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CITY OF VANCOUVER POLICY REPORT
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Date: |
September 23, 2003 | |
Author: |
Michael Gordon | |
Phone No.: |
604.873.7665 | |
RTS No.: |
3588 | |
CC File No.: |
2851 | |
Meeting Date: |
October 23, 2003 |
TO: |
Standing Committee on Planning and Environment |
FROM: |
Director of Current Planning, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services, the Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs, the Director of Real Estate, the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Sign Approval Authority. |
SUBJECT: |
Proposed Video Signs - 798 Granville Street |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the application by Bonnis Properties (Robson) Inc. to amend the Sign By-law for 798 Granville Street to permit two oversized automatic changeable copy (video) signs at the corner of Granville and Robson Streets, including third party advertising, be referred to a Public Hearing, together with:
(i) draft Sign By-law provisions, generally as contained in Appendix `A'; and
(ii) the recommendation of the director of Current Planning to approve, subject to the condition contained in Appendix `B';
FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary amending by-law, generally in accordance with Appendix `A', for consideration at the Public Hearing.
B. THAT prior to enactment of the amending bylaw the Director of Legal Services be authorized to enter into an agreement with the registered owner of the lands comprising 798 Granville Street to secure a public benefits package to include the use of up to 10% of the video sign 'air time' for City of Vancouver purposes and to provide an annual revenue stream to cover administration and artistic costs, generally on the terms set out in the condition in Appendix 'B' and in the summary of the public benefits package in Appendix 'C' and on such other terms and conditions as are acceptable to the Director of Legal Services and the Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services recommends approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
Current Sign By-law provisions regulate the number, type, form, appearance and location of signs according to districts and uses. The intent of the Sign By-law is to permit signage that provides information that identifies and locates rather than advertises. It also seeks to minimize the visual intrusion of signs on housing by limiting the size and scale of signs adjacent to residential districts. Generally, in areas where residential uses are less prevalent, Sign By-law regulations are more permissive. There are no discretionary provisions in the Sign By-law.
The Sign By-law restricts Automatic Changeable Copy Signs as follows:
· limited to commercial and downtown locations;
· limited to facia, free-standing or projecting signs;
· cannot be within 60 m of a residential area;
· limited, on medium-sized sites, to a size no more than 4 m2; and
· cannot display any third-party advertising.
For downtown Granville Street, the Sign By-law encourages the use of neon and allows animated signs.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
This report recommends the referral to public hearing of text amendments to the Sign By-law to permit the installation of two video screens at the northeast corner of Granville Street and Robson Street (see Figure One on page three).
It is proposed that the video screens be located on the third level of a three storey building (23.3 m (76.5 ft.)) in height, which is the equivalent of a 7-storey building and is currently under construction. It is scheduled for completion later this year and to be tenanted primary with retail businesses including a Future Shop on the second floor and a Winners on the third floor, with a mix of restaurants and smaller stores on the ground floor. From an urban design perspective, the two signs are in keeping with the scale of the retail building.
The applicant proposes that the City amend the Sign By-law to permit two video screens on the corner of the building at the third level. Each of the two signs is 4.6 m (15 feet) high and 6.1 m (20 feet) wide with a total area of 28 m2 (300 ft2). Proposed by-law amendments would waive the limit on third-party advertising, allow it to be installed at the third level and allow for larger video screens.
Planning, Cultural Affairs and Real Estate staff have worked with the staff from Bonnis Properties (Robson) Inc. (who will own the sign) and Jim Pattison Industries (who will operate the sign) to reach agreement on a public benefits package associated with the proposed Sign By-law amendments. After a review of the cost of installing and running the two signs and the projected revenue, staff have identified a public benefits package that includes a reasonable proportional share of the video sign's `air time' which can be devoted to community and cultural announcements and video and film and commissioned work.
Figure One:
Illustration of proposed video signs at the northeast corner of Robson Street and Granville Street.
Staff support the endorsement of the applicant offer of 10% of the "air time" on the video screen and a minimum of the greater of $60,000 dollars a year or a proportion of the annual revenue to pay for the costs related to managing the content that will be shown on the City's share of the `air time' and for the commissioning of video and film work which can be shown on the video screens. It is proposed that the amount of `air time' be phased in with the City receiving its annual 10% share after three years. Real Estate staff advise that this phasing responds to the challenges of the initial financing of the sign, estimated to cost $2.75 million. Should Council approve the Sign By-law text amendments details of the complete programme will be reported to Council by Cultural Affairs staff following the Public Hearing, prior to enactment of the by-law amendments.
BACKGROUND
Granville Street Sign Regulations: Council has designated this and the two southerly 800 and 900 blocks on Granville Street as the city's Entertainment District. This street has its own Sign By-law regulations which allow for larger and more animated signs. While the size, location and number of signs is generally quite restrictive in most areas of the city, the regulations specific to Granville Street reflect the objective to allow the street to emerge as a vibrant, bright and colourful district of entertainment, shopping and restaurants. The Sign By-law regulations were amended in 1998 to encourage the use of neon, allow for more and larger signs and permit them to extend above the roof line of buildings.
Figure Two
Proposed Location of the two Video Signs
Automatic Changeable Copy Signs: The technology of the proposed video signs will use a technology of high resolution video not yet found in Vancouver. The Sign By-law classifies these signs as automatic copy signs and restricts their location to larger sites. These types of signs are permitted on Granville Street between Hastings Street and Nelson Street.
