Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

 

Date: February 29, 2000
 

Author/Local: RWhitlock/7814
 

RTS No. 01208
 

CC File No. 5307
  Council: March 14, 2000

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT: CD-1 Text Amendment - 3075 Slocan Street [Italian Centre]

RECOMMENDATION

THAT the application by Joe Finamore, President of the Italian Cultural Centre Society, to amend CD-1 By-law No. 4954 for 3075 Slocan Street (Lot 5, Block A, THSL, Plan 20567) to permit an elementary and secondary school, be referred to a Public Hearing, together with:

FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary by-law for consideration at Public Hearing.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

No Council policies are directly related to this rezoning.

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This report assesses an application to amend the existing CD-1 By-law for the Italian Centre to add "School - Elementary or Secondary" to the list of permitted uses. The proposed private school would utilize existing floor space within the centre.

Two issues have been identified in the course of processing this application:

- the proposed secondary school component, if and when implemented, may create additional traffic and parking problems in the surrounding area; and

- the proposed closure of an existing day care operation is of significant concern to the parents of children presently attending the day care.

The Director of Current Planning recommends that the application be referred to Public Hearing and approved, subject to conditions outlined in Appendix B, including an agreement between the Italian Cultural Centre Society, the school and the City to limit the school to an upper limit of Grade 9 on this site.

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DISCUSSION

Use: The proposed private school will utilize existing classrooms and other facilities within the Italian Centre presently used for Italian language training. The language training takes place evenings and weekends.

The school is intended to operate Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with related after-school activities. Stratford Hall is a not-for-profit association which the applicant indicates will be licensed under the Independent Schools Act. The school anticipates opening in September 2000 initially, offering classroom instruction in Kindergarten through Grade 7 to approximately 100 to 150 students.

Overall, staff believe that the utilization of this existing classroom space at times when it is not used by the Italian Cultural Centre Society is a practical approach to a site which is under-utilized during the day on weekdays. Possible future school expansion to include secondary grades is addressed under Traffic and Parking.

Public Input: A notification letter was sent to nearby property owners on December 8, 1999 and rezoning information signs were posted on the site at the same time. A meeting was held with two housing co-operatives, located east of Slocan Street, on February 7, 2000.
The concerns raised were that:

1. the school will create additional traffic on Slocan Street and other local streets because of the limited access to the site from the Grandview Highway; and

2. approval of the school will result in the closure of the existing child day care operation.

Traffic and Parking: An elementary school operation [Grades 1 to 7] can be expected to see parents drop off and pick up for short periods in the morning and the afternoon. This will add some further congestion to the intersection at Slocan Street and Grandview Highway, as the westerly entrance to the site is limited to `right-in and right-out' access. The signalized intersection at Grandview Highway will become the focal point for traffic into and out of the site. Engineering Services recommends that as part of the development permit submission, the school be required to undertake a traffic management plan.

Staff have concerns about a secondary school component at this location if and when the operation is expanded to include Secondary Grades (8 to 12), when it can be expected that many of the region-based student population in Grades 10 to 12 will drive, and park their cars near the school. This will generally result in increased traffic throughout the day.

Staff's reluctance at this time to support the secondary component is based on a lack of information supplied by the applicant regarding:

- the size of the school and the projected number of students involved if the school expands to include Grades 8 to 12; and

- technical analysis of the traffic and parking, noting that the Italian Cultural Centre Society operates a fully-functioning restaurant plus numerous events during the year where a large secondary school component might create overspill parking problems in the local area.

Staff have discussed with school representatives their specific needs. The school's interest at this time is Kindergarten to Grade 9 which can be supported by staff because none of these students will be driving. While the school has indicated an intent to seek a permanent site elsewhere rather than expanding to offer Grades 10 to 12 here, their plans, as well as the Italian Cultural Centre Society's plans, are uncertain and staff must assume this school (or any other school) could possibly be on this site for many years. Staff prefer to see the technical evaluation before supporting inclusion of a full secondary school component at this time.

