Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

3580 West 41st Avenue

 

CONSIDERATION

The Director of Current Planning submits the following for consideration:

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

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.

SUMMARY

In accordance with Council's instructions of June 2, 1998, this development application is being referred to Council for advice as the proposal requires a building height relaxation.

The proposed development is for the construction of a four-storey retail/health care office/residential building and will require a height relaxation from 12.2 m/40.0 ft. to 13.3 m/43.67 ft. at the southeast portion of the building (worst case condition), thereby requiring height relaxations up to 1.1 m/3.67 ft. The site has a slope of more than 1.5 m/4.92 ft. which qualifies for consideration of a height relaxation. A view analysis of the additional height confirms that there will be minimal impact on the surrounding sites.

Overall, Planning staff feel that this proposal is exemplary in terms of its architectural design, massing and detailing. The Director of Planning is therefore inclined to support this application. However, before making a decision, this application is being referred to Council for advice.

PURPOSE

This report seeks Council's advice on a development application requesting permission to construct a four-storey building containing retail/health care office/residential uses, 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 in the midblock on the south side of West 41st Avenue between Dunbar and Collingwood Streets. The zoning on both sides of West 41st Avenue is C-2 and the zoning across the lane directly south of the site is RS-5.

The site and surrounding zoning are shown on the attached Appendix `A'.

DISCUSSION

This proposal involves the construction of a four-storey building containing retail and health care office on the first-storey and 27 residential dwelling units on the second- to fourth-storeys with two levels of underground parking having vehicular access from the rear lane.
A development permit (DE403544) was approved on February 16, 1999 for the construction of a four-storey mixed-use building with one-and-one-half level of underground parking having vehicular access from the rear lane on this site. That proposal contained retail/office on the first storey and residential on the second-to fourth-storeys having a total of 23 dwelling units. The building was approved having a height of 12.2 m/40.0 ft., which is within the maximum permitted height of 12.2 m/40.0 ft. under the provisions of the C-2 District Schedule and therefore was not reported to Council. This current development permit (DE404817) will replace the previously approved development permit (DE403544).

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 one exception. The most significant issue is discussed below.

Height

A height relaxation up to 1.1 m/3.67 ft. above the 12.2 m/40.0 ft. allowable height is requested for this proposed building. In accordance with the Guidelines, the maximum building height of 12.2 m/40.0 ft. may be marginally increased 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 a reduction of views to surrounding neighbours. Consideration should also be given to street character, overall building bulk, open space and amenity.

The site slopes down from north (West 41st Avenue) to south (lane) by 1.55 m/5.1 ft. along the east property and by 1.3 m/4.25 ft. along the west property line, and slopes down from west to east by 0.7 m/2.33 ft. along the north (West 41st Avenue) property line, and by 0.96 m/3.17 ft. along the south (lane) property line, which results in a cross fall slope of the site of 2.26 m/7.45 ft. These slopes contribute to the worst case condition of a height of 13.4 m/43.9 ft. at the southeast (lane) corner of the site. The proposal meets the height requirements of 12.2 m/40.0 ft. along the length of the front facade.

These slopes create challenges for ground floor uses and overall massing. The worst case height location (southeast corner) is setback 7.9 m/26.0 ft. from the rear property line opposite the adjacent RS-5 zoned residences to the south. Given this distance, proposed rear yard terraced massing, articulation of the roof line and site orientation, staff can confirm that the proposed development does not impose shade and shadow, nor view concerns to these neighbours. The applicant has also set back the uppermost storey and expressed the mass as a penthouse which further reduces the impact of overall massing on the adjoining neighbours.

Further, in considering any height relaxations, the Director of Planning must also first consider the view impacts of the proposed development upon neighbouring sites. A view analysis (Appendix `C') confirms that the increase in height on the south elevation has negligible view impact for the single-family residences to the south. For the residences directly south of the site, staff recognize that their existing views will be impacted by the development, however, it is not due to the height relaxation. It should be noted that these views would be blocked by any building at an outright permitted building height of 12.2 m/40.0 ft. With respect to shadowing, since the development is on the north side of the lane, there is no shadowing impacts on the surrounding lower density residential sites to the south.

Staff believe that the proposed height relaxations, up to 1.1 m/3.67 ft. at the south side of the building, are supportable given the slope of the site and the minimal view impact.

URBAN DESIGN PANEL

At its meeting on April 5, 2000, the Urban Design Panel unanimously supported this development application. The Panel had no concerns related to the height and noted that "the form of articulation on the street and type of proposed materials and proportions were exemplary".

A copy of the UDP minutes is attached as Appendix `D'.

NOTIFICATION

As part of the review of this development application, 31 neighbouring property owners were notified of the proposal. In response, Planning staff received one letter in opposition. The objections include concerns with the impact of a four-storey building located adjacent to single-family zoning and the impact of traffic in the lane. Staff note that the proposed building complies with the intent of the C-2 Residential Guidelines with respect to its relationship to the adjacent single-family residential zone.

CONCLUSION

The proposed development has been assessed against the C-2 District Schedule and C-2 Residential Guidelines, and responds to the stated objectives. Planning staff generally feel that this proposal is exemplary in terms of its architectural design, massing and detailing. The applicant is proposing high quality materials, including brick and architectural concrete on both the street and lane facades. Staff support a height relaxation at the rear (south) of the building up to 1.1 m/3.67 ft.

Planning staff therefore, support approval of this development application, subject to various conditions to be met prior to the issuance of the development permit. However, before making a decision on this application, the Director of Planning is seeking any advice which Council may wish to provide.

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