The Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society (NAHS) has contacted the Nanaimo Old City Association (NOCA) about a housing project NAHS is proposing on Prideaux Street (close to Comox Road).

The Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society was recently bequeathed five small walk-up apartment buildings for seniors (62 units) in this area of the old city. The buildings are at the end of their lives and in very poor condition.  NAHS is proposing a 130 unit 6-storey building to replace four of the buildings on the east side of Prideaux, and a second 5-story building with 40 to 44 bachelor suites to replace the building on the west side of Prideaux.  These buildings would house a mix of tenants including low income families, singles and people with disabilities in the larger of the two buildings and single individuals in the bachelor units on the small site at 66 Prideaux.

NAHS plans to apply for funding from BC Housing in the spring of this year to fund the project.  The project requires an amendment to Nanaimo’s Official Community Plan (OCP) to rezone the properties from their current lower-density to a higher density, multi-unit residential. The OCP amendment is to have the NAHS parcels of land included with the adjacent Urban Node district to create a more contiguous land use area and shift the Urban Node District to the natural boundary of the train tracks and green area to the west. Comox Road is currently designated as an “urban arterial road”.

If funding is secured, NAHS will engage with NOCA, the City and BC Housing during the design and construction of the buildings.

The Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society presented their ideas to the NOCA Board on January 20, 2020 and received general support from the Board for the project.  The Board wishes to gage the views of NOCA members and residents in the old city about the proposal.  Please send any comments by January 31 to info@nanaimooldcityassociation.ca

Any questions about the project will be sent to NAHS for response.

Over 30 residents attended our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October 21.  Memberships were renewed and a new Board was elected.  If you haven’t renewed your membership, it’s not too late! Please consider becoming a member of NOCA and supporting your local neighbourhood association. You can print the application below and either scan it and email it to info@nanaimooldcityassociation.ca, pop it into the mail or drop it in our treasurer’s mailbox. Thank you!

Membership application

City Council voted 6-3 against the bylaw to amend the Official Community Plan (as requested by the Molnar Group and recommended by city planning staff) at the Public Hearing on October 9, 2019.

The staff report presented for Council’s consideration, “an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment application to amend the land-use designation within the OCP from Neighbourhood to Corridor, to amend the text of the Old City Neighbourhood Concept Plan, and to concurrently present for Council’s consideration a “City of Nanaimo Zoning Bylaw 2011 No. 4500” amendment application to rezone the subject property from Community Service One to Comprehensive Development Eleven to develop a 175-unit multi-family development.”

Councillors Bonner, Brown, Geselbracht, Hemmens, Maartman and Thorpe voted against the OCP amendment bylaw.  Mayor Krog and Councillors Armstrong and Turley voted in favour.

Round one of the public hearing to determine the fate of the 388 Machleary Street development site adjourned at 11 pm on Thursday, September 19. The Public Hearing will resume at 7 pm on Wednesday, October 9 at the Shaw Auditorium in the Conference Centre downtown.

You still have an opportunity to make your voice heard!  Any member of the public can speak at a public hearing or send in a written submission. Let’s add to the 43 written submissions received by council as of September 19th!  And let’s add to the many,many folks who addressed council on September 19th. The more old city residents the better.  Learn more about public hearings by reading the city’s Public Hearing Information Sheet.

Contact the members of city council at mayor&council@nanaimo.ca

You can provide a written submission by any of the following methods:
IN PERSON: Drop off at the reception desk at the City of Nanaimo Service and Resource Centre, located at 411 Dunsmuir Street.
POSTAL MAIL: Mail to the City of Nanaimo, Community Safety & Development Division, 455 Wallace Street, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 5J6.
EMAIL: Email should be sent to public.hearing@nanaimo.ca
WEBSITE: Submit comments directly through the City’s website at www.nanaimo.ca/publichearing
Please note that written submissions will form part of the permanent public hearing record.

Click on the green sentence below to:

What do YOU want to say to Mayor and Council? You have your chance at the Public Hearing on September 19.  Make your voice heard!

At the August 26, 2019 meeting of Nanaimo City Council, the Molnar Group’s application to amend the Official Community Plan and rezoning application for 388 Machleary Street (the former site of Malaspina Gardens/the old Nanaimo Hospital), to allow the development of a 175-unit multi-family development, passed two readings. The City reports that a third reading will be considered once a road dedication, community contribution, site improvements and public rights-of-way have been secured.

The next step is a Public Hearing which will be held on Thursday, September 19, 2019.  NOCA encourages all residents to attend the public hearing and make their voice heard.  You can speak at the public hearing or send in a written submission. Learn more about public hearings by reading the city’s Public Hearing Information Sheet.

Learn more about the staff report voted on by Council here.

Stay tuned to this website for any updates between now and September 19.

The Nanaimo Old City Association has been informed by the City of Nanaimo that the Molnar Group’s application to amend the Official Community Plan for the property located at 388 Machleary Street (the former site of Malaspina Gardens/the old Nanaimo Hospital) will be before City Council on Monday, August 26 at 7 pm. Council will vote on a staff report and bylaw.

NOCA needs YOUR support at the City Council meeting. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. NOCA will apply to be a delegation at the meeting. We will have five minutes to speak to the agenda item. The City Council agenda will be online on August 22nd at https://www.nanaimo.ca/your-government/city-council/council-meetings/meeting-documents-and-videos

City Council will vote either for or against the staff recommendation. If Council votes “yes”, the next step is a Public Hearing which will likely be held on September 19, 2019. If Council votes “no”, the Molnar Group has the option to bring back the same proposal within six months from the date of the “no” vote. The developer also has the option of making a new application to amend the Official Community Plan with a new proposal.

Your neighbourhood association has been working hard on our official response to the Molnar Group’s application to amend the Official Community Plan for the property located at 388 Machleary Street.  Thank you to everyone who completed our most recent survey (March/April 2019) and to those who attended our community meetings in 2018 and 2017 as we discussed our dreams for this piece of property. Our official response to the Molnar Group’s application was sent to the City of Nanaimo on May 28, 2019.

For a chronology of our work on this issue, please visit our 388 Machleary page.

The results are in on our 8 question survey. The survey was developed to gauge neighbourhood residents’ support on the specifics of the Molnar Group’s proposal in the areas of density, land use and parking.  The purpose of the survey was also to help ensure residents of the old city understood NOCA’s belief in the importance of the Official Community Plan (2008) and the Old City Neighbourhood Concept Plan (1992) as a lens through which to view any new development in the old city.

We received 148 responses.  An executive summary of the survey results can be found here.

The City of Nanaimo has received the Molnar Group’s application to amend the Official Community Plan for the property located at 388 Machleary Street (the former site of Malaspina Gardens/old Nanaimo Hospital).  The application is asking to “re-designate the land use designations in the Official Community and Old City Neighbourhood Concept Plans to authorize a medium-density multi-family residential development.”

You can view the application on the City of Nanaimo website at https://www.nanaimo.ca/whatsbuilding/Folder/OCP00089

You can provide feedback to your neighbourhood association about the application by completing our 8 question survey.  Please print the survey, complete and drop in the mailbox at 108 Milton Street or 25 Machleary Street. If you’d prefer to complete via email, please email info@nanaimooldcityassociation.ca