City council agreed with neighbours that it was time to pay some attention to the east end of the city.
During Monday night's meeting, council unanimously approved third reading of a set of zoning and official community plan changes that would allow for the development of an 85-lot subdivision in the Blackburn area.
A key selling point to the application was a phased development agreement between the city and the developers (Lower Mainland-based brothers Peter and Sid Kingma) that stipulates an extension of city water and sewer services along Blackburn Road South to Midland Road.
Residents speaking in support of the application expressed a desire to have an opportunity to take advantage of that proximity. While the developer is on the hook for servicing the new subdivision, existing property owners would have to connect to sewer and water lines out of their own pocket.
"I think the addition of sewer and water to Blackburn will allow Blackburn to finally grow. It's been rather dormant for 30 years," said one resident speaking at the night's public hearing on the proposal. "We feel we've been ignored by city council, we've been isolated out there."
Planning staff recommended council deny the application on the basis that it was urban sprawl.
Coun. Brian Skakun said had it not been for the fact it was in Blackburn, he wouldn't have supported the plan.
"A lot of other areas of town are really developing and the fact that this developer is willing to invest a lot of money in this area I think is great," he said.
"I too was coming into this concerned about staff's concerns about urban sprawl. I think those are concerns we all share," said Coun. Murry Krause.
This neighbourhood is one that's ready for growth and change, said Mayor Shari Green. And while she said she personally wasn't interested in the type of housing that would be made available on the proposed 0.4-hectare lots, Green said the city needs to have something for everybody.
Not everyone wants to live on a small city lot nor does everyone want a five-acre plot out in the bush, Peter Kingma said. Fraser Valley municipalities that went with large lot developments in years past are now trying to squeeze more lots in where they can as the land base shrinks.
Kingma said the plan for the development, to be known as Silver Bird Ranch, is for it to be phased in with 20-lot increments.
"We have no intention of flooding our own market. We would only start the next phase once the previous one is 50 per cent sold," Kingma said. "The demand has grown considerably in the past year along with values. These values are getting us near the point where the development is financially feasible."
According to realtor Ken Goss, the city is running out of that kind of housing stock in established neighbourhoods such as Valleyview and North Nechako.
"And with the way the people are going today, we're having RVs, we're having trailers, we're having quads - people need to store them," said Goss. "As a realtor, we're having people ask us for this type of development and - they used to say 'we want to go north, we want to go west' - right now people will take property if they're able to afford it."