The use term "School - Elementary and Secondary" cannot be further broken down to prohibit only Grades 10 to 12, however, an agreement between the school, the Italian Cultural Centre Society and the City, to limit the school to an upper limit of Grade 9, would be acceptable. A condition is recommended in this respect in Appendix B. The applicantand the school are both in agreement to this condition.

Existing Daycare: On the matter of the existing Luciano Fabian Daycare Program, Italian Cultural Centre Society representatives advise that the daycare was given notice for a number of reasons, outlined in their letter dated February14, 2000, attached as Appendix D to this report. The representatives state that the notice to terminate the daycare is not related to the school proposal.

Italian Cultural Centre Society representatives further advise they are currently assisting the day care in finding alternate arrangements. Planning staff have suggested that the Italian Cultural Centre Society consent to allow the day care to remain in the present space until an appropriate alternate location is secured but Legal Services has advised that Council is not in a position to require this as a condition of rezoning.

Although this is not a City-funded daycare, Social Planning and Child Care Facilities Licensing staff are monitoring the situation and working with the daycare staff on a possible new non-project operator and location. There are many challenges to successfully transferring this daycare to a new society and facility. If this relocation cannot be achieved, the 25 families will have to find alternate childcare arrangements as of August 1, 2000.

CONCLUSION

Planning staff conclude that the proposed school use on this site is supportable. The Director of Current Planning therefore recommends that the application be referred to Public Hearing and that the application be approved, subject to conditions outlined in Appendix B, including a limitation on school use to Grade 9.

- - - - -

DRAFT CD-1 BY-LAW AMENDMENTS

PROPOSED CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL

(a) THAT the applicant shall obtain approval of a development application by the Director of Planning, who shall have particular regard to the following:

(i) a traffic management plan for the school will be a requirement of any development application and is to be completed subject to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services;

(ii) arrangements shall be made to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Parks and Recreation for use of the adjoining Beaconsfield Park;

(iv) any pre-school, kindercare, out-of-school or other childcare programs will have to meet the City of Vancouver Child Care Design Guidelines and the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board Child Care Facilities Licensing requirements.

(b) THAT, prior to enactment of the CD-1 By-law, the registered owner shall enter into:

(ii) an agreement to the satisfaction of the City Engineer, the Director of Legal Services and the Greater Vancouver Regional District for a new 6.0 m wide Statutory Right-of-Way as outlined in this report.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Site, Surrounding Zoning and Development: This 1.8 ha (4.44 ac.) site is situated on the south-west corner of Grandview Highway and Slocan Street. Lands to the west are zoned CD-1 for seniors housing, lands to the east are zoned CD-1 for multiple dwellings with commercial along Grandview Highway. Lands to the south are zoned RS-1 and developed with a park. Immediately north of Grandview Highway is the Vancouver Technical High School.

Current Traffic and Parking Generators: The Italian Cultural Centre Society representatives provided the following outline of events that presently occur at the Centre:

A. Day Time on Week Days:

- Citizenship Court is held twice a year, each being a single day event, attracting 400 to 500 people between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.;
- professional institution examinations occur once every two months, lasting between one and four days, involving under 100 people; and
- private dance instruction operates between the hours of 3:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with maximum of 50 students;

B. Evening and Weekends:

- the single most frequent event attracting between 600 to 700 people is Sunday night Bingo;
- big draw events generally attract between 600 to 700 people are held on Friday evenings and Saturday; and
- the Cultural Society hosts between five and six festivals a year, the most significant of which is Italian Week, which lasts 10 days with most events during the week starting at 7:30 p.m.

Proposed Development: The Italian Centre provides a variety of floor areas, amongst which are classrooms, a gymnasium and other ancillary spaces that are used for Italian language training. For its first phase of implementation, Stratford Hall intends to utilize the language training space on a Monday to Friday, daytime basis for a "university preparation" private school. No agreement has been reached with the Centre on interior space requirements for expansion of class rooms beyond Grade 7.

