Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
URBAN STRUCTURE

TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of City Plans
SUBJECT: C-2 Zoning Review

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Council's current policy is embodied in the C-2 District Schedule and the C-2 Residential Guidelines, which allow 3 to 4 storey all-commercial, or four storey mixed commercial/residential development. Both the Kensington-Cedar Cottage and Dunbar Community Visions call for improvements to design of projects in the C-2 zones.

PURPOSE

This report presents a Work Program for the C-2 Zoning Review Phase 1: Form of Development [Appendix A]. The review will address issues with the form of development of mixed use and all-commercial development in C-2 zones. The products of the review will be Council-adopted Directions, followed by a revised District Schedule and Guidelines.

This report also requests approval of budget for the study, including funding to permit consultants to undertake the main part of the work up to the adoption of Directions [Appendix B]. Consultant Terms of Reference are also presented for approval [Appendix C].

BACKGROUND

In June 1998, Council considered an information report from the Director of Community Planning which outlined the current C-2 zoning and issues. Concerns had been expressed by residents in various areas in reaction to specific developments, as well as during the Vision programs in Dunbar and Kensington-Cedar Cottage. At that time Council took a number of steps:

- provided staff with some instruction regarding interpretation of the District Schedule and Guidelines;
- required all projects to be reviewed by the Urban Design Panel;
- eliminated the ability to relax the building height of mixed use developments beyond 5 storeys; and
- requested that smaller height relaxations be reported to Council.

Council also instructed the Director of Planning to report back on a timetable, work program and resourcing to undertake a C-2 review. This report back occurred in July 1998, at which time Council decided to approve the Work Program, but not the additional staff required to do the study. The Review has since been on hold pending availability of appropriate staff.

DISCUSSION

1. C-2 Zoning

C-2 zoning permits residential/commercial mixed use and all-commercial development, generally 4 storeys in height. It applies to over 1,500 parcels of land throughout the City,mainly on arterials. It includes a good deal of the City's housing capacity under existing zoning. Since the 1989 changes, which encouraged residential in C-2, about 160 new projects have been built. While the C-2 zone is providing needed housing, there have been many complaints from nearby residents about the massing and appearance of some of the resulting developments. These concerns have been expressed to staff during development permit processing and during the Community Vision programs, as well as directly to City Council.

2. C-2 Zoning Review Part 1: Form of Development

The Work Program [Appendix A] describes the Objectives, Products, Scope and Criteria, Roles (of consultants, planning staff, an Advisory Group, and the public), Steps and Schedule.

In terms of scope, the C-2 Zoning Review Part 1 will address most of the issues which have caused recent concern with C-2 developments across the city - impacts of massing on neighbours, bulky appearance and street scale, and general quality of design and construction. The types of changes that could result include revisions to regulations on heights, setbacks, floor space ratio, as well as to the current guidelines. The review would address both standard C-2 sites that have a lane behind them, and those sites adjoining R-zoned sites with no lane in between. Both mixed-use and all-commercial developments would be addressed. It should be noted that this study will be city-wide, dealing with the entire zone. It will develop general design guidelines, but will not result in community-specific design guidelines [see discussion below].

The Review as outlined does not include the C-2 hybrid zones (C-2B, C-2C and C-2C1) other than as cases for comparison with C-2. If the Directions appear to be relevant to these zones, revisions to them will need to be pursued later with a separate consultation of owners in these areas.

The first part of the Work Program results in Directions for Council adoption. The steps to this point will be the responsibility of the consultants. The public involvement process during this phase will ensure that Council has the benefit of input from all the various interests and geographical areas. Methods will include open houses, meetings with organizations, mailings, informational advertising, and surveys. An Advisory Group, with key staff and representatives of the major interest groups [neighbours, C-2 residents, land owners and the development industry] will assist in reviewing information and in creative problem solving. The group will not take on the roles of advocates or negotiators, however. The opinions of the major interest groups will be sought directly.

Once the Directions are adopted, in-house staff would undertake the rewriting of the District Schedule and Guidelines, the referral report, Public Hearing, and enactment. Advice from staff of the Housing Centre, Engineering, and Legal Services will be sought as required.

Appendix B outlines the funding and staff resources needed. It is proposed that most of the work up to adoption of Directions be undertaken by consultants, under the overall management of senior staff. The use of consultants is proposed because staff with appropriate experience have not been, and will not be, available for the foreseeable future to undertake the study, due to relocation of staff to other work, and to illness.

