The final phase of Troika's Green Square development on Mission Springs Drive officially has council's support.
Tuesday night, council voted to approve a development permit for the project, which features four buildings with a mix of one, two, and three bedroom units.
Though council was full of compliments for the updated plans, it did express concern after a report from the fire department that had serious concerns over the planned access to one those buildings.
Troika CEO Renee Wasylyk says they're working with city staff to rectify it.
"We've actually used our engineers - they've written a paper on it - already submitted, and we're going to continue to work with them on any concerns they have through the building permit phase," she said.
"There is no way I want to come back here and have re-do this (development permit application) in any way, shape, or form. So I do have a level of confidence that we'll be make it through that, without making design changes."
Councillor Tracy Gray spoke with emotion about why finding a solution is important to her.
"As a firefighter's daughter, being a young child (and) not knowing when you went to sleep if your father would come home maybe gives me a unique perspective," she said.
"So the safety of our firefighters is very important to me. And so is our residents' (safety). And I trust the judgement of our fire department."
Though the development permit was granted on Tuesday, the issues with the fire department would have to be fully resolved before a building permit is ever granted.
If there are any major changes to the design as a result of bringing it up to code, Troika would have to return to council chambers and ask for an ammendment to their now-approved development permit.
About 15 members of the public spoke, and were pretty well split down the middle in their feelings.
Councillor Maxine Dehart addressed questions about what all had changed since similar plans were presented back on September 20.
"We were at 3:30 in the morning - actually I think we all did very, very well that evening - but I don't think that the presentation that was given to us was first class, and what the developer could normally do," she said.
"And if it had been that way, things might have gone different. I'm not talking for other councillors, I'm talking for myself."
Of the people against the project, many cited the height of the buildings, as three will be six-storeys, instead of the zoning's four-storey limit
But council says it's all for that change, as the slimmer buildings will block out fewer sightlines, and make room for more green space on the ground.
Changes to the parking also made that issue a moot point.
Previously, Troika was asking for permission to build only 198 of the 209 stalls, but says it would fulfill all 202 of the current plan.
The reduction in required spaces was a result of a slight reduction in the number of top floor units being built, as some of those were expanded.
The other variance requests were for setbacks between two buildings and the edge of the property line.