A developer is proposing to build a seniors village on the Hart which would include duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes.
The seniors congregate housing facility is proposed for 7215 and 7163 Kelly Road which is primarily surrounded by single family dwellings and is near Heather Park Elementary School and Shas Ti Kelly Road Secondary School.
The developer, Access West Capital Management Ltd., will be seeking approval for the first steps in the rezoning process at the Jan. 10 city council meeting as the property will need to be rezoned from Agricultural and Forestry to Multiple Residential.
“We are a group of four developers who have experience building and operating seniors communities and we are very excited to begin investing within the City of Prince George by way of a new seniors community in the Hart,” said the company in a letter to council.
“Our vision is to create and operate a 55+ active living lifestyle community that supports our seniors and helps them by providing access for supports as they age in place.”
The developers explained the goal is to integrate the seniors village with the surrounding community and facilitate the creation of a multi-generational housing model to help keep seniors connected and supporting independent lifestyles for seniors.
While the Multiple Residential zone allows for apartment housing, the developer has already agreed to a covenant to restrict that use.
The proposed senior’s community will instead consist of rancher style homes that are in the form of duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes with some available on a rental basis.
“We have noticed that in the Hart, there is a low stock of available vacant land located in multi-generational neighbourhoods that are in close proximity to amenities and existing transit services, which is why in our opinion the properties are the perfect location for a senior’s oriented development.”
Prior to council consideration of this application, the developers undertook a public engagement process to inform the surrounding neighbourhood of the proposal.
Due to the evolving COVID-19 public orders and the current restrictions in place for the Northern Health Region, the public consultation process for this application was completed via a letter hand out in lieu of an in-person open house and letters were delivered to 69 homes in the surrounding area.
During the consultation period, they received one petition in opposition, three written letters, eight phone calls, and 11 emails.
L&M Engineering, which assisted with the consultation process, said the feedback received from the neighbours was largely inquisitive in nature, while the majority were concerned about the continued construction in the area, loss of trees currently situated on the properties, traffic and the potential for the development to affect the current water pressure in the neighbourhood.
After hearing concerns regarding for the potential for continued construction within the neighbourhood, the developer has committed to informing the surrounding property owners of construction timelines via hand-delivered letters when the development gets to that stage.
The developer says the timeline for full build-out would be three years and the development would be constructed through a phased approach, should re-zoning be approved.
You can find the full agenda for Monday night’s council meeting online.
