ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: July 6, 1999
Author/Local: AHigginson/7556
RTS No. 00854
CC File No. 113

Council: July 27, 1999

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Subdivision Approving Officer
SUBJECT:	Housekeeping and Miscellaneous Amendments to Subdivision By-law No. 5208

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Schedule A of Subdivision By-law No. 5208 be amended to add the park sites at 2197 West 11th Avenue and 2176 West 10th Avenue (Lots 4 and 5, Block 364, D.L. 526, Plan LMP37612) to the maps which accompany Schedule A of the By-law, and to establish Category "G" standards for these sites.

B. THAT Schedule A be further amended to add the park sites known as the "Dundas-Wall Area (Park)" (Lot 9, Plan 178; and Lot C, Plan 19312, both of Block 19, D.L. 184; and Lot B, Block 16, D.L. 184, Plan 19463) to the maps which accompany Schedule A of the By-law, and to establish Category "G" standards for these sites.

C. THAT Section 9.5(d) of the By-law be amended to insert reference to lands designated as Category "B" on the maps which form part of Schedule A of the By-law, to allow subdivision of "pie-shaped" parcels to create parcels having frontage on a street less than 7.620 m (25.00 ft.).

D. THAT the additional miscellaneous amendments to Section 9 and Table 1 of Schedule A, outlined in Appendices D and E, respectively, be approved.

E. THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary by-laws implementing these changes for enactment.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A, B, C, D and E.

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no Council Policy directly related to this matter.

PURPOSE

Council approval is required for proposed amendments to the Subdivision By-law to alter the maps that accompany Schedule A of the By-law as a result of rezonings; and to carry out several miscellaneous amendments to Section 9 and Table 1 of Schedule A.

DISCUSSION

The following amendments are recommended:

1. Amendments to Schedule A:

There are 279 maps which accompany Table 1 of Schedule A of the Subdivision By-law, which classify all RS-1, RS-1S, RS-3, RS-3A, RS-5, RS-5S and RS-6 zoned lands into seven categories of minimum parcel width and area for the purpose of subdivision. Changes in zoning, to either rezone from, or to, one of these seven zoning districts, necessitate changes to the Schedule A maps.

a) 2197 West 11th Avenue and 2176 West 10th Avenue

In April, 1998, Council enacted By-law No. 7880, which rezoned portions of the block bounded by West 10th and 11th Avenues and Yew and Arbutus Streets from M-1 to RS-1, for park purposes. Earlier, Council had rezoned the majority of the block to CD-1, as part of the "Arbutus Lands" precinct redevelopment project. When the report on the rezoning to RS-1 was sent to Council for consideration, a recommendation to deal with the consequential amendment to the Subdivision By-law was not included, and therefore, the park site (Lots 4 and 5 on Appendix A) was not added to the Schedule A maps at that time.

Prior to the subdivision which created Lots 1, 2, 3 (now LMS 3886), 4 and 5, in 1998, the subject block was comprised, almost exclusively, of 15.240 m (50.00 ft.)-wide parcels. The three small parcels which remain at the northeast corner of the block are owned by a single party and are developed as if they are one large parcel. As there is little likelihood that the two park parcels will ever be considered for resubdivision, and based on the large-parcel subdivision pattern that now predominates the subject block, staff recommend that Category "G" be established for the park sites.

Category "G" requires a minimum width of 45.720 m (150.00 ft.) and a minimum area of 1 672.254 m² (18,000.00 sq. ft.) for parcels created by subdivision. If there were ever a proposal to develop Lots 4 and 5 for anything but park purposes, it is likely that a rezoning would be required, and at that time, a different minimum parcel size standard could be established by Council, if appropriate.

b) Dundas-Wall Area Park

In 1996, Council considered an application to rezone several sites in the Dundas-Wall "Let Go" Industrial Area. The area known as Area 2 of that rezoning, as illustrated on Appendix B, was rezoned from M-1 to RS-1. These sites comprise Cambridge Park (Lot B), Oxford Park (Lot C) and an additional small triangular parcel (Lot 9) acquired by the Park Board for park purposes.

As with the Arbutus Lands park site described above, a consequential amendment to the Subdivision By-law was not enacted at the time of the rezoning. The surrounding subdivision pattern in the vicinity is also characterized by larger parcels, based on consolidations and redevelopments that have occurred over recent years. For this reason, Category "G" is also recommended for the three parcels that comprise these park sites. A decision by Council to redevelop or resubdivide the park lands in the future, could involve reconsideration of the subdivision standards.

2. Amendment to Section 9.5(d):

Section 9.5 of the Subdivision By-law states that no parcel shall be created which does not have a minimum of 7.620 m (25.00 ft.) abutting onto a street, not being a lane, except in four specific instances described in the By-law.

One of those instances, relates to lands that are designated as category "A" on the maps which form part of Schedule A. Category "A" requires that parcels created by subdivision have a width of not less than 9.144 m (30.00 ft.), but those minimum standards can be relaxed, at the discretion of the Approving Officer, pursuant to other sections of the By-law, to permit creation of parcels with a width of no less than 7.314 m (24.00 ft.). This lower standard is consistent with the minimum site width requirements in the RS-1 and RS-1S Districts Schedule of the Zoning and Development By-law.

