COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT: REZONING 2025-01 – 258 HELMCKEN ROAD (August 21, 2025)

REZONING 2025-01 – 258 HELMCKEN ROAD

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council to instruct staff to prepare the necessary Zoning Bylaw amendments to amend the CD-26: Island Highway/Helmcken Comprehensive Development Zone as follows:

a. Add Café, Medical Clinic, Office, and Retail as permitted uses b. Add a condition that Café, Medical Clinic, Office, and Retail uses, with the exception of parking, are only permitted on the ground floor of a building.

AND THAT after publication of notification in accordance with section 467 of the Local Government Act, first, second and third reading of the Zoning Bylaw amendments be considered by Council.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

Option 2 (Proceed with a public hearing)

THAT the Committee recommend to Council to instruct staff to prepare the necessary Zoning Bylaw amendments to amend the CD-26: Island Highway/Helmcken Comprehensive Development Zone as follows:

a. Add Café, Medical Clinic, Office, and Retail as permitted uses b. Add a condition that Café, Medical Clinic, Office, and Retail uses, with the exception of parking, are only permitted on the ground floor of a building.

AND THAT first and second reading of the Zoning Bylaw amendment be considered by Council and a public hearing date be set.

Option 3 (Decline Application)

That the application be declined.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to introduce a rezoning application for the property located at 258 Helmcken Road to amend existing CD-26: Island Highway/Helmcken Comprehensive Development Zone to permit additional commercial uses.

BACKGROUND:

Site History

The 1850 m² subject property is located at the east corner of the Island Highway / Helmcken Road intersection as shown in Attachment 1. It was rezoned to the CD-26 Island Highway / Helmcken Comprehensive Development zone in 2021 and construction of a six-storey, mixed-used building (the Royalle) was recently completed. The development is comprised of 55 condominium apartment units, approximately 583m² of commercial space on the ground floor with some surface parking, and two levels of underground parking.

The only commercial use permitted in the CD-26 zone is neighbourhood grocery, which is defined as:

“Neighbourhood Grocery” means a grocery with a leasable floor area of less than 700m². Neighbourhood Grocery may include, as an accessory uses only: bakery, café, and delicatessen.”

The zone includes conditions that the neighbourhood grocery use may only be located on the ground floor and operate between the hours of 6:00am and 10:00pm.

Current Issue

The commercial unit is vacant. The development proponent indicates that since 2022 there have been discussions with interested grocers for the commercial unit, but no viable tenancy has been found. Since then, the economic landscape has changed and the leasing agent provides further analysis in Attachments 2, 3, 4, and 5, summarized as follows:

• Feedback from targeted outreach is that the current unit size is too large for most market/grocery users, with associated costs of building out proving to be prohibitive.
• Given the challenging market conditions and rising costs of goods and staffing costs, most grocery users are not currently looking to expand with new locations at this time.
• Commercial tenants typically seek smaller units ranging between 1,000 to 1,500 square feet.
• Demising the commercial premises on the ground floor into smaller units would be highly desirable for medical-related professionals, retail businesses, café users (Attachments 4 & 5).

To address the ongoing vacancy and the applicant’s inability to secure a grocer for the space, the applicant is requesting that the CD-26 Zone be amended to include the following as permitted uses.

• Café
• Medical Clinic*
• Office
• Retail

*The definition of Medical Clinic is as follows:

“Medical Clinic” means the use of a building where one or more members of the medical profession, including physicians, dentists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, naturopaths, registered massage therapists, acupuncturists and veterinarians, provide diagnosis and treatment to the general public or household pets without overnight accommodation, and may include such accessory uses as reception areas, offices consultation rooms, coffee shops and pharmaceutical dispensary, providing that all such accessory uses have access only from the interior of the clinic building.

ANALYSIS:

The proposal can be supported for the following reasons:

1. The proposed land uses are consistent with the Official Community Plan “Neighborhood Centre” designation.
2. The marketing has indicated that the location is not viable for neighbourhood grocery.
3. Neighbourhood grocery is still a permitted use. If the commercial space is demised into two or more units, a smaller neighbourhood grocery use is still possible. A condition of use for neighbourhood grocery includes hours of operation to discourage convenience store use.
4. Demising the space could allow complementary uses that support each other. For example, a health and wellness related use could increase foot traffic to support a café or neighbourhood grocery use.
5. The proposed uses are commonly seen in commercial residential mixed-use buildings that can help to add vibrancy to the pedestrian streetscape and create community gathering places.

Staff recommends adding a condition that the additional proposed uses, with exception of parking, may only be located on the ground floor. This is an existing condition for the neighbourhood grocery use.

The commercial space has parking provided at one parking space per 20m² of floor area. All the proposed uses would meet or exceed this parking requirement, except for café use which requires one parking space per 15m² of floor area. A parking variance may be required for a café use depending on how floor spaces are allocated between commercial units.

Public Input: Notice of Amendment Bylaw vs. Public Hearing

The proposed land uses are consistent with the Official Community Plan Neighbourhood Centre land use designation, which supports mixed commercial and residential uses. In this case, the Local Government Act does not require a public hearing, but similar to a public hearing, there would still be notification and opportunities for public comment, as follows:

1. Notice of the Council meeting to consider first, second, and third reading of the amendment bylaw would be mailed to owners and occupiers of all parcels of land that are the subject of the application or within a distance of 400 metres of such a parcel;
2. Members of the public can still submit written comments for the meeting agenda;
3. While there would be no formal item on the Council meeting agenda for verbal public comment on the proposal, members of the public can speak to the proposal during the public participation period of the meeting.

Proceeding with the above option would expedite the rezoning application. Alternatively, the Committee can recommend that Council proceed with a public hearing by supporting Option #2 in this report.

The applicant indicates that a neighbourhood meeting was held in August, and results will be submitted for Council’s consideration.

Impacts and Implications

Impacts and implications can be summarized as follows:

Community Impact: The current permitted use is not viable. The additional proposed uses will allow a wider range of commercial uses to support this neighbourhood centre and provide an opportunity to create community gathering place. Vacant commercial spaces are undesirable for a community as it decreases vibrancy and investment, reduces foot traffic, and gives a perception of economic decline and instability.

Financial Implication: There are no financial implications for the Town.

Inter-governmental Relations Impact: There are no anticipated inter-governmental relations impacts.

ALIGNMENT:

The recommended option aligns with the Town’s following core guiding documents as follows:

Strategic Plan: Vision: The local economy is diversified and strong, providing employment, shopping, and service options to local and regional residents.

Official Community Plan: Residential and commercial mixed uses are supported on this site within the Neighbourhood Centre land use designation.

Policy LU1.4 Diversity of Forms and Uses: Support a variety of residential and commercial forms and uses to encourage socio-economic diversity, and provide for the diverse needs of youth, families and an aging population.

Other Policy Documents: Community Climate Action Strategy – Big Move: Shift Beyond the Car - Strategy 1.1.3: Allow for more mixed used and greater density along corridors (especially those well served by transit), and close to service and employment areas.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION GOAL:

The desired level of public participation for the recommended option is:

[ ] Inform [X] Consult [ ] Involve [ ] Collaborate [ ] Empower [ ] N/A

TIME CRITICAL:

There are no time considerations for the Town.

CONCURRENCE:

REVIEWED BY:

ATTACHMENTS:

1. Location Map
2. Letter from Applicant
3. Letter from Colliers July 14, 2025
4. Schedule A: New Builds – Coffee Shop Lease Comparables, Colliers, July 14, 2025
5. Schedule B: New Builds – Health Care Lease Comparables, Colliers, July 14, 2025