The days of the Burnaby school district's 60-year-old administrative offices on Kincaid Street are numbered.
A bylaw to rezone the 3.224-acre property at 5325 and 5385 Kincaid St. from P2 administration and assembly to R2 residential passed first reading at city council this month.
The proposed plan, which would see the school district offices demolished and the property subdivided into 18 single-family residential lots, now goes to a public hearing on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m.
In 1958, when the offices were built, the property was rural land, but a residential neighbourhood has since sprung up around them.
The district plans to sell the rezoned property to a developer and use the proceeds to fund the construction of new offices that will be attached to the Schou Street School heritage building at 4041 Canada Way.
About 79 people attended a community information meeting in May about the rezoning of the Kincaid property, according a staff report to council.
"In general, attendees were in support of the proposed single-family development," states the report. "However, some concerns were raised concerning the potential size and scale of dwellings, and the loss of trees on site."
Included in a list of rezoning prerequisites recommended by staff is a tree survey and arborist's report "to determine whether any existing trees are suitable for retention."
"The removal of trees over 20 centimetres in diameter would require a treeremoval permit," states the report.
The estimated value of the rezoned Kincaid property will be about $15.4 million, which is almost identical to the estimated cost for building the new offices, according to school district secretary-treasurer Russell Horswill.
The district hopes to be in its new digs on Canada Way by spring 2021.