Section 9.5(d) was added to the By-law in 1991, to remove the inconsistency between the Approving Officer's ability to relax the minimum width standards to create a 7.314 m (24.00 ft.) - wide parcel and the requirement that each parcel have a frontage on a street of 7.620 m (25.00 ft.). Now, in Category "A", parcels having a frontage of less than 7.620 m (25.00 ft.) are approvable, in circumstances where they are otherwise deemed appropriate.

A subdivision application involving a site in Category "B", which requires that each parcel have a minimum width of 12.192 m (40.00 ft.), has raised the question of whether or not the ability to go below the minimum 7.620 m (25.00 ft.) frontage should be available to sites other than those in Category "A".

The site in question is illustrated on Appendix C. The parcel is on a cul-de-sac and has a frontage on Worthington Place of approximately 15.209 m (49.90 ft.). The site otherwise qualifies for consideration for subdivision into two parcels based on the discretion afforded to the Approving Officer in Section 9.1(b), which allows parcels having at least 80% of the required width or area, to be created. In this case, the resulting parcels - labelled as "E" and "F" - would each exceed the minimum site area requirement, but would require the relaxation of parcel width. Parcel width is measured at the "required building line" or front yard setback line of the property, not at the dimension fronting onto the street. The Approving Officer considers that the use of his discretion under Section 9.1(b) would be appropriate in this instance and would have approved the subdivision, but for the fact that the parcels would not each have at least 7.620 m (25.00 ft.) frontage on the street.

While the difference between the existing frontage and the required frontage is minimal in dimension, the City's Approving Officers have long held that any deviation from the By-law standards which are not supported by clear language in the By-law, are not acceptable. In this specific case, a relaxation of such a small amount might be reasonable, but would clearly set a precedent for others to also request relaxations, with no clear set-point, for it becoming unreasonable.

The Courts have consistently used the test of "discrimination" in considering appeals against subdivision decisions. Any discretion which has no parameters, is open to challenge.

Given the reasonableness of this specific subdivision application, and noting that there may be other parcels in Category "B", which by virtue of their configuration, (namely "pie-shaped") would qualify for consideration of relaxation of the minimum width standards, but would not have sufficient frontage to achieve subdivision, staff have reviewed several options for adding discretion to the By-law to accommodate these unusual circumstances.

The simplest option, which is recommended to Council, is to include lands in Category "B", in the exception clause already established in Section 9.5(d). Other options considered looked at defining additional levels of discretion and were concluded to be more complicated and having more far-reaching impacts than is desired.

An amendment to Section 9.5(d), as indicated in Appendix D, would only be applicable to unusually-shaped parcels, resulting in a frontage of less than 7.620 m (25.00 ft.), a width of at least 80% of the minimum, or in this case 9.754 m (32.00 ft.), and an area that met the minimum standard for Category "B", being 334.451 m² (3,600.00 sq. ft.). For this reason, it is not considered probable that there will be sites in the larger parcel size categories (i.e., Categories "C" - "G") that would require a relaxation of the frontage measurement.

3. Other Miscellaneous Amendments:

Several inconsequential amendments are recommended, to address typographical errors or minor omissions from earlier amendments to the By-law. The amendments are also outlined in Appendix D, and are described as follows:

a) Sections 9.2 and 9.4

Insertion of reference to both the RS-5 and RS-5S Districts will make this section consistent with Section 9.1. This reference was overlooked when the minimum parcel size standards for these two districts were added to the By-law in 1993 and 1997, respectively.

In addition, a small portion of a sentence was inadvertently overlooked in both Sections 9.2 and 9.4. It is recommended that the words "than the minimums" be inserted at the appropriate place in each section.

b) Table 1 of Schedule A

All seven categories ("A" through "G") apply to the lands zoned both RS-1 and RS-1S. Similarly, categories "D", "E" and "F" apply to the lands zoned both RS-3 and RS-3A. In order to simplify the minimum parcel size table, and to be consistent with the manner in which the RS-5/RS-5S standards are listed, it is recommended that the listing of the districts be combined to eliminate redundancy, as shown in Appendix E.

CONCLUSION

There are several housekeeping amendments to the Subdivision By-law that should be undertaken to reflect corresponding zoning actions of Council and to either correct previous, minor omissions or improve the format of the By-law. There is also one miscellaneous amendment recommended to address subdivision of irregularly shaped parcels in Category "B".

- - - - -

APPENDICES A, B and C ARE MAPS.

APPENDIX D

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO SECTIONS 9.2, 9.4 and 9.5
(additions in bold italics)

9.2 Notwithstanding Section 9.1, the Approving Officer may approve a subdivision of two or more adjoining parcels located in the RS-1, RS-1S, RS-3, RS-3A, RS-5, RS-5S or RS-6 Zoning District, which creates parcels having a lesser width or area than the minimum prescribed in Table 1 of Schedule A, provided that the already established lawful development in the blockface containing the parcels to be subdivided occurs on parcels having a lesser width or area than the minimums prescribed in Table 1 of Schedule A, and the parcels to be created by the subdivision would be consistent in width and area with those parcels, except that no parcel created shall have a width less than 24 ft. (7.315 m ) as measured at the required building line.

