ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

3580 West 41st Avenue - Construction of Four-storey Building

 

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 the 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 wood frame retail/health care office/residential building requesting a height relaxation from 12.2 metres (40.0 feet) to 12.9 metres (42.34 feet) at the southeast portion of the building (worst case condition), thereby requesting height relaxations up to 0.71 metres (2.34 feet). The site has a slope of more than 1.5 metres (4.92 feet) which qualifies for consideration for a height relaxation. 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 12.2 metres (40.0 feet) under the provisions of the C-2 District Schedule.

SITE DESCRIPTION AND BACKGROUND

The site is located midblock on the south side of 41st Avenue between Dunbar and Collingwood Streets. The zoning on both sides of West 41st Avenue is C-2 (Commercial District) and the zoning across the lane directly south of the site is RS 5 (One-Family Dwelling District).

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

DISCUSSION

This is the third Development Permit application received for this site over the last four years.

The first development application (DE403544) was filed on August 19, 1998 and was approved on February 16, 1999 for the construction of a four-storey mixed-use building with one-and-one-half levels of underground parking having vehicular access from the rear lane on this site. This 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 metres (40.0 feet), which is the maximum permitted height under the provisions of the C-2 District Schedule and therefore was not reported to Council.

A second development application (DE404817) was filed on January 21, 2000 and the development permit was issued on November 23, 2000. This proposal sought a conditional height of 13.3 metres (43.67 feet) (a relaxation of 1.1 metres [3.67 feet]), for the construction of a four-storey retail/health care office/residential building with 2 levels of underground parking having vehicular access from the rear lane on this site. The proposal contained retail/health care office on the first- storey and residential on the second-to fourth-storeys having a total of 27 dwelling units. This application was submitted to Council for advice on the requested height relaxation on June 22, 2000, at which time Council favoured the approval. Following the issuance of this development permit, the Board of Variance, on January 17, 2001, considered a third party appeal of this development permit approval, initiated by affected neighbours. The Board heard submissions from area residents concerned about the notification procedure involved for this second application. The Board overturned the decision of the Director of Planning and revoked the issuance of the development permit (DE404817).

A third development application (DE405680) was filed on March 26, 2001. This current proposal is seeking a conditional height relaxation of 0.71 metres (2.34 feet), for the construction of a four-storey retail/health care office/residential building with 2 levels of underground parking having vehicular access from the rear lane. This proposal, as with the second development permit, also contains retail/health care office on the first-storey and residential on the second-to fourth-storeys having a total of 27 dwelling units. Subsequent to comments made by affected neighbours at the Board of Variance, the applicant has modified the building design, in particular the roof form, achieving a reduction in height of 0.4 metres (1.33 feet) from the previous overturned permit (DE404817), resulting in a maximum height of 12.9 metres (42.34 feet).

Reduced 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 consideration to be given to the most significant issue of height as discussed below.

Height

A height relaxation of 0.71 metres (2.34 feet) above the 12.2 metres (40.0 feet) allowable height is requested for this proposed development. In accordance with the Guidelines, the maximum building height of 12.2 metres (40.0 feet) may be marginally increased where the site slopes more than 1.5 metres (4.92 feet). 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 1.41 metres (4.62 feet) along the east and 1.26 metres (4.16 feet) along the west property line and along the north (West 41st Avenue) property line slopes from west to east by 0.71 metres (2.33 feet) and along the south (lane) property line slopes from 0.85 metres (2.80 feet) resulting in a cross slope across the site of 2.11 metres (6.95 feet). These slopes contribute to the worst case condition of a height of 12.9 metres (42.34 feet) within the southeast portion of the roof, noting that along the lane elevation he maximum height achieved at the southeast corner is 12.76 metres (41.89 feet). The proposal meets the outright height requirement of 12.2 metres (40.0 feet) along the entire length of the front (West 41st Avenue) facade. (See Appendix 'E').

These slopes create challenges for ground floor uses and overall massing. Along the lane elevation, the maximum height of 12.77 metres (41.89 feet) at the building face in the southeast corner is setback 7.9 metres (26.0 feet) from the rear property line across the lane from the adjacent RS-5 zoned residential properties to the south. To mitigate overshadowing and overlook onto adjacent low-density residential zones, the Guidelines call for the upper storeys to be terraced back from the required rear setback. This proposal provides the stepped massing to the rear facade as well as insetting the uppermost balconies, thereby fulfilling the intent of the guidelines. Other measures to ensure neighbourliness and privacy include the enhanced treatment of the lanescape with a planter along the length of the lane edge at the second floor and the inclusion of a small landscaped courtyard facing the lane with trees that will provide an additional layer of screening between the proposed residential units and the single-family zone across the lane.

