At the May 27 Committee of the Whole meeting, Whistler Council heard an update on the rezoning application for 4500 Northlands Boulevard, the largest unencumbered plot of developable land in Whistler Village.
Submitted in 2021 by developer Beedie Living, which owns the 5.2-hectare property, the rezoning application calls for a change that would allow townhomes, condos, and some commercial space. The rezoning application proposes building 64 townhouse units, 168 low-rise apartment units, 85 mid-rise apartment units, and 12,000 square feet of commercial space, along with strata amenity space.
According to a recent blog post by RMOW, Beedie Living has committed to providing several Community Amenity Contributions in exchange for the rezoning for more than 300 new housing units. Community benefits are negotiated by staff in consideration of the anticipated increase in land value resulting from rezoning the property.
Staff and the proponent haven’t agreed on the overall value of all the proposed amenity contributions. Beedie Living pegs the value at $47.1 million while staff, with the help of an outside consultant, calculated the total value at $38.6 million.
While the contribution package includes value-in-kind items that are of interest, including construction and delivery of on-site employee housing, childcare spaces, community space, commercial retail units and public art, it includes components that staff feel are overvalued and/or not appropriate, including the proposed donation of Beedie Living’s sales centre to Vancouver Coastal Health after pre-sales are complete.
At the June 10 Regular Council meeting, Council endorsed staff’s recommendation to refer the proposed rezoning and community amenities to public consultation this fall, which will include online engagement and a public open house. Read the full report here.
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