A Burnaby townhome development in the Royal Oak neighbourhood won’t go ahead as planned after council opposed the sale of public land associated with the project.
The development by C.P. Construction at 5168, 5180 and 5192 Sidley St., just west of Burnaby South Secondary, was planned to include 22 two-bedroom townhomes with underground parking.
Two of the properties, 5180 and 5192 Sidley St., are owned by the city.
One property is vacant (5180 Sidley); two single-family homes sit on the other two lots.
But at a council meeting Aug. 26, four councillors said no to selling public land.
“I believe that these are great properties that we should be keeping for the public benefit,” said Coun. Alison Gu, adding, “I don’t think we should be selling it.”
She said that when the deal was made, the zoning did not allow for the increased density now permitted.
(The Sidley properties are about 300 metres away from Royal Oak SkyTrain station, meaning they fall within the province’s new transit-oriented area legislation where cities have been told to allow apartments of at least 12 storeys. Burnaby has not approved the required designations yet, but the province has set an Oct. 31 deadline before it will impose its own bylaws.)
Gu suggested the Sidley properties could be developed with affordable housing as part of the Burnaby Housing Authority.
Councillors Gu, Pietro Calendino, Maita Santiago and Daniel Tetrault opposed the project at the bylaw’s third reading, the third of four major approvals.
Because Mayor Mike Hurley was absent, the reading failed in a 4-4 tie vote.
In a situation like this, in which a rezoning’s bylaw reading fails, the development application typically gets cancelled eventually, said Ed Kozak, general manager of planning and development.
He added anything related to the land sale will be discussed by council in a closed meeting.
Municipal councils can close meetings to the public when discussing issues like acquiring or disposing of land.
Corporate officer Nikki Best said, while some aspects of applications aren’t fully public, all rezoning bylaws must be handled and voted on in open meetings.
Staff will inform the developer and report back to council at a later date.
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