POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING
Date: December 23, 2002
Author/Local: Lynda Challis/7135
Pat Wotherspoon/6302
RTS No. 03152
CC File No. 5306
Meeting: January 16, 2003
TO: |
Standing Committee on Planning and the Environment |
FROM: |
The Directors of City Plans and Current Planning |
SUBJECT: |
Rezoning Application - 86 S.E. Marine Drive/101 E. 69th Avenue (Wal-Mart Proposal) - Status Report |
INFORMATION
The General Manager of Community Services submits this report for INFORMATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
· In March 1995, Council adopted the Industrial Lands Policies, intended to retain most of the City's existing industrial land for industrial and city-serving activities. Council requested staff to investigate mixed retail/industrial zones along limited areas of Grandview Highway and Marine Drive.
· In July 1999, Council adopted Highway Oriented Retail (HOR) Interim Rezoning Policies and Guidelines: Grandview/Boundary Industrial Area. In May 2001, Council adopted Highway Oriented Retail (HOR) Rezoning Policies and Guidelines: Marine Drive Industrial Area. In both areas, rezoning applications proposing the sale of food or clothing are required to submit a retail impact study to assess potential impacts on neighbourhood shopping areas.
· In June 1995, Council adopted CityPlan which provides for the development and reinforcing of neighbourhood centres as the "heart" of each community. This was followed with Council adopted Community Visions in Kensington Cedar Cottage (1998), Dunbar (1998), Sunset (2002), and Victoria-Fraserview/Killarney (2002) which specify that "big box" stores selling groceries, clothing and other daily needs should not be located where they will harm the economic health of local shopping areas.
· In July 2002, when considering a report on the Wal-Mart Retail Impact Study, Council instructed staff to
- continue processing a rezoning application for highway oriented retail development at 86 S.E. Marine Drive and 101 E. 69th Avenue in the normal manner,
- report back on a mitigation package for the Fraser Street Neighbourhood Shopping Area,
- amend the Highway Oriented Retail Rezoning Policies and Guidelines: Marine Drive Industrial Area to remove the sale of food (i.e., grocery store) as a possible retail use, and
- report back on whether general merchandise stores should continue to be considered as a possible retail use in the Marine Drive and Grandview/Boundary Highway Oriented Retail Areas.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
On December 12, 2002, Council requested staff prepare an information report on the status of the rezoning application for a Wal-Mart store at 86 SE Marine Drive - 101 East 69th Avenue. This report responds to that request. The application is being processed in two phases. The first phase, which included public consultation and a retail impact study, was completed and reported to Council in July, 2002. At that time Council instructed staff to continue processing the application. The second phase, currently underway, is assessing traffic, access and parking, building design and landscaping, public realm and streetscape, site servicing and environmental considerations. Further public review will occur and, following completion of the second phase, staff will report back to Council recommending referral to a Public Hearing or refusal of the application.
Figure 1: Location of Proposed Wal-Mart
BACKGROUND
In March 1995, Council adopted the Industrial Lands Policies, intended to retain most of the City's existing industrial land for industrial and city-serving activities. Council requested staff investigate mixed retail/industrial zones along limited areas of Grandview Highway and Marine Drive to satisfy some of the demand for uses that are car-dependent, require `highway frontage', and cannot easily locate in local commercial areas and neighbourhood centres.
The idea behind Highway-Oriented Retail (HOR) was to provide a location for infrequent retail purchases, such as furniture stores, which require larger floor plates than typically found in local shopping areas. However, the pre-existence of food and clothing stores along Grandview Highway prompted staff to recommend permitting these uses subject to retail and traffic impact studies. This provided Council with the opportunity to consider each use on a site by site basis.
When options for HOR uses were considered in the Marine Drive area, Council reviewed the options of:
· providing for the same mix of uses along Marine Drive as in Grandview/Boundary, again subject to retail and traffic impact studies; or
· limiting opportunities for food and clothing uses given the emerging Vision Directions in the Sunset and Victoria/Fraserview/Killarney areas might not support big box uses which may impact local centres.
In May 2001, Council approved policies and guidelines for HOR rezonings along the south side of Marine Drive between Yukon and Main Streets. The policies specifically reference potential impacts on neighbourhood shopping areas and require a retail impact study for proposals that include the sale of food or clothing.
The rezoning application for a Wal-Mart store at 86 S.E. Marine Drive was submitted in September 2001. It was the first application under the Marine Drive HOR policies and guidelines. Considering the scale of the Wal-Mart proposal, its focus on clothing sales, concerns about potential impacts on neighbourhood shopping areas, and implications of big box stores for Community Vision Directions, staff developed a two phase process for reviewing the rezoning application. The first phase addressed the retail impact issue and included four open houses to provide information on the proposal and seek public input. A retail impact study was undertaken by a team of consultants retained and managed by the City but paid for by the developer. The study found that sales impacts on neighbourhood shopping areas south of 16th Avenue would be minimal except for Fraser Street where moderate impacts were expected.
In July 2002, based on the consultants' conclusions, staff advised Council that there were no policy reasons to not continue processing the application. Council approved staff's recommendation that the Wal-Mart rezoning application continue to be processed in the normal manner. Council also instructed staff to:
· report back as part of the rezoning referral report on a mitigation package for the Fraser Street Neighbourhood Shopping Area;
· amend the "Highway Oriented Retail Rezoning Policies and Guidelines: Marine Drive Industrial Area" to remove the sale of food (i.e., grocery store) as a possible retail use;
· report back following a decision on the Wal-Mart rezoning application, on whether general merchandise stores should continue to be considered as a permitted use in rezoning applications in the Marine Drive and Grandview/Boundary Highway Oriented Retail areas.
DISCUSSION
Since July, staff from the Planning Department and Engineering Services have been meeting with the Wal-Mart applicant and the project's developer, architects, and transportation consultants to discuss the HOR design criteria that apply to the proposal and the information that should be addressed by the Transportation Study. The applicant has been revising the site plan and building design to respond to staff's comments. A workshop with the Urban Design Panel is scheduled for January 2003 to hear their comments on some options for developing the site.
It is anticipated that, after the Urban Design Panel, the applicant will be submitting a revised set of drawings for further review by staff and the public. We also expect to receive the Transportation Study in January. Once all this material has been received, the normal staff review by Planning, Development Services, Social Planning, Engineering Services, Permits and Licenses and Fire can begin. This review will likely take a few months and will include the following considerations:
· impacts on the adjacent street system and potential traffic management measures;
· access to and from the site (especially to Marine Drive);
· measures to enhance pedestrian and bicycle circulation;
· design of parking and loading areas;
· treatment of public realm and streetscapes (along Marine Drive);
· impacts on uses along 69th Avenue;
· architectural characteristics of buildings (including height, width, massing, entries, articulation, weather protection, transparency and materials);
· environmental issues (including vegetation, water, soils, air quality, energy and solid waste management); and
· servicing requirements.
At the same time, staff will be seeking comments from the public. Following this, a report to Council will be written recommending either refusal of the application or referral to a Public Hearing. If the report recommends referral to a Public Hearing, then it will also include recommendations related to mitigating the retail impacts on the Fraser Street neighbourhood shopping area. Staff expect that this report would be sent to Council before the summer recess in August.
CONCLUSION
The rezoning application for 86 S.E. Marine Drive and 101 E. 69th Avenue is being processed in two phases. The first phase has been completed and the second phase will be underway when the applicant submits revised plans and a transportation study. Staff expect to report to Council by mid-year 2003 recommending either refusal of the application or referral to Public Hearing.
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