Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT: CD-1 Text Amendment - 2490 West 37th Avenue

RECOMMENDATION

THAT the application by Joe Wood, on behalf of St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Church, to amend CD-1 By-law No. 6074 for 2490 West 37th Avenue (Lot E of 12, Block 17, DL 526, Plan 21164) be referred to a Public Hearing, together with:

(i) a draft amending by-law to add the use “Child Day Care Facility” to Section 2(b) of the existing CD-1 By-law;

(ii) the recommendation of the Director of Current Planning to approve; and

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

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENT

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

COUNCIL POLICY

St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Church and Parish Hall are municipally-designated heritage buildings.

On November 25, 1986, Council enacted CD-1 By-law No. 6074, providing for the existing church, church-related uses and an 18 unit seniors’ apartment building at 2490 West 37th Avenue.

On July 11, 1996, City Council passed the following motions:

“A. THAT Council advise the Ivy Montessori preschool and St. Mary’s Church to make an application to amend the CD-1 zoning for the site; and

B. THAT staff be instructed to withhold enforcement upon receipt of this application, noting this is without prejudice as to Council’s disposition of such a CD-1 amendment.”

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This report assesses an application by Joe Wood, on behalf of St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Church, to amend the text of CD-1 By-law No. 6074 to allow for the continued use of a portion of the existing church for a preschool.

The Director of Current Planning recommends that the application be referred to Public Hearing and approved.

Map on file in City Clerk's Office

DISCUSSION

Use: Under the City’s Zoning and Development By-law, “Child Day Care Facility” is a principal use and is defined as the use of premises to provide care, supervision, social or educational training to children as defined by the Community Care Facility Act (CCFA). It includes but is not limited to group day care, preschool, special needs day care, out of school care, emergency care, child minding or overnight care (but does not include the provision of licensed care in premises where up to eight children are cared for). In many cases child day care facilities operate in churches, and most residential district schedules conditionally permit both churches and child day care facilities. In the subject case, the CD-1 by-law permits only “Church and Church-Related Uses” as well as dwelling units. “Child Day Care Facilities” cannot be approved as this principal use is not listed in the by-law.

The addition of this use in the CD-1 by-law would be consistent with the surrounding RS-1 and RM-3 zoning districts and most residential areas in the city.

The preschool function at St. Mary’s Church, in operation since September 1996, usually takes place when church services are not occurring, and consequently the preschool does not significantly impact the area in terms of traffic and parking. Staff see no reason to oppose the continuation of this use.

Traffic: Children are escorted into the preschool by parents who park in front of the church on both sides of West 37th Avenue. Drop-off and pick-up is limited to periods of roughly 15 minutes before and after each class and impact is negligible, given the small class sizes of 15 children each.

Through-traffic levels and speed have been raised as a concern by residents in the area. While it was hoped that traffic-related concerns would be addressed with implementation of the Midtown Bikeway (along West 37th Avenue), resident responses resulted in the West 37th Avenue and Larch Street intersection being left as is, with Larch Street remaining as a through street and stop signs on West 37th Avenue. Engineering Services is continuing to review traffic counts and speeds along the Midtown Bikeway. Further action may be possible as a result of this monitoring.

Residents’ Concerns: A few neighbours have expressed opposition to another function being added to the church. Concerns have to do with existing traffic and parking created by the church, the adjoining Kerrisdale apartment areas, the nearby Kerrisdale shopping district and commuters. Traffic issues directly related to the preschool are minimal, as addressed in the previous section. Broader concerns about traffic are set out in Appendix B.

One resident asked that resident-only parking be provided on the north side of the 2400 block West 37th Avenue, to discourage both church and preschool parents from parking in front of the one-family dwelling located on that side of the street.

In the case of churches, Engineering Services normally do not consider resident parking only (RPO) if it is a Sunday problem only or if the problem is the drop-off and pick-up of children. The latter problem is generally very short in duration (5 or 10 minutes). Generally, long-term daily parking would need to be occurring before consideration of RPO. If residents on the block feel RPO is necessary once the day care is permanently established, the Parking Branch of Engineering Services would process requests in the normal manner.

CONCLUSION

Staff conclude that since a “Child Day Care Facility”, including preschool, is typically approved in conjunction with churches, and since the subject preschool generally operates when church services are not occurring, and because class sizes are small, this use creates no significant impact. Staff therefore recommend that the application be referred to Public Hearing and be approved.

- - - - -

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Site and Surrounding Development: St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Church is situated on the south side of West 37th Avenue between Larch and Balsam Streets. The church and related parish hall are municipally-designated heritage buildings. The church site was rezoned to CD-1 in 1986 to allow for the development of 18 seniors’ dwelling-units on the easterly portion of the site.

Lands to the west, north and east of the site are zoned RS-5 One-family Dwelling District and developed accordingly. Lands to the south-east are zoned RM-3 Multiple Dwelling District and developed with a variety of apartment buildings, with a maximum height of 36.6 m (120 ft.). CD-1 zoning was enacted in December 1997 for properties fronting Larch Street immediately south of the church. Forty-three dwelling units are proposed and building permits for retention of one building and development of five other new buildings are in process.