The total funds requested are $150,000. The consultant cost will be a total of $140,000, which includes all public consultation expenses, and subconsultants for surveys. To cover expenses and overtime in the District Schedule and Guidelines steps, the proposed budget includes $10,000. Recommendation B deals with the funding approvals, proposing $58,000 from 2000 Contingency Reserve and $92,000 to be provided in the 2001 Operating Budget.

3. C-2 Zoning Review Part 2: Housing Types and Commercial Uses

Part 2 of the C-2 Zoning Review would be undertaken after Part 1 is complete, and would address how more variety in housing forms could be introduced into C-2 zones; whether more can be done regarding family suitability; and whether there is excess commercial capacity in some areas. A work program will be forwarded to Council for approval at a later date.

4. Local Community C-2 Design and Character

Some local communities have expressed an interest in "customizing" the basic C-2 design guidelines to enhance or reflect the particular character of their areas. Staff foresee that different communities groups or local Business Improvement Associations may want to address this in different ways at different times. It is not useful to try and pre-formulate these guidelines as part of the C-2 Zoning Review.

Some communities or BIAs may want to develop guidelines on their own initiative, using their own consultants. For example, the Kerrisdale Business Improvement Association developed a set of voluntary guidelines a few years ago. In other cases, City-initiated studies coming out of Community Visions may result in design guidelines. For example, in Dunbar a wholistic study of Dunbar Street that looks at street beautification, street design, facade treatments may be undertaken. In Kensington-Cedar Cottage a study around the neighbourhood centre at Knight and Kingsway could result in locally-specific character guidelines.

There will be issues of the availability of staff to work on these items, in light of other priorities. In particular unanticipated work on SkyTrain has redirected available resources. Staff will report to Council before undertaking any of this work. There will also be other questions to be addressed: how to shape proposed local guidelines so that they are effective; whether they should be adopted by Council or remain voluntary; and how they relate to our increasingly complex regulatory environment.

5. Other C-2-Related Matters

As C-2 developments become more numerous, new residents may have impacts on local parking and traffic circulation. The Engineering Department addresses neighbourhood traffic calming and street parking issues on an as-needed basis. In terms of parking for new developments, the Parking By-law sets standards for the provision of parking and loading spaces based on research by Engineering into actual parking utilization, which is reviewed from time to time. The C-2 Zoning Review will, therefore, not be addressing traffic and parking issues.

New C-2 residents will also be using facilities such as parks, libraries, community centres, and schools. City-wide DCLs have recently been adopted, and funds are being collected towards the costs of growth in C-2 and other areas. The Financing Growth study is underway, developing policies for long term DCL collection and allocation. It is taking the existing population capacity within the C-2 districts into account. The C-2 Zoning Review will therefore not address DCLs. Liaison between the two studies will occur as necessary.

CONCLUSION

The C-2 zone provides a large portion of the City's future housing capacity, and lines many of its most prominent arterials. Significant concerns have been expressed with the neighbourliness, streetscape qualities, and overall design of some development that has occurred over the past 10 years. It is timely to review the C-2 zoning, with a view to improving the results that are being achieved.

- - - - -

APPENDIX A

C-2 ZONING REVIEW PART 1: FORM OF DEVELOPMENT
WORK PROGRAM

I. Objectives

For both mixed-use and all commercial development, the C-2 Zoning Review Part 1 is intended to:

1. Revise project massing [height, setbacks, density, articulation] to achieve better neighbourliness and streetscape;
2. Address some architectural design aspects related to pedestrian friendliness, quality of design and materials; and
3. Address issues specific to C-2 sites located adjacent to R-zoned sites with no lane between.

II. Products

1. Council-adopted Directions Report
2. Revised District Schedule and Guidelines

[Note: the Directions developed may or may not be suitable for application to the C-2B, C-2C, and C-2C1 zones as well. The review will take into consideration the current regulations and guidelines of these zones for comparison. If the Directions appear to be relevant to these zones, revisions to them will need to be pursued later. A separate consultation of these owners would be required and is not included in this work program.]

III. Scope and Criteria for the Study

The following notes define what aspects the C-2 Review Part 1 will address, and form the "goal posts" for the study.

1. Uses:

- no major changes to the range of uses, other than updates for consistency with other similar zones, to be considered. Altering outright or conditional categories may be considered to achieve appropriate level of control;
- current requirement for commercial at grade, with limited exceptions, is not to be reconsidered [This issue will be included in a subsequent C-2 Review Part 2.]; and
- issue of commercial use extending around the corner on streets where R zoned properties are across the street to be considered.

