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CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT |
Date: |
November 7, 2003 | |
Author: |
Celine Mauboules and Nathan Edelson | |
Phone No.: |
6198/7444 | |
RTS No.: |
03748 | |
CC File No.: |
113/4656 | |
Meeting Date: |
November 18, 2003 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
The Director of Current Planning in consultation with the Director of Legal Services |
SUBJECT: |
Single Room Accommodation By-law: Application to exempt all 116 SRA rooms at 1221 Granville Street (Ramada Inn and Suites) |
RECOMMENDATION
That Council grant an exemption from the Single Room Accommodation By-law of all 116 designated rooms at 1221 Granville Street (Ramada Inn and Suites).
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
The Single Room Accommodation By-law regulates the conversion or demolition of designated rooms. Owners of designated rooms may apply for an exemption from the By-law under the following exemption conditions:
(a) a permanent resident does not occupy or customarily occupy the room as living accommodation;
(b) the room is not in a building or portion of a building classified under the Assessment Act and its regulations as Class 1 - residential; and
(c) the room is in a building or portion of a building in respect of which the owner has an obligation to pay or remit hotel room tax under the Hotel Room Tax Act and its regulations.
Council must grant the exemption if it is satisfied that the designated rooms meet the exemption conditions.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
This report recommends that Council approve an application for exemption with respect to all 116 designated rooms at 1221 Granville Street (the "Ramada") as the evidence shows that these rooms meet the exemption conditions, and that, on the By-law enactment date, and since then, their sole use has been for transient guests as defined in the By-law.
BACKGROUND
On October 21, 2003, Council enacted the By-law to regulate the conversion or demolition of single room accommodation, and, for that purpose, designated 9,482 rooms in 198 buildings in the downtown core. The By-law provides for exemptions subject to the production of evidence, satisfactory to Council, that the designated rooms meet the exemption conditions.
DISCUSSION
Staff have met with the General Manager of the Ramada, and have collected the necessary evidence to recommend the exemption of rooms in this hotel. (See Appendix A for evidence in support of the application for exemption and for more information about the Ramada.)
Staff believes that the rooms in the Ramada clearly meet the exemption conditions, and the owner has submitted to staff evidence that:
(a) the classification for the Ramada under the Assessment Act and its regulations is 100% Class 6 - commercial/retail;
(b) the Ramada is subject to and pays the hotel room tax under the Hotel Room Tax Act and its regulations; and
(c) on the By-law enactment date and since then, permanent residents, as defined in the By-law, have not occupied or customarily occupied rooms in the Ramada as living accommodation.
The General Manager of the Ramada has also satisfied staff that:
(a) the Ramada (formerly the Austin Hotel) converted to accommodation for transient guests (primarily tourists) in 1998, and that, at that time, existing tenants received eviction notices and the owner upgraded the Ramada including the installation of air conditioners, new windows, re-located room doors, and so on;
(b) the Ramada offers rooms that include in-room coffee and tea, iron and board, colour television, pay-per-view movies, data port telephones with voice mail, and hair dryers;
(c) the price of a room/day ranges from an average of $69.00 to $259.00 (low to high season); and
(d) the Ramada also offers family suites, as well as one bedroom junior suites (for their corporate clientele), and the prices for these rooms range from $89.00 to $289.00 (low to high season).
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