A six-storey 174-unit apartment building and 10-unit townhouse development on McCallum Road in Abbotsford is moving forward.
The project, which was given third reading by council on Monday night (June 14), will be located at 2236 McCallum Rd. – across from the old MSA Hospital.
The property is currently zoned “suburban residential” (SR), which permits single detached dwellings on one-acre lots.
But the developer sought approval to rezone the property to the mid-rise apartment zone, which has a maximum building height of six storeys, and to multifamily ground-oriented, with a maximum building height of three storeys.
However, a staff report to council indicates that the applicant will limit the townhouse development to two storeys “to mitigate the transition from apartment to townhouse to single-detached dwellings beyond.”
“The applicant has also stepped the apartment building down from six storeys to four storeys at the eastern end of the proposed building for the same purpose,” the report states.
The townhouse units will each contain three bedrooms, with an average unit size of 1,400 square feet and private rooftop patios.
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The apartment building will consist of: 11 studio units, 85 one-bedroom units, five one-bedroom units with a den, 64 two-bedroom units, and nine two-bedroom units with a den. Those ranges in size from 310 to 1,039 square feet.
Parking will be provided in a common underground parkade, with some visitor parking located behind or between the buildings.
A public hearing on the project was held virtually on Monday (June 14), with a couple who lives behind the proposed project expressing some opposition.
Greg and Aline Auger live on Rockland Avenue – to the east of and behind the development.
They said their house was built in the 1960s by the Trethewey family and was designed with the living and entertainment space to be facing the backyard, which faces the proposed apartment-and-townhouse complex.
The home has floor-to-ceiling windows.
“So basically we’re going to have 10 townhouses with people having the ability to stare right at us and right at our backyard and into our home,” Greg said.
Staff indicated that there will be a row of trees and a wood fence lining the development, but Mayor Henry Braun questioned how far the townhouses would be from the Augers’ home and what the sight lines would be from the second floor of the development into their residence.
A motion was brought forward to delay third reading and have staff bring those answers back to the next council meeting, but it was voted down, and third reading was approved.
The project next goes before council for final approval.
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