Third-Party Advertising: Generally, the Sign By-law is very restrictive on the amount of third-party advertising content in signs. Third-party advertising directs attention to products and services which are not the principal products or services sold on the premises at which the sign is located. The Sign By-law does not permit automatic changeable copy signs to display third party advertising.
DISCUSSION
Proposed Sign By-law Amendments
Staff support the following proposed Sign By-law amendments:
· Amend the Sign By-law to permit two automatic changeable copy signs, adjacent to the northeast corner of Robson Street and Granville Street;
· Permit the signs to be larger than is generally permitted in the city or for this size of site;
· Permit the signs to be located at the third storey of a building rather than being limited to no higher than the second storey of a building; and
· Permit the display of third-party advertising.
The proposed amendments create a new Schedule G2 for the site occupied by the mixed-use building. This proposed schedule permits the proposed video signs in addition to the full array of signs currently permitted in Schedule G (Granville Street).
Rationale for the Proposed Amendments
Staff do not envisage the proliferation of these types of signs throughout the city because the amendments are site-specific. Staff note that additional signs of this size will require an amendment of the by-law and recommend that the consideration of similar proposals will require a public benefits of equivalent value before allowing for signs of this size and the waiving of the limit of third-party advertising.
Limiting the amendment to this site also ensures the securing of a public benefits package of `air time' for use by the City because the by-law amendments are accompanied by conditions of approval (Appendix `B') that include the public benefits package.
A site-specific approval also ensures that a sign of this scale reflects the scale and character of the building and the site and area. The Central Area Plan identifies this area, including the adjacent blocks of Howe and Seymour Street as part of the Central Business District and it is the prime entertainment district designated by Council. While this is primarily a commercial district, the nearest residential building is located above the Chapters store at Robson and Howe Streets, a distance of 78 m (255 ft.) from the sign. The Sign By-law requires that an automatic changeable copy sign be located a minimum of 60 m (197 ft.) from a residential district. Staff have concluded that the sign will have negligible impacts on adjacent residents, including the above noted development.
An urban design review of the proposed placing of the sign concluded that the best location of the sign was at the third level as it respected the desired transparency of the building's glass enclosed corner, entrance and escalators to the shopping outlets on the second and third levels. Staff also encouraged the applicant to apply for two smaller signs rather than one larger sign because the placement of two signs (as illustrated in Figure One) on each frontage of the building reinforces this location as an important intersection of the city.
Traffic Considerations
Engineering staff advised that it is preferable to locate video signs in locations where there are not significant levels of automobile traffic, due to a concern with video signs taking a driver's attention away from traffic. There are not significant levels of automobile traffic in this location, and the height of the signs is a further mitigating factor. On the other hand, the number of pedestrians walking by this corner is equivalent to the number of drivers and passengers on a major arterial. During a seven-hour weekday time frame (10 am - 2 pm and 3 pm - 6 pm) pedestrian counts indicate approximately 25,000 people pass through the intersection of Robson Street and Granville Street. There are also 10 bus routes on Granville Street carrying an average of 47,500 passengers every weekday. Therefore, from a safety point of view, this location is very suitable for consideration and the high number of pedestrians justifies the marketability of the sign to advertisers.
The Public Benefits Package
It is proposed that as a condition of the Sign By-law amendments, a partnership through a contractual arrangement be created between the City and the applicant (Bonnis Developments) to secure the public benefits package. The proposed sign offers public benefits for two separate programming directions:
1. Community cultural announcements which could be administered similar to the Transit Shelter Advertising Programme (provides free advertising space to non-profit arts organizations); and
2. A prominent venue for curated video projects and a rich context for site-specific commissioned work.
Community Announcements: Cultural Affairs staff will work with non-profit arts organizations to effectively post information on upcoming arts events within the context of a changing advertisement board. OCA staff will also work with artist and arts organizations as well as the sign technicians to select, collect, schedule, and display the announcements.
Curated Video Projects: There is also the opportunity to apply a portion of the revenue generated by the advertising on the sign towards commissioned video work, curated work by existing cultural venues in the City as well as calls for submission of video work from a variety of sources such as the local arts and film/video schools and other sources.
More detail on the public benefits package can be found in Appendix `C.'
Public Input
Staff have discussed the proposal with Board members and staff of the Downtown Vancouver Association and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and they indicated initial support for the proposed video signs, noting the need to meet with their Boards in September following the summer break. Property owners and residents within two blocks of the proposed sign will be notified of the public hearing. These comments will be presented at the Public Hearing.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
One of the intents of securing a revenue flow from the display of advertising is to recapture the City staff costs for its role in managing the content of the City's share of the sign's "air time."
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
Cultural Affairs staff will report back on staffing requirements, to be funded from the proposed revenue stream, as part of the detailed implementation plan.
CONCLUSION
Over the past 15 years Vancouver has emerged as a major North American centre of film and video production. There are a large number of individuals creating non-commercial video work here and the proposed two video signs at Granville Street and Robson Street offers an opportunity to showcase existing and commissioned video work. It will also provide an outlet for the numerous cultural organizations in Vancouver to display work as well as display announcements of community and cultural events.
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