We represent Aspect Rental Suites Ltd. the developer of The Aspect, a proposed 61-unit, for-rent complex at 1422 Portage Road Pemberton, directly opposite the Pemberton & District Community Centre.
Currently this site is vacant awaiting development, and the design is in accordance with the approved zoning. The Building Permit Application was lodged with the Village of Pemberton some 2.5 years ago in May 2022 after the Development Permit was affirmed in September of 2021.
During the intervening period, and more specifically during 2024, we have reached out to the Village on numerous occasions to seek an update on the status of the application and an estimated timetable for the review to reach its conclusion. For reasons of which we have not been made aware, the Village will not engage with us regarding the application’s status or timeline.
Furthermore, the Village has recently advised us that after 30 months since the application was first lodged, our project is no longer a priority and that the method of assessment has been changed. Despite requesting further clarification from the Village on two separate occasions in regard to this mooted change, there has been no information provided.
We have also taken the opportunity in March, June, July and October of this year to reach out to the elected leaders of Pemberton with little or no success.
The project was approved earlier this year for financing by the Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation. We have advised the Village on numerous occasions that this financing was to expire on Nov. 1, 2024, and that commencement of construction would have to occur by early September to stay within the approved guidelines.
We are both confused and frustrated, given our knowledge of the local housing situation in Pemberton, that is in strong need of both an increase in quantity and diversity of housing options, that the Village has taken this approach. Governments at every level across Canada are currently spreading a similar message regarding the housing shortages that many communities such as Pemberton are facing and yet our project has been the subject of review for nearly 2.5 years.
As it stands today, our financing for the project has lapsed and the Village refuses to engage with us regarding the status of our application or the timing for the completion of its review and therefore the delivery of the project itself is now extremely uncertain.
