Black Diamond residents opposed to three apartment buildings and duplexes planned across the street from their estate homes found out last week construction on the site could begin as early as September.
More than 50 people, mainly homeowners in the Willow Ridge and Riverwood neighbourhoods, attended an open house last week to hear about the Mountain View Village development, only to find out the area had its land use approvals granted 11 years ago.
Black Diamond mayor Glen Fagan said council will not need to approve the plans for Mountain View Village because the area was zoned for multi-family development in 2007. The town’s planning department will review the developer’s plans.
The original owner of the property had a similar development plan, but did not start the construction. In the meantime, the single-family neighbourhoods of Willow Ridge and River Wood were constructed.
Around two years ago the site went up for sale. Fagan said the zoning, which allows for multi-family and apartments, was noted on the sale sign. However, some people who have moved into the neighbourhood recently said they were caught by surprise.
Fagan said residents should still voice their concerns.
“We are waiting for feedback from the community to council, the planning department and the developer,” he said. “People can make phone calls, send emails, they can put questions on our Facebook site.”
Gary and Pam Tallon lives across the street from what is now an empty field and they said they don’t know whether the Town has water for 123 apartment units and 10 duplexes.
“We are not impressed,” Tallon said. “We are already on water restrictions.”
Black Diamond is under level 2 water restrictions and has not fully recovered its water supply after its water wells and water treatment plant were wiped out in the 2013 floods.
Tallon said the additional traffic and height of the buildings are also a problem.
Many people came to an open house held last week by the developer expecting a presentation and a chance to air their concerns. Instead, residents were able to see renderings and floor plans of the buildings and the units and ask questions of the developer.
Pam said she was disappointed.
“It was kind of a waste of our time,” she said.
Todd Gow, Mountain View developer, said they are updating the traffic study done on Third Street and Willow Ridge Drive and will make any suggested changes that come out of it. A shadow study also shows the apartments will not cast shadows on homes across the street, Gow said. They have also used a drone to check the site lines from the apartments and make sure they won’t be able to see into neighbouring homes.
However, Gow said the development cannot be scaled back.
“We can’t reduce density,” Gow said. “It won’t make sense financially. The units would be 30 per cent more and the condo fees would be 30 to 50 per cent more.”
Gow said he felt he was able to address many of the residents’ concerns and said he may hold another open house before construction begins on the duplexes in September. The next step will be construction of the apartment building closest to the hospital, Gow said, adding he hopes to start before the end of the year.
On its website, Mountain View Village is billed as an adult-living community, but Gow said there will not be age restrictions because of legal concerns.
It is also undecided if the building will include rentals, Gow said.
