Silverdale resident Kevin Willis lives in the heart of an area about to see a major overhaul.
At a public hearing on Monday (Dec. 4) concerning 11 properties on Gunn Avenue and Loftus Street owned by Polygon Homes, Willis embraced the proposed development in the area.
“We love it [in Silverdale] but we also realize that development is coming and last time I checked, we do have a housing crisis that we hear about all the time,” Willis said.
The properties could accommodate approximately 1,160 new dwellings of varying densities, in addition to parks, trails and commercial uses. It’s the first phase of a larger plan to bring infrastructure to the Silverdale region.
With the size and scale of the development, Willis believes it will make Mission better in the future.
He was one of three residents who spoke at Monday’s public hearing. Another man spoke positively of the development while council also received four letters of support.
However, another resident shared concerns about the development’s potential impact. She said it’s a highly-forested and environmentally sensitive area that experienced multiple landslides in 2021.
“We’ve lived there for 10 years and I just want to highlight that Mission is very special — particularly in this region,” she said.
“There’s a lot of natural wildlife there. There’s red squirrels, there’s foxes, there’s bobcats, there’s deer — I’ve seen all these within the last couple of years. As far as introducing the new zoning … I would prefer if that was reserved towards more urban centres and not in this area.”
The neighbourhood provides views over the Fraser River along with surrounding agricultural lands. It also includes a collection of streams that descend the hillside.
According to a staff report, protection of environmentally sensitive lands will occur at the time of subdivision. Environmentally sensitive areas are currently identified on the site and a preliminary bio-inventory must be submitted and accepted by the city as a component of the subdivision.
Mission Mayor Paul Horn expects shovels in the ground for the development before the end council’s four-year term.
“While there’s some good news here, those of us who moved in that area and enjoy the natural environment – it’s going to be a change,” Horn said. “Change can be good, change can be bad and most of the time, change is a combination of both things.”
Horn lives in Silverdale and first became involved in civic politics as an opponent of development in the area.
“What I think is a difference maker for me … is the idea that dense development can preserve green spaces,” he said.
The city developed an infrastructure strategy for the Silverdale area in 2018 that was approved by council in 2020.
Meanwhile, Silverdale’s central neighbourhood plan, completed in August 2022, identified the Lower Slopes, Mid-Slopes and Upper Slopes as distinct settings in the area. The 11 properties proposed to become a “Comprehensive Development 59 Zone” lie within the Lower Slopes area.
After the public hearing, council unanimously approved the rezoning on its third reading later in the meeting.
Before adoption, several conditions need to be met, including a legal agreement restricting the development of the lands until the applicant provides municipal services to the area being rezoned.
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