9.4 Notwithstanding Section 9.3, the Approving Officer may approve a subdivision which creates parcels having a lesser width or area than the minimum prescribed in Table 2 of Schedule A, provided that the already established lawful development in the blockface containing the parcel to be subdivided occurs on parcels having a lesser width or area than the minimums prescribed in Table 2 of Schedule A and the parcels to be created by the subdivision would be consistent in width and area with those parcels.

9.5 No parcel shall be created which does not have a minimum of 25 ft. (7.620 m ) abutting onto a street not being a lane, except for the following:

(d) that land designated as sub-area "A" or sub-area "B" on the maps attached to and forming part of Schedule A of this By-law.

APPENDIX E
Page 1 of 2

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO TABLE 1 OF SCHEDULE A
(additions in bold, deletions in italics)

Schedule A
Standards for Minimum Parcel Size and Configuration

Table 1

District Minimum Minimum

Parcel Width Parcel Area

RA-1 Limited Agriculture 100' [ 30.480 m] 2 1/4 acres [ 0.910 ha]

RS-1 One-Family Dwelling A 30' [ 9.144 m] 3000 sq. ft. [ 278.709 m²]
and According to lettered B 40' [ 12.192 m] 3600 sq. ft. [ 334.451 m²]
RS-1S sub-areas, as delineated C 50' [ 15.240 m] 5000 sq. ft. [ 464.515 m²]

by heavy solid and D 60' [ 18.288 m] 5400 sq. ft. [ 501.676 m²]

dashed lines on the E 75' [ 22.860 m] 6750 sq. ft. [ 627.095 m²]

maps attached to this F 100' [ 30.480 m] 12000 sq. ft. [ 1 114.836 m²]
Schedule A G 150' [ 45.720 m] 18000 sq. ft. [ 1 672.254 m²]

RS-1A One-Family Dwelling 40' [ 12.192 m] 4800 sq. ft. [ 445.935 m²]

RS-1B One-Family Dwelling 30' [ 9.144 m] 3600 sq. ft. [ 334.451 m²]

(E. of Elliott Street)

RS-1B One-Family Dwelling 40' [ 12.192 m] 6000 sq. ft. [ 557.418 m²]

(W. of Elliott Street)

RS-1S One-Family Dwelling A 30' [ 9.144 m] 3000 sq. ft. [ 278.709 m²]

According to lettered B 40' [ 12.192 m] 3600 sq. ft. [ 334.451 m²]
sub-areas, as delineated C 50' [ 15.240 m] 5000 sq. ft. [ 464.515 m²]
by heavy solid and D 60' [ 18.288 m] 5400 sq. ft. [ 501.676 m²]
dashed lines on the maps E 75' [ 22.860 m] 6750 sq. ft. [ 627.095 m²]

F 100' [ 30.480 m] 12000 sq. ft. [ 1 114.836 m²]
G 150' [ 45.720 m] 18000 sq. ft. [ 1 672.254 m²]

RS-2 One-Family Dwelling 40' [ 12.192 m] 4800 sq. ft. [ 445.935 m²]

RS-3 One-Family Dwelling D 60' [ 18.288 m] 5400 sq. ft. [ 501.676 m²]
and According to lettered E 75' [ 22.860 m] 6750 sq. ft. [ 1 627.095 m²]
RS-3A sub-areas, as delineated F 100' [ 30.480 m] 12000 sq. ft. [ 1 114.836 m²]

by heavy solid and

dashed lines on the maps
attached to this Schedule A

RS-3A One-Family Dwelling D 60' [ 18.288 m] 5400 sq. ft. [ 501.676 m²]

According to lettered E 75' [ 22.860 m] 6750 sq. ft. [ 627.095 m²]

sub-areas, as delineated F 100' [ 30.480 m] 12000 sq. ft. [ 1 114.836 m²]
by heavy solid and

dashed lines on the maps

attached to this Schedule A

APPENDIX E
Page 2 of 2

District Minimum Minimum

Parcel Width Parcel Area

RS-4 One-Family Dwelling 30' [ 9.144 m] 3000 sq. ft. [ 278.709 m²]

RS-5 One-Family Dwelling A 30' [ 9.144 m] 3000 sq. ft. [ 278.709 m²]
and According to lettered B 40' [ 12.192 m] 3600 sq. ft. [ 334.451 m²]
RS-5S sub-areas, as delineated C 50' [ 15.240 m] 5000 sq. ft. [ 464.515 m²]

by heavy solid and D 60' [ 18.288 m] 5400 sq. ft. [ 501.676 m²]
dashed lines on the E 75' [ 22.860 m] 6750 sq. ft. [ 627.095 m²]
maps attached to this F 100' [ 30.480 m] 12000 sq. ft. [ 1 114.836 m²]

Schedule A

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver