A Nanaimo developer sees a proposed land swap paving the way for a “desperately needed” pay parkade near Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
At an open meeting Monday, Nanaimo city council unanimously agreed to move ahead on a land exchange with Canadian Cache Development Corporation, the land-development division of R.W. (Bob) Wall Ltd., which wants an 82.7-square-metre corner of Beaufort Park for the equivalent in private property. It’s now up to the electorate to decide if it’s OK with the trade.
The project will see a medical centre and open-air pay parkade behind the Beaufort Centre on Dufferin Crescent. Donna Hais, general manager of Bob Wall Ltd., said a parkade is critical. She has seen drivers cram onto streets and said an issue surgeons are facing is that there's no physician parking when they are called in, and if surgery runs late can be ticketed.
Management of the parkade and costs to park there are not yet known, neither has the company ironed out what its new medical building will contain. The company plans to submit a development permit in the coming months.
A land swap would “square up” the back property line and in exchange, the city will get an equivalent slice of 1515 Dufferin Cres., as well as trail access to the park with a paved path, lighting and improvements to landscaping.
“The amenity we see coming to the community and the hospital campus is a desperately needed parkade and to do that we need to straighten out our back property line rather than have it at a rectangle. It allows us to have more parking in that area,” said Hais.
Coun. Ian Thorpe called it a win-win. It squares up a property for the land developer, provides parking, and improves access to Beaufort Park, he said.
Nanaimo city council agreed to kick start the swap, but because it's parkland it will go to an alternative approval process to gauge electorate support. The process requires opposition from 10 per cent of eligible voters or close to 6,500 people.
“Normally I do not like the alternative approval process,” said Coun. Gord Fuller. “It’s a sneaky way of getting things past quite easily. There is a place where it does belong and this is one of those places.”
Fuller asked if any way for the forms to be signed online and said he wants it to be easier for people to express their opposition. Voters can sign an APP form at city hall or by mail.
Results are expected at the end of April and will go to council in early May.