The first report on how the Woodgrove area stacks up as a complete secondary urban hub within the city was presented to council this week.
The Woodgrove area plan baseline assessment report is the first of three phases of information gathering and planning to create an urban centre with a mix of commercial, residential, recreation, and cultural components. Kasia Biegun, community planner, presented the report at a governance and priorities meeting Monday, March 24.
The Woodgrove area is one of six potential hubs identified in the Nanaimo ReImagined city plan. This week's report essentially looks at existing housing, transportation, services, retail and infrastructure to guide what will be needed, with public input to help formalize a plan to develop a more complete secondary urban centre.
Current housing density is about six units per hectare, whereas the target density for the Woodgrove urban centre is 200 units per hectare.
No subsidized housing currently exists within the urban centre. Rental accounts for 52 per cent of housing versus 48 per cent owned, and 54 per cent of the housing units have two or three bedrooms.
Eighty-five per cent of residents get around by car, compared to 10 per cent who walk or cycle, and five per cent who use public transit.
“When it comes to walking and biking to a transit stop and then waiting for your bus, the area around the Woodgrove exchange and Woodgrove mall shows to have the best service due to the number of bus stops that are available, as well as the number of buses transiting through,” Biegun said.
Services in the area are more accessible for pedestrians than cyclists, she suggested, and also pointed out there are no parks or open spaces, no recreation and cultural facilities and no schools within the Woodgrove study area, although those amenities are found nearby.
The area’s sanitary sewer and water systems are running at or close to capacity, so adding population will require “substantial investments to expand underground infrastructure and the current development cost charge revenue is insufficient to cover this,” she said. Handling storm water runoff could also be improved, Biegun said, since 90 per cent of the area is impervious to water runoff.
Bill Sims, city general manager of engineering and public works, said the area’s water and sewer infrastructure will be at full capacity in about 20 years.
“We do have some [development cost charge] projects currently underway or currently in the plan that will deal with some of the sewer capacity, and some plans for, essentially, a continuation of the major water supply system to the north end, which will also support some growth, notably in the Bowers (Green Thumb) District, because that is going to be a shift in land use,” Sims said.
The report findings can be found on the City of Nanaimo website at www.getinvolvednanaimo.ca/woodgrove, and members of the public are also asked to participate in an online survey before April 7 to provide their thoughts on what could help make the area a complete urban centre. The city will also be holding stakeholder meetings and engaging with youths at nearby schools in the coming weeks.
Coun. Sheryl Armstrong said she’d read complaints on social media that some survey questions did not have a 'none of the above' option, leaving respondents feeling they were forced to pick from a list of options they objected to, rather than being able to express their opposition to what was presented. She also suggested there should be education about the city’s limitations regarding suggested improvements to private properties, such as Woodgrove Centre.
Armstrong wondered, as well, if staff had studied "vibrant" shopping centre redevelopment in other cities, and Biegun replied that staff have looked at large mall sites such as properties in Surrey and Burnaby.
“Consultants we are working with have worked on large projects like this where malls have been redeveloped, so they do have some experience with the policies and the guidelines that have helped transform these areas … for, not just the mall, but for the larger scope area of the Woodgrove urban centre,” she said.
Lisa Brinkman, manager of community planning, noted that Woodgrove Centre ownership is aware of the work on the area plan and is looking to collaborate with the city as the project progresses.
