Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: July 8, 2003
Author/Local:K. Mulji/6069RTS No. 03453
CC File No. 5104
Meeting Date: July 29, 2003
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
General Manager of Engineering Services in Consultation with the Director of Legal Services
SUBJECT:
Proposed Temporary Walkways on the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts for Access to General Motors Place
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to enter into an Encroachment Agreement with Orca Bay, the owner of General Motors (GM) Place, to allow for the construction of temporary walkways and ancillary features such as barricades and railings (hereinafter defined as the "Encroachments") on both the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts from Beatty Street to General Motors (GM) Place , on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Director of Legal Services and the General Manager of Engineering Services, and without limitation containing the following terms:
i) Orca Bay is to indemnify the City for any liability resulting from the presence of the Encroachments and be responsible for all costs of future removal of the Encroachments and any and all repairs to the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts required as a result of the existence, repair, and removal of the Encroachments.
ii) Orca Bay is to maintain, repair, and replace the Encroachments as necessary and at their cost.
iii) Orca Bay is to provide as-built drawings prepared by a Professional Engineer or B.C. Land Surveyor, to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services, showing the as-constructed Encroachments.
iv) Orca Bay is to design, construct, and remove the Encroachments at their cost and to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services.
v) The annual charge to be nil.
vi) Any other terms and conditions deemed necessary by the Director of Legal Services.
COUNCIL POLICY
The Encroachment By-law No. 4243 governs the encroachment of private improvements onto City streets and lanes.
PURPOSE
This report seeks Council authority to enter into an Encroachment Agreement with the owner of GM Place (Orca Bay) for temporary walkways and ancillary features on the north side of the Georgia Viaduct, and on the south side of the Dunsmuir Viaduct (Appendix A), for access to GM Place.
BACKGROUND
At the time of construction of General Motors Place, temporary walkways were constructed from Beatty Street to GM Place along both the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts. These walkways were constructed on Concord Pacific's site 7B (Lot 291), which in 2002 was rezoned to permit a Costco Wholesale Store and a residential development. Legal agreements relating to the rezoning of the GM Place site noted that the temporary walkways would have to be dismantled to allow construction on Lot 291. According to these agreements, the temporary arrangement during construction would be to provide temporary access either through Lot 291 or through lands owned by the City connecting Beatty Street with GM Place. The cost of the temporary arrangement would be the responsibility of Orca Bay. The permanent walkways along the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts would be built and incorporated into the development on Lot 291.
After the rezoning of Lot 291, Concord provided Orca Bay with notice that the temporary walkways on both the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts would have to be removed to facilitate construction of the Costco wholesale store. That is, temporary access would not be feasible across Lot 291. Therefore, the remaining option was to achieve temporary access through City lands.
DISCUSSION
City Staff have been working with Orca Bay on options for access to GM Place and have agreed to the following:
1. The construction of an approximately 6.0 m.-wide walkway on the north side of the Georgia Viaduct.
2. The construction of an approximately 3.8 m-wide walkway on the south side of the Dunsmuir Viaduct.
On the Georgia Viaduct, the number of traffic lanes from Beatty Street to GM Place would be reduced from four to three to allow for a sidewalk on the north side (Appendix B). As only three lanes are currently available east of GM Place, staff believe there will be no negative impact to traffic flow in this section. In fact, the long term plan for the Georgia Viaduct is to install a wide, permanent sidewalk on the south side, ultimately linking to False Creek. Accordingly, this section of the Georgia Viaduct will in the future be permanently reduced to three lanes to achieve a wide sidewalk and a bike lane.
On the Dunsmuir Viaduct, Engineering Services staff are willing to accept a temporary reduction in the number of traffic lanes from three to two lanes from Main/Prior Streets to west of GM Place, to accommodate a temporary walkway on the south side. The final design is to include a four lane cross section approaching Beatty Street that is of adequate length to accommodate the peak period vehicle storage requirements and demand through the signal at Beatty and Dunsmuir, in order to minimize the disruption to the traffic flow (Appendix C). After the Encroachments are removed, the three lane configuration would be restored and a bike lane would be constructed in accordance with the Downtown Transportation Plan.
The General Manager of Engineering Services has reviewed and generally supports Orca Bay's preliminary proposal to use the current extra width on both the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts to provide temporary pedestrian access to GM Place, subject to Orca Bay entering into an Encroachment Agreement on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Director of Legal Services and General Manager of Engineering Services.
It is expected that this temporary arrangement will be in place until Concord completes the permanent elevated walkways on Lot 291. Concord is required to complete the permanent walkways within two years of the issuance of the Occupancy Permit for the Costco store. Therefore, the temporary arrangement could be in place for up to four years.
The General Manager of Engineering Services notes that the Encroachment Bylaw does not contain a category for the use of a portion of an "open" City street for sidewalk. Therefore, Council approval is required to specifically allow this type of encroachment on City street.
Also, under the Encroachment Bylaw, the temporary walkways on the viaducts would require an annual charge. Staff note that the temporary walkway system provides important pedestrian connections for General Motors Place, a key City venue. In addition, the walkways also provide a route for the general public trying to access False Creek from the Downtown. Finally, Orca Bay will not be carrying out any commercial activity on these walkways and will not be generating revenue directly from the use of these walkways. Therefore, staff consider these walkways to provide only a public benefit and recommend that the encroachment fee be waived.
The agreement would also contain release and indemnity provisions and would obligate Orca Bay to construct, maintain, replace and remove the Encroachments. The cancellation provisions would be in accordance with those contained in the Encroachment By-Law.
CONCLUSION
To allow construction on Concord's 7B (Costco) site (Lot 291), the existing elevated walkways from Beatty Street along the Dunsmuir and Georgia Viaducts will have to be removed. Orca Bay, the owner of GM Place, is obligated to provide alternate access until the permanent walkways are constructed on Lot 291.
Staff have reviewed and accept the preliminary proposal from Orca Bay to use a portion of both the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts for walkways to GM Place, as shown in Appendix A, subject to Orca Bay entering into an Encroachment Agreement containing the terms and conditions outlined in this report.
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