Today, the Fisher’s Landing Transit Center is a place to leave your car and catch a bus as part of the regular commute, but proposed changes at the site could give C-Tran riders a suite of reasons to stick around.
The agency is considering transit-oriented development at Fisher’s Landing and is exploring the idea through a feasibility study. On Thursday night, C-Tran held an open house to introduce the community to the idea and get feedback.
“That’s the purpose of this feasibility study,” said C-Tran spokeswoman Christine Selk. “We have to look at the economic development factor, what kind of businesses would be prone to locating there and what role housing might play.”
The work is in its earliest phases. What, if anything, will be built remains to be seen, but it could be a blend of retail space, offices, housing and maybe some open space. Whatever happens, C-Tran has a lot of space to work with. The footprint of Fisher’s Landing is large enough to encompass all of Esther Short Park and several surrounding intersections and businesses.
Transit-oriented development typically brings a blend of housing, office space, retail and sometimes other amenities into a neighborhood close to public transportation. It is increasingly common around the U.S. The Federal Transit Administration says transit-oriented development can improve neighborhoods by increasing affordable housing, improve pedestrian and cyclist safety and reduce traffic congestion while boosting private investments and increasing transit ridership.
Transit-oriented development is more often common in urban areas and centered around significant public transportation services rather than in suburban settings such as East Vancouver, however.
The transit center is at Southeast 164th Avenue, just off state Highway 14, and it’s a popular site for commuters. Due to high demand, C-Tran added another 200 parking spaces to the site’s south side, bringing the total up to 759 in 2016, but the northeast corner of the property is undeveloped.
Carl Trinacty is president of the nearby The Village at Fisher’s Landing homeowners association. He said he became aware of the possible development Thursday night, and he’s open to it.
“It will have an impact. I’ve seen these before in other cities. It’ll create significant impacts in created housing, more people in the area,” he said. “I think it’s all positive and will be very beneficial.”
He said it could give people in his neighborhood options for restaurants and shopping within walking distance. But he said pedestrian crosswalks on busy surrounding streets would have to be improved, as well.
Kwait Kowski lives in West Vancouver, but he said he is encouraged by the idea of using the Fisher’s Landing property to create greater density in what’s otherwise a sprawling suburban, upscale neighborhood. Duplexes and triplexes could address the “missing middle housing” issue much of Vancouver is facing, he said, adding that as a younger person, he’d like to see greater emphasis on walkability and weekend events, should C-Tran follow through on the idea.
“It’s great it’s being discussed, but it doesn’t mean I, as a millennial, will want to move to east Vancouver,” he said.
Like the The Vine, C-Tran’s bus rapid-transit system, a transit-oriented development at Fisher’s Landing would be a first for the agency. The agency is going to continue the discussion at two more public workshops this summer and fall.