No additions are proposed to the existing centre. Any increase in floor area to the buildings would require further text amendment to the CD-1 By-law to increase the permitted floor space ratio.

Comments from City Engineering Services: Engineering Services has no objection to the proposed rezoning provided that the following is addressed as part of the subsequent development application:

- Provision of a consultant's report that documents transportation impacts on the surrounding streets and on site. The report shall include time-varying parking accumulation expected (mid-day and evening), trip generation, routings and their impacts. Drop-off/pick-up needs are also to be defined and provision made on site, all to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services.

Park Board Comments: Park Board staff have been consulted regarding the possibility of the school utilizing the adjoining park (Beaconsfield School) for the school athletics program. Further discussion will occur at the development application stage.

Health: Environmental Health staff indicate that the school proposal will be assessed at the development application stage in terms of the adequacy of the classroom space, washrooms, etc., although there is no licensing requirement. Any proposal for a new pre-school or day care will require specific licensing approvals at the development application stage.

Sewer Right-of-Way: The Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District's (GVSDD) Copley Trunk sewer passes through the south-east corner of this property, beneath a corner of one of the Cultural Centre's buildings. Operations and Maintenance Department engineers for the GVSDD advise that the existing 3.05 m (10 ft.)-wide right-of-way does not provide for adequate access to the pipe for maintenance or repair purposes.

Therefore, the GVSDD requests that the a new 6.0 m (19.7 ft.)-wide Statutory Right-of-Way be required and Engineering Services supports this as a condition of rezoning. Under this proposed right-of-way, the existing structure would remain, but no new construction would be permitted over the Right-of-Way.

Public Benefit: The proposed rezoning is exempt from Development Cost Levies or Community Amenity Contributions as no additional floor space is proposed.

Environmental Implications: The multiple use of existing floor space as proposed for this site is laudable. The use will also rely on existing infrastructure and the well-traveled Grandview Highway. Renfrew Street provides regularly-scheduled bus service, with connections to SkyTrain at the 29th Avenue Station. A SkyTrain station will be constructed at Renfrew Street and Grandview Highway, which is within two blocks of the school.

Social Implications: Relocation of the curent daycare program will be a challenge as there are limited existing facilities in this neighbourhood that can provide adequate, licensable space for the daycare program. A suitable new operator andlocation will need to be found if this daycre program is to continue.

Applicant's Comments: The applicant has been provided with a copy of this report and supports its conclusion.

APPENDIX E

APPLICANT, PROPERTY, AND DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL INFORMATION

APPLICANT AND PROPERTY INFORMATION

Street Address 3075 Slocan Street
Legal Description Lot 5, Block A, THSL, Plan 20567
Applicant Joe Finamore, President, Italian Cultural Centre Society
Architect n/a
Property Owner Italian Cultural Centre Society
Developer Stratford Hall (private school)

SITE STATISTICS

  GROSS DEDICATIONS NET
SITE AREA 17 969.4 m¾
[193,427.0 sq. ft.]		 None 17 969.4 m¾
[193,427.0 sq. ft.]

DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS

  DEVELOPMENT PERMITTED UNDER EXISTING ZONING PROPOSED
DEVELOPMENT
ZONING CD-1 CD-1 Amended
USES Cultural and recreation centre consisting of a hall, library, classrooms, nursery, trattoria, kitchen, health club, dressing rooms, gymnasium, theatre, administrative offices, osteria, storage areas, caretaker apartment and customary ancillary uses, bocce lanes, racquetball courts Add "School - Elementary or Secondary"
MAX. FLOOR SPACE RATIO 0.55 No change
MAXIMUM HEIGHT 11.857 m [38.9 ft.] No change
PARKING SPACES Minimum of 375 No change

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