Maple Ridge takes another step to securing 72 new rental units 

Maple Ridge council moved forward recently on a housing agreement bylaw that will guarantee dozens of new rental units for decades to come.

The applicant, Bissky Architecture and Urban Design Inc., had initially planned to build a strata market building at the 20282 Patterson Ave. site. But the developer decided to enter into a housing agreement with the city and commit to 60 years of rental tenure instead.

In return, Maple Ridge will pay the developer back its previously paid community amenity contribution (CAC) of $272,000 — since the city doesn’t require CACs for rental buildings.

(A CAC is a payment from a developer to a city to pay for amenities like civic facilities, public art, or affordable housing.)

“When it comes to the CACs, this is what I consider a priority for the city, we need these rentals,” said Mayor Dan Ruimy at a July 8 committee of the whole meeting, where staff presented the housing agreement.

Family housing

The proposed development is a four-storey residential building with seven one-bedroom units, 26-two bedrooms, and 39 three bedrooms.

Both Coun. Korleen Carreras and Coun. Jenny Tan expressed their appreciation for the three-bedroom units at Tuesday’s meeting.

“Any time we can bring more rental units online, it’s a good thing. And this will help us do that,” said Coun. Carreras. “In particular, this has a significant number of three-bedrooms within it, which is really great when it comes to supporting families in our community.”

Coun. Tan added that she looks forward to having more applications like these come forward.

According to the city’s 2024 housing needs report, the city needs 2,758 new three bedroom units and 1,617 two-bedrooms by 2023 for its growing number of families. But over half (4,238 of 8,613) of the new units are projected to be studios or one-bedrooms.

In April,council referred a family friendly housing policy back to staff that would have required a 10 per cent minimum of three-bedroom units to support families. They said that local developers had expressed concern about it since three-bedrooms are less profitable. 

Transportation

Since the site can’t accommodate the required amount of parking stalls (due to a high water table), the city and landowner have also agreed to support future residents with alternative forms of transportation. 

This includes providing them with two, one-zone TranslInk Compass Cards valid for six months, five e-scooters for the tenants, 18 long-term bike stalls, and 20 short-term bike stalls.

At July 8’s COW, Mayor Ruimy noted that the site is along current and future transit units.

“I think this is a win-win for everybody.”