After assessing the concerns of residents voiced at a public hearing last September, the city has decided to move ahead with approval for the Dow Avenue tower.
"There's been some significant gains," Burnaby Coun. Colleen Jordan said at Monday night's council meeting, regarding revised plans for the property.
Issues brought forward by residents of the neighbourhood surrounding the proposed development at 6634 and 6638 Dow Ave. included the proximity to Maywood Community School, traffic congestion, displacement of renters in an apartment building on the property, increased crime in the area, the loss of views and privacy, and the effect on property values.
Basil Luksun, the city's director of planning and building, presented a report to council Monday night, attempting to address those concerns.
The report stated that the proximity to Maywood Community School - the property is behind the school, separated by a back lane - is not an issue because the majority of school activities are oriented to the interior of the school property, toward Imperial Street.
In response to traffic congestion concerns, the developer commissioned IBI Group, a professional firm that specializes in urban land development planning, to conduct transportation impact studies in the area, according to Luksun.
The current access to the school via Imperial Street is "relatively poor," according to the report, but can be improved with proposed connections to Dow Avenue with a Beresford Street extension and the southern lane.
The studies indicated that improving the Beresford Street and Willingdon Avenue intersection west of Dow Avenue by restricting east/west movements with signals could also help with traffic issues, as well as extending Dow Avenue to Central Boulevard.
The developer would have to include signalizing the intersection in the rezoning application, and work with the city on an approved road design for the road connection, the report stated.
Street parking is not expected to be affected by the development, it added.
Regarding the displacement of renters in the 17-unit apartment building currently on the property, Luksun said a tenant relocation/incentive program is being recommended.
Such programs generally include that rent remain at current levels; that the deposit plus interest be returned within 10 days of residents vacating suites; moving expense coverage, equal to one month's rent; additional cash payments equal to two month's rent and a minimum of four months' notice, the report stated.
The RCMP has not expressed concern about the proposed development being a catalyst for crime, the report concluded, and the impact on views and privacy is not expected to be significant due to the slim design of the 33-storey tower.
The report also stated that property values in the area were more likely to increase than decrease, and that the development did not conflict with the objectives of the city's Social Sustainability Strategy.
Council was particularly receptive to the tenant relocation plan at the meeting.
"I think our staff have been able to work with the developer to come up with (this) opportunity for current tenants," Jordan said.
"It is inevitable that there is a transition in this neighbourhood," Mayor Derek Corrigan said, adding that there was bound to be some relocation and displacement, but that city staff had worked hard to minimize the impact on the current renters.
The rezoning application for the property also passed second reading at the meeting.
Laura Ballon, one of the neighbourhood residents who presented her concerns to the city, isn't pleased that the project is moving forward.
"I'm disappointed," she said in a phone interview, adding that the city hadn't put out any notices that the rezoning application would be coming up again at Monday's meeting.
Ballon outlined her concerns in a followup email, saying that the safety risks to children attending Maywood Community School and Maywood Neighbourhood Daycare due to increased traffic had not been adequately addressed.
Regarding street parking, Ballon wrote that the building plan includes 253 units but only 25 visitor parking spots, in an area where street parking is already a challenge due to the proximity of the Metrotown SkyTrain station.
Extending Dow Avenue to Central Boulevard will increase traffic, and the speed of traffic, in the area, she said.
Aside from her concerns regarding children and traffic in the neighbourhood, Ballon said she is personally being affected by the development and plans to move.
"My townhouse will lose a view from my living room and from my rooftop patio garden," she wrote, adding that she and her neighbours currently have a view of the North Shore mountains from their third-floor apartments.
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