ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: January 13, 2000
Author/Local: May Cho/871-6496
RTS No. 01191
CC File No. 2609

Council: February 1, 2000

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Current Planning
SUBJECT:	5555 Victoria Drive Development Application Number DE404631 Owner of Development: Vanview Construction

CONSIDERATION

The Director of Current Planning submits the following for consideration:

THAT the Director of Planning be advised that Council would favour the approval to increase the building height by approximately 0.62 m/2.1 ft., as submitted under DE404631, of this four-storey retail/residential building which was previously approved under DE403785 and is currently under construction at 5555 Victoria Drive.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services submits the foregoing for CONSIDERATION.

COUNCIL POLICY

At its meeting on June 2, 1998, Council instructed the Director of Planning to:

A. refer all proposed height relaxations under Sections 4.3(a) and (b) C-2 Residential Guidelines to Council for advice;
B. delete Section 4.3(c) of the C-2 Residential Guidelines permitting height relaxations over 16.8 m pending a full review of the C-2 zone;

C. amend the C-2 Residential Guidelines to add a general clause indicating that projects should have a very good architectural design and should use quality exterior materials and that projects should be referred to Urban Design Panel (UDP) for advice;
D. report back to Council before the summer break with a timetable, work program and resourcing to undertake a C-2 review; and
E. instruct staff that the Guidelines take precedence where there is a conflict between the District Schedule and the Guidelines.

PURPOSE

This report seeks Council's advice on a development application requesting permission to increase the building height of a retail/residential building previously approved under a separate development permit (DE403785), where the proposed height exceeds the maximum permitted of 12.2 m/40.0 ft. under the provisions of the C-2 District Schedule.

SITE DESCRIPTION AND BACKGROUND

The site is located at the southwest corner of Victoria Drive and East 39th Avenue and is adjacent to the London Drugs site (5639 Victoria Drive). The site and surrounding zoning are shown on the attached Appendix ‘A’.

Development Permit Number DE403785 was approved on August 5, 1999, for the construction of a four-storey retail/residential building with one level of underground parking having vehicular access from the rear lane. The building contains retail on the first-storey and residential on the second- to fourth-storeys having a total of 78 dwelling units. The building was approved having a height of 12.1 m/39.85 ft., which is within the maximum permitted height of 12.2 m/40.0 ft. under the provisions of the C-2 District Schedule.

DISCUSSION

This development application (DE404631) is to increase the building height from 12.2 m/39.85 ft. to 12.8 m/41.9 ft., thereby requiring a height relaxation of approximately 0.58 m/1.9 ft. at the northwest corner (worst case condition).

Simplified plans, including a site plan and elevations of the proposal have been included in Appendix ‘B’.

The proposed development has been assessed against the C-2 District Schedule and C-2 Residential Guidelines and generally meets the intent, with the exception of the building height, as discussed below.

Height

A height relaxation of 0.58 m/1.9 ft. above the 12.2 m/40.0 ft. allowable height is requested for this building. In accordance with the Guidelines, the maximum building height of 12.2 m/40.0 ft. may be marginally increased for concrete construction of the residential component or where the site slopes more than 1.5 m/4.92 ft. Increases will only be considered where it can be demonstrated that there is no increased overshadowing or reduction of views of surrounding neighbours. Consideration should also be given to street character, overall building bulk, open space and amenity. Staff note that height relaxations are often sought in C-2 given the ground floor ceiling height requirements for commercial uses.

This site slopes down slightly from south to north, from 0.78 m/2.56 ft. (along the west [lane] property line) to 0.85 m/2.79 ft. (along the east [Victoria Drive] property line) and slopes down from east to west, from 0.53 m/1.74 ft. (along the south property line) to 0.46 m/1.51 ft. (along the north [East 39th Avenue] property line). These slopes do present design challenges for ground floor uses. The worst case height location (northwest corner) is approximately 15.2 m/50.0 ft. from the adjacent RS-1 zoned residential building to the west. Given this distance, proposed rear yard terraced massing and site orientation, staff can confirm that the proposed development does not impose shade and shadow, nor view concerns, for this most immediate neighbour. Further, the applicant has set back the uppermost storey and expressed the massing as a continuous penthouse which further reduces the impact of overall massing on the adjoining neighbours.

Although the proposed increase in building height does not meet the Guidelines, staff support the height relaxation proposed, given that this overage does not adversely effect adjacent neighbours and the development is considered to be of good architectural quality for C-2 zoning.

URBAN DESIGN PANEL

The Urban Design Panel reviewed the project on December 2, 1998 and did not support the proposal; however, height was not a concern of the Panel at that time. In fact, the Panel suggested additional height for certain portions of the proposal. The applicant has revised their application in response to all concerns of the Panel and to the satisfaction of staff.

A copy of the UDP minutes is attached as Appendix ‘C’.

NOTIFICATION

As part of the review of this development application, 32 neighbouring property owners were notified of the proposal. Planning staff did not receive any letters in response to the notification.

CONCLUSION

The proposed development has been assessed against the C-2 District Schedule and C-2 Residential Guidelines, and responds to the stated objectives. Although the height does not meet the Guidelines, staff support the height relaxation proposed given that the overage does not adversely effect adjacent neighbours and the proposal is considered to be of good architectural quality for C-2 zoning. Planning staff therefore, support approval of this development application. However, before making a decision, the Director of Planning is seeking any advice which Council may wish to provide.

LINK TO APPENDICES

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver