A developer is seeking council approval for a six-storey apartment, totalling 74 rental units, in the Royal Oak area.
The development is proposed for two lots, currently occupied by single-family houses, in the 6400 block of Selma Street, including one city-owned lot and one owned by the developer.
The city-owned lot, at 6449 Selma Ave., was bought by the city in 2001 to “protect the three-lot assembly potential for multiple-family residential development,” as outlined by the Royal Oak community plan. The developer had originally intended to buy a third lot for such a land assembly but was “unsuccessful in acquiring the neighbouring property,” according to a city staff report.
The 6400 block of Selma Avenue is directly behind businesses, including a hotel and a wholesale store, along Kingsway, two blocks east of Royal Oak Avenue. Situated near a major intersection and a SkyTrain station, it’s the type of area the city sees as prime for densification.
Numerous nearby residents, however, spoke out against the proposal at a recent public hearing, including Christina Ollson, who said she is the tenant of four-and-a-half years in the city-owned house at 6449 Selma Ave. Ollson said she had never been warned about the proposal – and thereby the potential for her eviction – until a land assembly sign was put up outside the property, which left her with “high levels of anxiety.”
“I’m a little bit beside myself, actually, in that I wasn’t notified by the rental department,” she said. “In this very sensitive COVID time – where people are losing their jobs, and I work in the film industry, and we may be shut down, and then on top of this to get the anxiety and surprise of maybe not having a home to come to – it's just an absolute surprise.”
Developers replacing rental housing are required by the city's recently adopted tenant assistance policy to offer a unit at the new building for their current rent, plus provincially approved annual rent hikes, and to accommodate renters between demolition of the original building and the construction of the new building.
The city also received numerous letters and two petitions, including one with 18 signatures and another with 22 signatures. Opponents brought concerns common to multiple-family developments, including congestion issues in the area, increased car traffic on the narrow, residential road, and safety concerns in the event of a fire in the building.
The development, if approved, would add 56 market units (26 studio and one-bedroom units, and 30 two-bedroom units), along with six at rates of 20% below the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation median rents (one 1-bedroom, two studio and three 2-bedroom).
The developer also hopes to take advantage of a density bonus, adding 12 units (eight studio or one-bedroom and four 2-bedroom) at CMHC median rents.
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