Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Director Of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

CD-1 Text Amendment - 655 Great Northern Way

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

· False Creek Flats Preliminary Concept Plan, approved in June 1996
· Finning site rezoned from I-3 to CD-1 in November 1999
· False Creek Flats Urban Structure Plan, approved in March 2001

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This report proposes a Director of Current Planning-initiated application to amend sections 4 and 5 of CD-1 no. 8131 (#402). The objective is to divide the site into sub-areas which correspond to current land ownership and to apportion the approved floor area into those sub-areas. No net increases or decreases in floor space are proposed, nor are there any other changes to the by-law. The amendment will enable the new owners to individually proceed with development or with private applications to further amend the zoning applicable to their sites, each within their own time schedules.

DISCUSSION

When the 26-acre Finning site was rezoned to CD-1 in 1999, it was wholly owned by Finning International. Finning did not intend to undertake the redevelopment envisioned in the new zoning, but planned to sell the land to developers. The land use and density provisions within the zoning by-law were kept relatively open compared to other CD-1 districts, with most of the floor space allocations being applicable across the whole site. This was intended to build in flexibility for the future developers. Finning, or future owners, would have leeway to sell varying amounts of the approved floor space to different owners within the CD-1 district depending on business needs. (Despite this flexibility on floor space, the form of development for the site is clearly set by virtue of a structure plan of new streets, building envelope parameters and design guidelines.)

Since the creation of the CD-1, two new owners have acquired portions of the Finning site - a consortium of local educational institutions have obtained 17 acres west of Fraser Street and Quadra Logic Technologies (QLT) has purchased 2.62 acres adjacent to their existing property (just east of the original site). Finning continues to own one remaining lot which is for sale. A subdivision of the original site has occurred which created three lots reflecting the new ownership pattern. (See current ownership in Figure 1.)

As part of the private land transfers, an allocation of the approved floor space has also occurred. It is now possible to know precisely how much density has be assigned to each of the three lots. What is proposed in this zoning amendment is articulating these assignments within the CD-1 by-law by creating sub-areas which correspond to the new ownership boundaries. The advantage in doing so is that each of the owners could come forward independently with private applications to develop or to amend their sub-areas, without having to co-ordinate a joint application by all owners and without incurring a large rezoning fee that is based on the entire 26-acre land area of CD-1 no. 8131 (#402).

Figure 1 - Current Ownership within CD-1 #402The fee issue is particularly critical if one owner is desiring an amendment for their property while the other owners are not wishing, or needing, to participate. For example, QLT intends to apply to amalgamate their two adjoining properties under a single new CD-1. In order to accomplish this, an amendment to the full CD-1 no. 8131 (#402) would have to occur because the density allocation for their parcel recently acquired from Finning is not recognized separately in the CD-1 by-law. If it were a sub-area within that CD-1, the Zoning and Development Fee By-law would permit a rezoning fee to be calculated only on that sub-area, creating a fee that is appropriate and fair for the land area for which the changes are sought. Sub-area fee calculations are typically used in other CD-1 districts where the changes are isolated, such as in other major projects.

The educational consortium will also be seeking a text amendment to accommodate institutional uses for their property, although they are on a different timetable than QLT and may not seek this change for a number of years.

The application to amend the CD-1 to create sub-areas is proposed as a Director of Current Planning initiated application because, apart from creating greater flexibility on timing and fees for the owners, there are a number of clear public advantages to doing so. First, there will be greater clarity in the City's review and processing of individual rezoning applications when the owners come forward separately with their proposed amendments. Second, the public will benefit by having the requests of one owner presented to them at one time for their comment, rather than having multiple owners with differing, and perhaps complicated, requests. Third, once the sub-areas are created, there would be further advantages at the development review stages. It will be easier for staff to evaluate the floor space requested if the allocation to each owner is clearly stated within the CD-1 By-law.

The changes to the By-law needed to create the sub-areas can be found in Appendix A. The map in Section 4 would be revised to change the existing two sub-areas into four sub-areas (1, 2, 3A and 3B). New sub-area 1 would be Lot 1 owned by QLT. New sub-area 2 would be the remaining parcel still owned by Finning (Lot 2). Sub-areas 3A and 3B would be owned by the educational consortium with the most westerly sub-area, 3B, being where the hotel and live-work uses are permitted under the current by-law. (See revised sub-areas map in Appendix A.)

Table 1 in Section 5 would be revised to reflect the new floor space allocations for each of the sub-areas based on the land transfer agreements that Finning has made with the educational consortium and with QLT. The total overall floor area for the whole site and the total floor area for each of the land use categories would remain the same as in the current CD-1 by-law. This aspect is critical to this staff-initiated amendment - that there be no net change to these floor area totals. (See the revised Table 1 in Appendix A.)

Servicing and Public Amenity Agreements

The Services Agreement as well as other agreements regarding the provision of public amenities (such as public art and childcare), were negotiated as part of the original CD-1 zoning and subsequent subdivision. These agreements will stay on title and will not be affected by this proposed amendment.

CONCLUSION

The proposed amendments will facilitate orderly development by various landowners over time. As such it is recommended for approval.

- - - - -

  Appendix A

Current Sub-area Map from Section 4 of CD-1 #402Revised Sub-area Map for Section 4 of CD-1 #402

Current Table 1 from Section 5 of CD-1 # 402

Use

Maximum Total Floor Area

· High-Tech and Light Industrial Uses;
· Office Use, but limited to Information Technology; and
· Service Uses, but limited to Laboratory, Photofinishing or Photography Laboratory, Production or Rehearsal Studio and Work Shop;
· Accessory uses

321 282 m²

· Office Uses, but not including the offices of accountants, lawyers and notary publics, nor the offices of real estate, advertising and insurance, nor travel and ticket agencies

55 740 m²

· Office Uses, but limited to the offices of accountants, lawyers and notary publics, and the offices of real estate, advertising and insurance, and travel and ticket agencies

5 574 m²

· Retail;
· Service, but not including Hotel and Laboratory

15 793 m²

· Live-Work Uses

16 722 m²

· Hotel

9 290 m²

Revised Table 1

Use

1

2

3A + 3B combined

3B only

Maximum Total Floor Area

· High-Tech and Light Industrial Uses;
· Office Use, but limited to Information Technology; and
· Service Uses, but limited to Laboratory, Photofinishing or Photography Laboratory, Production or Rehearsal Studio and Work Shop;
· Accessory uses

48 158 m²

27 999 m²

245 125 m²

-

321 282 m²

· Office Uses, but not including the offices of accountants, lawyers and notary publics, nor the offices of real estate, advertising and insurance, nor travel and ticket agencies

-

5 715 m²

50 025 m²

-

55 740 m²

· Office Uses, but limited to the offices of accountants, lawyers and notary publics, and the offices of real estate, advertising and insurance, and travel and ticket agencies

-

571 m²

5 003 m²

-

5 574 m²

· Retail;
· Service, but not including Hotel and Laboratory

-

1 619 m²

14 174 m²

-

15 793 m²

· Live-Work Uses

-

-

-

16 722 m²

16 722 m²

· Hotel

-

-

-

9 290 m²

9 290 m²

Live-work and hotel uses permitted only in sub-area 3B

* * * * *

ag020917.htm

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