ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: May 1, 2000
Author/Local: Robert Florko/7805
RTS No. 1456

CC File No. 1203

Council: May 16, 2000

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Manager of Real Estate Services in consultation with the General Manager Board of Parks and Recreation
SUBJECT:	Section 219 Covenant for Spatial Separation - 9250 Shaughnessy Street

RECOMMENDATION

THAT Council authorize the granting of a Section 219 Covenant charging City-owned property located at 9250 Shaughnessy Street, legally described as PID 024-619-361 Lot 4, Blocks D, Y and Z, District Lots 319, 323 and 324, Group 1, New Westminster District, Plan LMP 43777 to allow for spatial separation from a building on the adjacent property at 9050 Shaughnessy Street by prohibiting any building on a 2.59 metre (8.5 foot) wide strip, and to authorize the Director of Legal Services to execute on behalf of the City the Agreement in accordance with the provisions of this report.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

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

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no applicable Council policy.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council authority for a Section 219 Covenant to be registered against title to City-owned property to allow for spatial separation from a buildingon the adjacent property by prohibiting any building on a 2.59 metre (8.5 foot) wide strip of the City-owned property.

BACKGROUND

City Council at its meeting (In Camera) on June 15, 1999 approved the purchase of property at 9250 Shaughnessy Street for a riverside park (the "Park Site"). The Park Site has not been designated as a permanent public park and therefore is not currently within the jurisdiction of the Board of Parks and Recreation.

DISCUSSION

The owner of the site at 9050 Shaughnessy Street which is immediately north of the Park Site has started construction of a new mixed-use building for Rain Coast Books (see Appendix A). Under the M-2 zoning schedule the owner may construct a two storey warehouse style building on the site but, following discussions with the Park Board agreed to design a building other than a warehouse style building to benefit both the users of the park and the occupants of the building.

Unlike a warehouse style building which could have been built up to the property line with the Park Site, the new design will have the building set back 1.5m (5 feet) from the property line adjacent with the Park Site with the windows of the offices on the second floor facing the park. The benefit of the design to the occupants of the building is that it provides them with a view of the river and the Park Site, and for the Park Board it provides a more aesthetically pleasing building fronting the Park Site.

Based on the number of windows on the south face of the building, Building By Law No. 8057 requires a minimum distance of 4.1m (13.5 feet) between the building and any structure built on the Park Site for spatial separation purposes. To allow the owner a minor relaxation to the Building By Law, the City may either:

1. require that the owner fill in the windows if any building is constructed within a 2.59m (8.5 foot) wide strip adjacent to the Park Site; or

2. grant a Section 219 Covenant charging the Park Site, which would have the have the following implications for the Park Site:

a. no structure could be built in the Park Site within the 2.59m (8.5 foot) wide strip adjacent to the northwest property line adjoining 9050 Shaughnessy Street.

b. for any structure built at any other location in the Park Site, limiting distanceto a building would not be measured to this property line, but to a line parallel to the property line and 2.59m (8.5 feet) into the park.

Since there are no plans or foreseeable need to build any structure within the 2.59m (8.5 foot) wide strip and the owner redesigned the building to benefit the park, the Park Board feel that the request for Section 219 Covenant is reasonable.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver