Major development in west Maple Ridge in the works

Architectural images of the planned development. (Bissky Architecture/Special on The News)

Architectural images of the planned development. (Bissky Architecture/Special on The News)

Architectural images of the planned development. (Bissky Architecture/Special on The News)

A major development in West Maple Ridge will feature 576 ground floor condominiums and shops in four six-story buildings along Dewdney Trunk Road.

The City Council has given first and second readings to the motion at 20556 Dewdney Trunk Rd., a four-acre lot near 207th Street. Access to the property is via 119th Avenue.

Two buildings will be rental units for a total of 296 apartments and the other two will have 280 units of market strata with a mix of apartment sizes. The city’s housing action plan prioritizes rental housing.

There will be a central courtyard, playground, social seating, underground parking in the rain garden and some ground level parking for the companies. It will offer a total of 22,000 square meters of commercial space.

Developer Sohan Mehat of Coquitlam said it will accommodate around 10-15 companies of various sizes, and a daycare center is possible. He said the development, which has yet to be named, will provide a place for people to live and work in a walkable community that’s close to transit.

“It ticks all the boxes,” Mayor Dan Ruimy said of the development, noting that the condominium and rental unit market fits with the city’s priorities of creating more housing stock in the city.

A city staff report noted that development is occurring along key transit routes.

“The application can be viewed as a very positive addition to West Maple Ridge as it offers both new commercial/employment opportunities as well as rental and residential accommodation for market classes not currently available in large numbers in the area.”

According to the report, the application is the first physical expression of the guidelines in the city’s new Lougheed Corridor Concept Plan and its goal to densify the Lougheed-Dewdney Trunk Corridor.

Ruimy said the council will ask developers about vehicle charging facilities and bike storage.

“It’s not a requirement right now, but we’re pushing it,” he said.

“We have to think about the city of the future.”

count. Korleen Carreras urged the city to consider safe sidewalks for children on their way to school, noting that the development would run near an S-curve on Dewdney Trunk Road.

Children can attend schools that are not overcrowded like in the eastern district.

The school district informed the city that the development would fall within the service area of ​​Fairview Elementary, which has a capacity of 429 students and is at 80 percent occupancy, and Westview Secondary, which has a capacity of 1,200 students and an enrollment of 694 students or 58 percent occupancy.

The development, which first took place in front of City Hall in 2016, will be subject to a public hearing on January 16.

Mehat hopes construction can begin in the summer of 2023, and construction will be phased in over a period of years.