A proposal calling for 175 apartment/townhouse units on Machleary St. was denied by Nanaimo City Council on Oct. 9. The 6-3 no vote occurred following a pair of lengthy public hearings. (Molnar Group)

By Ian Holmes

Shot down

Nanaimo Council rejects Machleary St. housing proposal

Oct 9, 2019 | 6:16 PM

NANAIMO — A vacant chunk of land in Nanaimo’s Old City Quarter neighbourhood will remain empty for now after council rejected a contentious multi-family housing proposal.

Council voted 6-3 against a 175-unit development at 388 Machleary St. late Wednesday Oct. 9 after a second marathon public hearing.

The no vote followed several speakers primarily opposed to the project, which required official community plan (OCP) and zoning amendments.

While Coun. Erin Hemmens believes the property can handle the increased density, she said approving the project would ignore the OCP and break trust with the community.

“The decision before us is whether we agree that 388 Machleary qualifies as corridor designation in the official community plan and it doesn’t, by definition it does not.”

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Hemmens disagreed with the notion denying the project was a vote against housing.

Coun. Don Bonner liked many aspects of the proposal but also voted it down. He predicts vastly increased residential density in the Old City Quarter is on the way.

“We can’t do that one spot at a time, we have to do that as an OCP, we have to have community input, we have to have the buy-in,” Bonner said.

Vancouver based developer Molnar Group’s failed development envisioned three, four-story apartment style buildings on the lower Kennedy St. side. Three-two storey townhouse buildings were to be built near Machleary St.

All but 15 of the 165 parking spots were pegged to be underground.

Mayor Leonard Krog made an impassioned speech in favour of the project. He said the fact is Nanaimo is evolving and the Old City Quarter will too.

“As much as I appreciate the passion that’s been expressed around preserving the neighbourhood, the neighbourhood is going to change whether people want it to change or not,” Krog said.

The mayor vowed to back many future housing proposals, pointing to the need to meet demand, particularly for younger people.

“The community does not get to get the perfect development on every site or often any sites, that is the way of the world,” Krog said.

The proposal included micro suites and fit in with the City’s affordable housing strategy.

Coun. Sheryl Armstrong flipped her no vote to yes after hearing Krog’s nearly eight minute address.

Jim Turley was the other councillor on board with the proposal, which was supported by City staff.

While the massing of the Molnar Group application was comparable to its existing institutional land zoning, the project represented triple the City’s allowable residential density.

Dozens of area residents blasted the proposal for being drastically off course from the current OCP, zoning regulations and the local neighbourhood plan.

Traffic and a lack of compliance with the old city’s character were constantly referenced by locals.

A few younger residents backed the project for the housing options and environmental upsides it provided.

388 Machleary St. bordered by Kennedy and Franklyn streets originally housed a hospital in the 1800’s before it morphed into Malaspina College.

For nearly 30-years the property served as a care home for seniors before it was demolished in 2017.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes