Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / A boarded up home at 9543 Williams Street in Chilliwack. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Rezoning application

Two boarded up Chilliwack homes could be converted into a low-rise apartment complex

Apr 22, 2025 | 8:44 AM

CHILLIWACK — A Surrey-based development company has applied to have two Williams Street properties on which there are boarded up homes rezoned to pave the way for an apartment complex.

According to a staff report dated April 14, 2025 from city staffer Sean Roufosse, Common Ground Consulting of Surrey is asking Chilliwack council to approve a rezoning application for properties located at 9543, 9557 and 9571 Williams Street, in order to facilitate a future apartment development. The applicant wants to rezone the three properties from an R1-A (urban residential) zone to an R5 (low rise apartment) zone. Chilliwack councillors will review the application at their meeting today, Apr. 22, at 2 p.m.

The boarded up homes are located at 9543 and 9557 Williams Street, just north of Central Pentecostal Assembly.

Roufosse wrote in his report that the three properties are located within downtown Chilliwack and are surrounded by single detached dwellings, low-rise apartments and are in close proximity to parks and institutional uses such as Chilliwack Secondary School, Chilliwack Middle School and a church directly to the south. As a result, the proposed rezoning application aligns with the redevelopment “vision” for the area as outlined in the Downtown Land Use and Development Plan, Roufosse said.

Since February 2024, the derelict conditions of 9543 and 9557 Williams Street, which are boarded up, have generated numerous bylaw complaints related to maintenance of the sites, including accumulation of garbage, overgrown landscaping, insecure building, unsightly premises and graffiti.

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Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / File photo of garbage accumulation in the backyard of 9543 Williams Street.

On April 1, 2025, the applicant submitted demolition permits to the City of Chilliwack to remove the vacant dwellings on the subject properties. The applicant told city staff that the demolition will be complete by June 2025. As of April 14, there are eight active bylaw enforcement call files for the properties, but there are no outstanding fines and the property owner is working with the city’s bylaw department to resolve the complaints.

In the meantime, the applicant has requested to bring the rezoning application forward to Chilliwack council for consideration while they address the outstanding complaints. The applicant has submitted a property maintenance plan indicating how the owner intends to maintain the properties in good condition as they move forward through the redevelopment process. The applicant has told the city that a property maintenance company would conduct weekly site visits and clean the properties, as required; however, bylaw complaints have been received since the submission of the property maintenance plan.