Proposed Development: The preschool occupies less than 75 m2 (800 sq. ft.) of floor space in the basement. One morning class and one afternoon class each accommodate 15 children and two teachers. Aside from an off-site outdoor play area, the on-site aspects of the preschool are totally enclosed in the basement area.

Background: A previous day care/preschool ceased operation when the church undertook extensive upgrading and restoration in the early 1990s. It was operating in the church as a legal non-conforming use since the CD-1 By-law came into force in 1986, but once it ceased operation for more than 90 days, it could not be re-established.

The current preschool (Ivy Montessori School) previously operated at the Canadian Memorial Community Centre at West 16th Avenue and Burrard Street. The school was given notice to vacate that location by the end of June, 1996 because of pending redevelopment of that site.

In early July, 1996, the school was advised by staff that the CD-1 zoning would not allow for opening of the preschool program at St. Mary’s in September 1996. On July 11, 1996, in response to a request from the church and the school, City Council, having received advice from staff, passed the following motions:

“A. THAT Council advise the Ivy Montessori preschool and St. Mary’s Church to make an application to amend the CD-1 zoning for the site; and

B. THAT staff be instructed to withhold enforcement upon receipt of this application, noting this is without prejudice as to Council’s disposition of such a CD-1 amendment.”

Based on this decision, the Ivy Montessori preschool started operation on September 3, 1996. The school conducts one morning class (9:00 to 11:30 am) and one afternoon class (1:00 to 3:30 p.m.). Each class involves 15 preschool-aged children and two instructors.

A development application to permit the child day care facility was submitted in June 1996. Issuance of DE401389 will be subject to enactment of the by-law to amend the CD-1 and a business license will also be needed.

While the proposed use in the CD-1 by-law cannot specify a user-group, some information was obtained describing the educational philosophy of the current user-group:

The Montessori educational philosophy is based on the work of Dr. Maria Montessori, with the Association Montessori International being founded in 1929. The approach is premised on education as an exploration, where the teacher fosters the child’s choices and developmental needs through a supportive and responsive educational environment, presentation materials, and activities suited to the individual child. Montessori society provides teacher training at a location in Marpole.

Timing of the Rezoning Application: The processing of this application has been delayed because of higher priority work items and due to ongoing discussions with Engineering Services about a crosswalk on Larch Street that has since been installed.

INPUT FROM PUBLIC AND OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES

Public Input: An early notification letter was sent to nearby registered property owners on November 15, 1996. A rezoning information sign was posted on the site on December 11, 1996.

A small number of responses have been received from surrounding owners. One respondent asked that the application be refused because children attending this school would be coming from outside the area. Another felt that too many activities (including evening exercise classes) at the church were generating excessive traffic and that West 37th Avenue was becoming a major arterial as motorists avoid the congestion on West 41st Avenue. Other respondents supported the use but were also concerned about increased traffic and parking problems in the area. Another respondent specifically recommended additional four-way stop signs be put on Larch Street at West 37th Avenue to slow traffic for safety because of a narrowing of Larch Street south of 37th Avenue.

Engineering Services: Engineering Services has no objection to the proposed rezoning.

Social Planning: Social Planning supports the minor text amendment to allow the child care centre within the church building. The use should not be restricted to “preschool” even though the nature of the existing space only lends itself to this type of licensing. In the future it is hoped that child day care can be considered to be a customarily conditional accessory use to churches, schools, municipal buildings and public assembly spaces in CD-1 rezonings.

Fire: This use has been cleared through review of the current development application.

Permits and Licenses (Environmental Protection): There has been no use of this site which would warrant a soils assessment.

Health: Plans will have to be submitted to C.C.F.L. for the proposed Community Care Facility (child care).

Environmental Implications: There are no environmental implications as a result of this consideration.

Social Implications: This change conforms with the Vancouver Children’s Policy and Statement of Children’s Entitlement. Approval of this proposed text amendment would be of direct benefit to the children who attend this facility.

Applicant: The applicant has reviewed this report and comments as follows:

… as mentioned in the report, the church is also concerned about the traffic situation along 37th Avenue, particularly at Larch and supports ongoing monitoring by Engineering staff of traffic conditions in the area;

… in response to parking concerns, which appears to be the only worry expressed by residents, the church encourages parishioners visiting the church for long periods to use available parking in the adjoining seniors' complex, as was the understanding when it was built.

The applicant supports referral of the application to Public Hearing.”

APPENDIX C

APPLICANT, PROPERTY, AND DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL INFORMATION

APPLICANT AND PROPERTY INFORMATION

Street Address 2490 West 37th Avenue
Legal Description Lot E of 12, Block 17, D.L. 526, Plan 21164
Applicant Joe Wood, on behalf of St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Church
Architect n/a
Property Owner Parish of St. Mary’s Kerrisdale
Developer n/a

SITE STATISTICS

 

GROSS

DEDICATIONS

NET
SITE AREA 2 317.7 m¾ n/a 2 317.7 m¾

DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS

  DEVELOPMENT PERMITTED
UNDER EXISTING ZONING		 PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
ZONING

CD-1

CD-1[Amended]
USES

Church and related uses, plus 18 dwelling units for senior citizens

Add child day care facility

R:\CC\REPORTS\COUNCIL\2000\000111\P1.WPD

ag000111.htm

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