Council decides against daycare for Value Village redevelopment
The proposed redevelopment of Burnaby's Value Village won't include a childcare centre after all.
In a preliminary proposal presented to city hall last year to start off the rezoning process, the property's owner, Cressey Developments, is looking at building a mixed-use multi-family residential and commercial project on the three-acre site at the corner of Kingsway and Edmonds Street.
Cressey plans to use the city's density bonus provisions which city hall estimates would yield about $14 million as a community benefit if the rezoning goes ahead.
Last month, in a report to council, city staff recommended that $5 million of that be used to build and furnish a group childcare centre on the site large enough to accommodate 70 children, citing a "significant need" in the community for childcare spaces.
At the time, council referred the issue back to the community development committee for further discussion. On Monday, it followed the committee's recommendation and decided to simply take the cash.
Coun. Colleen Jordan, chair of the community development committee, said at Monday's meeting that $5 million is a lot of money to be used to create 70 childcare spaces.
Burnaby city hall owns five childcare centres in the city, three of which were built with community benefit funds, said Jordan. The last one built with such funds was in 2005, which cost roughly $2 million.
With the potential influx of money from the Value Village redevelopment, the committee decided instead to first determine what the priorities are for the Edmonds community.
"We are of the view that now with several big projects in the offing in that area we should take a step back and look at what all the potential is and look at what all the potential funds there are, and what all the needs are in that area and then make a priority list that would better serve the community as a whole," Jordan said.
If the development is granted rezoning approval, the cash-in-lieu contribution would add $11.2 million, or 80 per cent of the total, to the Edmonds Town Centre community benefit account earmarked for future community amenities in the area. The remaining 20 per cent, or $2.8 million, would be added to the city-wide housing fund for affordable or special needs housing, following council policy.
Prior to the Cressey contribution, the Edmonds fund currently sits at $3.47 million while the housing fund has a current balance of $8.6 million.
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.