The owners of the former Barlow’s building on lower Third Avenue are looking at a renovation that will decrease the amount of commercial space in their building, as well as add four residential dwelling units.
Tyson and Penelope Tilley were present at a public hearing in council chambers on April 24, asking for a zoning amendment so they can add some residential units at the ground level of their building, behind the commercial units. They also applied to change the general parking requirements by reducing the standard to 0.5 parking spaces per residential unit.
Scott Smith, City of Port Alberni director of development services, described the lower level of Third Avenue between Dunbar and Redford Street as being predominantly commercial service and highway commercial buildings, with a couple of buildings that have non-conforming residential units above existing commercial units.
“The city of Port Alberni has a significant amount of vacant commercial space in the community, and the recent work of our economic development manager has shown that there is a 29 percent vacancy rate for commercial storefronts in the lower Third and Fourth Avenue area,” said Smith. “There’s also a clear need for more affordable rental housing.”
Adding more residential units on the ground floor of the building would add needed rental housing to the community, and would also result in smaller-sized commercial units, which might make them more leasable, he said.
The building plan proposed three commercial units fronting Third Avenue, with four residential units behind them. The residential units would range in size from just under 400 square feet to just over 600 square feet. The building plan was done in consultation with the city building inspector, and a building permit would be required for the renovation to ensure that building and fire codes are met. The exterior of the building is in need of some improvement. Since the writing of the report, the applicants have made a formal application to the city’s facade improvement program.
“I think as much as we can, we need to try and be adding some flexibility to these older commercial unit buildings to try and make sure that they’re viable so they’re worth investing in,” said Smith.
Councillor Ron Paulson was concerned with public access to the building, especially with the fact that the residential dwelling units would empty into a back alley.
“There are some socio-economic problems in that area that concern me,” he said. “When I look at these pictures I’m very concerned about the rear access.”
Mayor Mike Ruttan agreed that the building at this point is not very visually appealing, noting that there is an issue with garbage.
“We have an issue with illegal dumping,” said Penelope.
“It’s an ongoing battle, that dumpster,” added Tyson.
He said that they have plans to put up a camera and some lighting. The couple has a property manger and a maintenance plan for the building. They noted that the exterior has already been pressure-washed, and they have plans to paint it.
“If this goes through, we’ll have more revenue coming in on the building, so that gives us more resources to hire out,” added Tyson. “More people to deal with these issues and address them,” Ruttan said.
“I don’t want to see that building become a magnet for people who have major social problems, or financial problems. Or become a target building for RCMP visits because there’s issues in the building,” Ruttan said.
“We don’t want that either,” said Penelope. “I’ve discussed with the property manager the type of people that we’re wanting to attract to that building, and trying to weed out some of the ones we don’t want.”
The Tilleys have owned the building for three and a half years, and the commercial space has been vacant for most of that time.
During the regular meeting of council later that night, council passed the amendment.
Councillor Jack McLeman expressed his doubts about the project. “I think the owners are meaning well, and I think they’re honestly trying to do something with their property. But I do have concerns about what it’s going to look like when it’s finished.”
“I share the same concerns, but in general I’m excited to see people investing in that area of town,” said Councillor Sharie Minions. “Their commercial storefronts have been vacant since they purchased the building in 2013, which is really concerning for our commercial core and for people holding buildings like that. It’s certainly doesn’t encourage new people to buy commercial buildings and invest in them in our community. I like the concept of creating smaller storefronts.”
Ruttan also pointed out, “They’ll have to have a building permit, and it was clear that there are some conditions that we’ll be looking for before we go ahead with that.
“I definitely have lots of concerns, but I’m sufficiently convinced that with guidance from our city planning and building inspection and the desire of the young couple to contribute towards the city I think we could end up with something much better than what’s there now.”