A College Heights multi-family development cleared the last hurdles needed before construction at the Monday, June 23 Prince George city council.
Councillors voted unanimously to approve Official Community Plan and zoning amendments that will allow for a 1.91-hectare multi-family housing development to be built at 8640 St. Lawrence Ave. and 2800 Vista Ridge Dr.
Ridgecrest Development Group was looking for the property’s designation under the Official Community Plan to be changed from Neighbourhood Corridor from Neighbourhood Residential and rezoned from RS2: Single Residential to RM5: Multiple Residential to facilitate the project.
The company also wanted three restrictive covenants discharged.
Because council voted after a public hearing at its Sept. 25, 2024 meeting to request an updated traffic study before making a final decision, a second public hearing was required. That was held at council’s Dec. 2, 2024 meeting.
As previously reported by The Citizen, four residents spoke in opposition to the project at the Dec. 2 public hearing.
Concerns raised by the quartet included access to transit, potential vehicle accidents if the intersection of St. Lawrence Avenue and Southridge Avenue was made a four-way stop because of the development, issues with slowing down to that same intersection during icy conditions and a potential conflict with the yet-to-be-approved new draft of the Official Community Plan that seeks to reduce urban sprawl.
At the same hearing, representatives from L&M Engineering speaking on behalf of the developer said the company was willing to put the property under a restrictive covenant to prevent the construction of apartments, clubs and convenience stores to address locals’ concerns about housing density and traffic.
Another covenant was proposed restricting the housing density from 125 units per hectare to 75 units per hectare.
L&M’s Tanner Fjellstrom told council that a traffic study showed that roads in the area are within the threshold for collector streets. In response to concerns about emergency access, he said there’s a paved trail in the area blocked by bollard that could be removed if needed.
The new restrictive covenants were to be in place before fourth and final reading of the two bylaws were considered.