2. Form of Development:

- for the normal form of development, height options of 3 and 4 storeys to be considered;
- rear and side setbacks to be reconsidered;
- front setbacks above grade to be reconsidered front setbacks at grade not to be significantly reconsidered;
- the 3 step height relaxations in the current guidelines to be reconsidered;
- the unlimited height relaxation for all-commercial projects currently in the District Schedule, to be reconsidered;
- all the above aspects of form of development on sites adjoining R-zoned sites, to be specifically reconsidered;
- daylighting, depth of units, courtyard dimensions to be reconsidered; and
- FSR revisions to be considered commensurate with form of development options and control required.

3. Architectural Design

The following aspects to be reconsidered: overall architectural design quality, building articulation, pedestrian interest, weather protection, location and treatment of parking and loading, exterior materials; landscaping. [Specific local or contextual design solutions are not being developed at this time. See Council report].

4. Criteria

The following criteria will be used to evaluate the proposals on the above matters:

- neighbourliness to nearby dwellings: sun/shadowing; overlook and privacy; views;
- livability of units: daylighting; outlook; privacy; opportunity for ground or podium entry and patio space;
- economics: impact on C-2 land values; economics of development; impacts on adjacent land values;
- housing capacity: impact on capacity for new dwelling units;
- attractiveness: pedestrian interest and "friendliness"; overall design attractiveness; durability; and
- other criteria as requested by Director of City Plans or Council.

IV. Roles and Responsibilities

An extensive consultant study was done in 1991 by Neale Staniszkis Doll Architects, and much of this information will be relevant to this study. City staff have also compiled the data on developments in the past 10 years, and have identified the C-2 zoned sites which abut R zoned sites with no intervening lane. Lastly, a survey profiling C-2 residents in two communities was completed in 1997 by Campbell Goodell Traynor.

1. Consultant Team Role

The consultant team will be responsible for most of the first phase of the work up to the adoption of Directions. Their responsibilities will be:

2. Planning Staff Role

During the phase of the Review leading to Directions staff will be responsible for:

3. C-2 Advisory Group Role and Composition

The role of the C-2 Advisory Group is to assist the consultant team by reviewing analysis and information for completeness and understandability, and assisting in creating and/or refining options and ideas.

The group is not a negotiating body, nor an advocacy group. It does not recommend options to Council. The role of advocating preferences will remain with the interested community groups, landowners, industry groups, or city departments, who will be consulted through the public consultation process.

The Advisory Group will be comprised of representatives of groups who have an interest in the C-2 issues:

4. Public Role

The role of the broad public - neighbours, residents, development industry - is to understand the possible solutions to the issues, and to express their preferences.

Public review of draft ideas and options will be through a combination of open houses [with feedback forms], meetings with interested organizations, mailings, informational advertising, and surveys. Public review of the draft recommendations will occur through open houses, mailings, and written feedback before Council makes a decision on Directions.

After Directions are adopted, and the revisions to the district schedule and guidelines have been drafted and referred to Public Hearing, public notification will again occur. Interested parties may address Council at Public Hearing.

V. Steps

Directions

1. Preparation

2. Draft Ideas and Options

3. Public Review #1: Comments

4. Refine Ideas and Options

5. Public Review #2:Preferences

6. Consultant Report: Recommended Directions

7. Directions Adoption

District Schedule and Guidelines

1. Draft revised District Schedule and Guidelines
2. Internal and TAG review
3. Revise and finalize District Schedule and Guidelines
4. Write Referral Report
5. Notification, pre-hearing steps etc
6. Write any necessary withholding reports
7. Public Hearing
8. Enactment

VI. Schedule

The following is an approximate schedule for the work. It may be revised to reflect consultant availability, and start-up dates, as well as Summer and Christmas holidays.

APPENDIX B

C-2 REVIEW PART 1: FORM OF DEVELOPMENT
BUDGET AND STAFFING

Budget

Item Total

2000**

2001**
Consultants Term: Time $100,000 $45,000 $55,000

Consultants expenses*

 $40,000 $9,000 $31,000
City staff overtime $10,000 $4,000 $6,000
TOTAL $150,000 $58,000 $92,000

* includes subconsultants for phone survey

** assumes consultant work begins approximately September, 2000

 

Staffing

Existing staff will be used as follows:

0.25 Planner 3 as manager, throughout study
0.50 Planner1 or 2, for 3 months writing District Schedule & Guidelines
0.25 Planner 1 or 2, for 3 months between referral and enactment
Planning Assistant support as required

APPENDIX C

CONSULTANT TERMS OF REFERENCE
C-2 REVIEW PART 1: FORM OF DEVELOPMENT

1. Purpose

2. Background

3. Objectives, Products, Scope and Criteria, Roles, Steps and Schedule

4. Staff Liaison

5. Fees and Payment

* * * * *

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