A large development in west Maple Ridge will see 576 condominium units and ground-floor businesses in four six-storey buildings along Dewdney Trunk Road.
City council has given first and second readings to the application at 20556 Dewdney Trunk Rd., which is a 1.8 hectare (4.5 acre) site near 207th Street. Access to the property will be from 119th Avenue.
Two buildings will be rental units, for 296 apartments in total, and the other two will have 280 units of market strata, with a mix of apartment sizes. The city’s Housing Action Plan identifies rental housing as a priority.
There will be a central courtyard, play area, social seating, a rain garden underground parking, and some ground-level parking for the businesses. It will provide a total of 22,000 square feet of commercial space.
Developer Sohan Mehat of Coquitlam said it will offer space for about 10-15 businesses of various sizes, and a daycare is a possibility. He said the development, which does not yet have a name, will provide a place where people can live and work, in a walkable community that is close to transit.
“It checks off all the boxes,” said Mayor Dan Ruimy of the development, noting the market condos and rental units fit with the city’s priorities of creating more housing stock in the city.
A city staff report noted the development is on key transit routes.
“The application can be considered a very positive addition to west Maple Ridge, offering both new commercial/employment opportunities, rental and market strata apartment housing that is not currently available in large numbers in this area.”
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The report said the application is the first physical expression of policies in the city’s new Lougheed Corridor Concept plan, and its goal to add density to the Lougheed-Dewdney Trunk corridor.
Ruimy said council will be asking for vehicle charging facilities and bike storage from the developers.
“It’s not a requirement at this point, but it’s something we are pushing,” he said.
“We have to think about the city of the future.”
Coun. Korleen Carreras asked the city to consider safe walking routes for children as they go to school, noting the development would be near an S-curve on Dewdney Trunk Road.
Kids will be able to attend schools that are not crowded, as in the eastern district.
The school district advised the city the development would fall into the catchment of Fairview Elementary, which has a capacity off 429 students, and is operating at 80 per cent capacity, and also Westview Secondary, which has a capacity of 1,200 students and an enrolment of 694 students, or 58 per cent utilization.
The development, which was first before city hall in 2016, will go to public hearing on Jan. 16.
Mehat is hoping construction can begin in the summer of 2023, and building will be phased over a period of years.
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