They can plead their case and bring their kids, but it won’t snap the resolve of veteran Richmond councillor Harold Steves.
The owners of Generation Daycare, their parent clients and some of their children will descend upon city hall in 10 days to appeal to mayor and council to allow the daycare to move into the controversial and vacant Imperial Landing commercial site in Steveston.
Generation’s owners Mike and Agnes Lewis recently had a business licence application turned down by the city for the site on the grounds it doesn’t comply with the zoning.
And with the before- and after-school daycare — already a scarce service in the village — getting evicted Sept. 30 from its current Trites Road location, the pressure is on for the proprietors and parents to find a new base.
The only problem is that the Imperial Landing site owner — Onni Group — has been unable in 10 years to have the area rezoned from its Mixed Maritime Use designation (to which the developer originally agreed).
“It won’t change my mind,” said Steves, who, over the years, has been at the forefront of city council opposition to Onni’s requests.
“Although, we can approve (an amendment to the zoning), but the $20 million profit Onni will make from any rezoning can come back to the city and then we can invest that in childcare. And that $20 million estimate was five or six years ago, so it must be up around $25 million by now.”
Steves was also surprised to hear city staff had directed the daycare’s owners to Onni as a potential new location and given them the phone numbers to call, adding that it must have been “someone new or very naïve,” who doesn’t know what’s happened before.
“When other parts of Richmond got rezoned, we got amenities; such as at Terra Nova, where we got childcare and affordable housing,” added Steves. “(At Imperial Landing), they got off Scot-free.”
Ironically, Steves said, in the early days of rezoning the Imperial Landing site, he had asked for childcare provision as an amenity.
“But it was put down by other members of council,” laughed Steves.
The Trites Road site where the daycare currently sits is scheduled for demolition in the fall, with an application to rezone from light industrial to residential received by city hall earlier this spring.
However, Steves said he will dig his heels in there, as well. “I’ll be opposing any rezoning of the Trites Road site, that’s for sure.”
The daycare owners and one of their parent customers told the Richmond News on Wednesday how the bid to move into one of Onni’s vacant Imperial Landing commercial properties is likely their last hope of staying in the area, as no other suitable locations can be found.
