Downtown grocery remains on hold as municipal board decides whether to overturn council decision blocking work on Rosewood apartment tower. yxecc
“I feel, in some respects, like it’s the first time we’ve been heard,” said Murray Totland, director of planning for Arbutus Properties following a meeting Thursday of the city’s development appeals board. Totland added that the questions asked by members of the quasi-judicial panel left him feeling they were “engaged” with the issues presented by both sides.We deliver the local news you need in these turbulent times on weekdays at 3 p.m.
The hold requires Arbutus to complete $7 million worth of sewer upgrades before it can proceed with any work on the building. Arbutus has asked to pour the new building’s foundation, despite having about $1.5 million worth of sewer work left to complete. Council previously voted 9-1 against allowing this, siding with city staff who warned against setting a precedent that could weaken the city’s ability to make developers pay to service projects.
“We don’t think our request has been unreasonable, we think there are solutions,” Totland said. The company has offered to accept a permit limiting it strictly to the foundation pending completion of the sewer. Totland said the company approached the city again ahead of Thursday’s appeal hearing seeking “a path forward,” but to no avail.
“The city’s seeming unwillingness to entertain that is a bit puzzling, to be frank about it,” Totland said. Arbutus has also questioned the need for the upgraded sewer around its Rosewood project. The company previously claimed its own engineers determined existing pipes could handle the additional flow if they had to, and that this should be factored in when assessing the risk of allowing the foundation.
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