development and the mall would have the same owner, and a separate subdivision application will look at splitting the property into two parcels, according to Blaine Russell, director of planning and building.
The zoning amendment, if approved, will allow for residential use at Wembley Mall by creating a "sub-zone" for the new building.
The OCP does envision residential for the site, so the project requires an OCP amendment because of a provision meant to encourage downtown revitalization and give it a “head start” in terms of multi-family developments.
City staff feels the majority of existing multi-unit residential lands, including those in the downtown, have been developed, according to Russell's report.
Council voted in favour of both the OCP amendment and the zoning and development amendment, with Gaur opposed to both.
The public hearing is scheduled for April 7 in the forum of the Parksville Civic and Technology Centre.