The three end units at the southeast corner (second through fourth floors), have incorporated internal stairs stepping down within the units in an effort to reduce the overall height in this location. This is reflected in the reduced roof line at this corner of the building.

In considering any height relaxations, the Director of Planning must also consider the view impacts of the proposed development on neighbouring sites. A view analysis (Appendix C) confirms that the proposed increase in height on the south elevation has negligible view impacts for the single family zone to the south beyond that generated by a conforming 12.2 metres (40.0 feet) high development. For the residences directly south of the site, staff recognize that their present views will be substantially impacted by the development. However, this loss of present view is not due to the height relaxation. It should be noted that these views would be affected by any building at an outright permitted building height of 12.2 metres (40.0 feet). 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 properties to the south.

Massing and Density

The total proposed floor space ratio (FSR) of this application is 2.47, well within the permitted maximum of 3.0 FSR in the C-2 District Schedule and well below most approved developments in this zone.

A desired maximum FSR of 2.0 is identified for residential uses for mixed use C-2 proposals on mid-block sites in the C-2 Residential Guidelines with an upper limit of 2.2 FSR identified overall. (Note: The C-2 District Schedule identifies an absolute maximum residential FSR of 2.5). Based on the entire site area, staff support the proposed FSR of 1.89 for the residential component, as it is well within that described by the guidelines. It should be noted that this site must comply with a building line requirement by providing a setbackof 5.18 metres (17.0 feet) for future road widening resulting in a notable reduction in ultimate site area. In cases where a building line is required, FSR is always calculated on original site area. However, even if the proposed development's floor area is calculated on the reduced site area the proposal still falls within the range of acceptable FSR at 2.17.

Urban Design Panel

The first and second development permit applications were referred to the Urban Design Panel (UDP) where both received unanimous support.

At its meeting on April 5, 2000, the Urban Design Panel unanimously supported the second development proposal, including a height relaxation, 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 from the April 5, 2000 meeting are attached as Appendix 'D'.

As this third application is generally consistent with the previous submissions, with respect to overall architectural quality and character, and given the further reduction in height of this application, staff did not forward this proposal to the Panel for comment.

Notification

As part of the review of this development application, 231 neighbouring property owners were notified of the proposal. This represents a larger area than any of the previous applications. In response, staff have received a total of 27 letters, 4 letters in support, 1 neutral, and 22 letters in opposition. The objections include concerns with the impact of the current C-2 zoning, the scale of 4-storey buildings as inappropriate for this neighbourhood. Others felt they had expressed these same issues through the Dunbar Visioning and question why the City would still be approving such proposals. Other concerns were the reduction in privacy and skyline views, and the impact of traffic in the lane.

Staff note that Dunbar is one of the neighbourhoods involved in the Visioning programme. In 1998 City Council adopted the Dunbar Community Vision which included a Direction asking for design improvements to the four-storey mixed-use development in the three C-2 zoned shopping areas. It calls for buildings to be less bulky looking, have less impact on single-family neighbours, more attractive designs, a variety of styles and more planting. Council's actions in June 1998, outlined in this report under Council Policy, moved significantly towards this goal. The C-2 Zoning Review - Part 1, currently underway, is addressing these concerns in more detail. In the course of the Dunbar Vision program, no Directions were proposed to reduce the C-2 projects heights from four-to three- storeys. A proposed draft Vision Direction to allow increase to five- or six-storeys in somecircumstances was not supported by the community. Other draft Vision Directions to reduce or expand the length of the three shopping areas were also not supported by the community.

In terms of the impact of the Visioning programme on development proposals submitted under the existing zoning, Council's instructions has been to proceed as normal under the present C-2 District Schedule and Guidelines.

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 and has incorporated measures to minimize impact on adjacent houses. The applicant is proposing high quality materials, including brick and architectural concrete on both the street and lane facades. Staff recommend support for the height relaxation at the southeast portion of the building up to 0.71 metres (2.34 feet).

The Director of Planning is, therefore, prepared to 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.

APPENDICES A-E ARE ATTACHED.

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