The City of White Rock has purchased a hillside home in the West Beach area for $1.4 million as part of a strategy to increase waterfront parking options.
The property, at 1156 Vidal St., overlooks an existing parking lot adjacent to the six-storey Sausalito condo development on Victoria Avenue.
Prior to the purchase, the house was owned by former White Rock councillor Alan Campbell, who served on council from 2008 to 2014, but was not re-elected for a third term.
Campbell told Peace Arch News via email Tuesday that he built the house on a vacant lot 30 years ago and has “loved living there,” noting it will be “difficult to drive away.”
He pointed to the The Sausalito development, at 14955 Victoria Ave., as a reason for selling his home, noting approval of the zoning by court order in 2009 was “devastating” for his neighbourhood.
“In my house, it’s like living in a fishbowl and ruined what we legitimately had,” Campbell said.
Campbell said he has been assured that neighbours on Vidal Street and Beach View would be consulted on the parkade design.
The city’s purchase of the house – which is adjacent to property already owned by the city – was made with money from the land sale reserve fund.
Mayor Wayne Baldwin told PAN Monday that there are no specific plans in place for the design of the parking structure or how many stalls it will accommodate.
“We’re looking at three or four levels, but it could be more,” Baldwin said. “It depends on what’s reasonable to put in there.”
A city news release issued Friday said that acquiring the property would increase the capacity of a parking structure at the site by 60 per cent in an area where parking is already at a premium, particularly during peak tourism months.
“It’s in a central area, so it would be heavily used, I would think,” Baldwin told PAN.
In December, Coun. Grant Meyer told PAN he wanted the city to revisit plans to build a parking facility on the Marine Drive ‘hump.’ Meyer pointed to a 2003 city-commissioned development plan that would have created 125 parking stalls and a pedestrian plaza, noting it was “worth a second look.”
When asked this week if the Vidal Street purchase would have an impact on possible hillside plans, Baldwin said the city “would have to wait and see.”
“At this stage, it’s too early to tell, but it’s also an option I suppose,” Baldwin said, noting that the biggest “problem” with that idea is that the Burlington Northern Sante Fe-owned land is not currently leased by the city.
Baldwin said the city will be issuing a request for proposals for the parkade design and construction, and expected the project wouldn’t be completed until the end of 2017.
– with files from Alex Browne