|
CITY OF VANCOUVER Administrative Report |
Date: |
April 26, 2004 | |
Author: |
M.G. Thomson | |
Phone No. |
873.7328 | |
RTS No.: |
04185 | |
CC File No.: |
5753 | |
Meeting Date: |
May 18, 2004 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
The General Manager of Engineering Services in Consultation with
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SUBJECT: |
Closure and Sale of a Portion of Lane South of Kingsway, East from Knight Street |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council close, stop-up and convey all that portion of the lane south of Kingsway (east from Knight Street) to the owner of adjacent Lot B, Plan LMP45560 and Lots 1 to 4, Plan LMP45824, all of Blocks 1 to 3, District Lot 352, as shown cross-hatched on the plan attached hereto as Appendix "A", subject to the following conditions:
1. The owner to pay $325,000 plus GST if applicable, for the 5020 square foot (466.4 square-metre) portion of lane to be closed in accordance with the recommendation of the Director of Real Estate Services;
2. The closed lane is to be consolidated with Lot B and Lots 1 to 4 to form a single parcel, (or alternative arrangements to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services ), the same as shown in heavy outline on the plan attached as Appendix "A";
3. The owner to dedicate as road and lane respectively, a 1.0 square metre corner-cut at Knight Street and King Edward Avenue, and a 7.9 square-metre corner-cut at the intersection of the lane and King Edward Avenue, each as identified on the sketch attached as Appendix "A"; to the satisfaction of the Director of Legal Services and the Approving Officer;
4. The City to take back a right-of-way for public passage over the closed lane and the "out-of-alignment" areas identified on Appendix "B", to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services;
5. The City to acquire a right-of-way for public passage over an additional 6.0 square-metre corner-cut at the intersection of the closed lane and Knight Street as identified on the plan attached hereto as Appendix "A", to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services;
6. The City to acquire a right-of-way for both public access and the installation of storm and sanitary sewers over the "driveway" to King Edward Avenue, as identified on the plan attached hereto as Appendix "B", to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services;
7. The owner to enter into an encroachment agreement for certain forms of special lane treatment and landscaping, for screening purposes for the adjacent properties, to be constructed on the public lane, east of the site as identified on Appendix "B". All maintenance obligations shall be the responsibility of the development site. The agreement shall be drawn to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services;
8. The owner to be responsible for the relocation of all utilities that may be required as a result of the lane closure, including overhead B.C. Hydro and Telus infrastructure and an underground Terasen Gas line, or alternative arrangements to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services;
9. The abutting owner to be responsible for any necessary plans, documents and Land Title Office fees;
10. Any agreements are to be to the satisfaction of the Director of Legal Services;
11. No legal right or obligation shall be created and none shall arise hereafter, until the documents are executed.
B. THAT the sale proceeds are to be credited to Streets Capital Account 30006950 Public Realm Improvements - KCC Community, for public realm improvements in the vicinity of the development site.
COUNCIL POLICY
The authority for closing and disposing of streets and lanes is set out in the Vancouver Charter.
It is Council policy that civic property declared surplus to the City's needs be transferred to the Property Endowment Fund, with a recommendation on any subsequent sale being brought forward by the Director of Real Estate Services.
In 2003, as part of the rezoning of the development site, Council discussion caused the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Planning to initiate a public realm plan for the Kensington Cedar Cottage (the "KCC") Community, noting a source of funding was to be secured.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council authority to close, stop-up, and convey a portion of the lane south of Kingsway, east from Knight Street.
SUMMARY
On July 24, 2003 Council approved the rezoning of the lands contained within the heavy outline on Appendix "A". The development site is separated into two parts by a City-owned lane. The developer has made application to the City to acquire the lane so as to allow for the construction of a single, integrated underground parking structure.
As there are both site circulation benefits, and improved neighbourhood traffic patterns that would result with a single integrated underground parking structure, the General Manager of Engineering Services has reviewed the request and determined that subject to a number of conditions, the lane can be closed, stopped-up and conveyed.
The City will acquire a number of rights-of-way, mainly for public passage; over the closed lane. This will allow for the former lane to operate as a "mews" for the development site.
The developer will be funding a portion of a number of street, traffic signal and public realm improvements as a condition of the rezoning. The $325,000 sale price is to be credited to an account to create a source of funding for the City's share of the balance of neighbourhood public realm improvements.
BACKGROUND
On May 18, 1892 Plan 653 was deposited at the Land Title Office dedicating the subject lane lying between Lot B, Plan LMP45560 and Lots 1 to 4, Plan LMP45824, all of Blocks 1 to 3, District Lot 352.
In 1993, the City paid the then site owner $750,000 to acquire a 767 square-metre strip for widening of Knight Street between Kingsway and King Edward Avenue. A reduced copy of Plan LMP8370 showing the acquisition is attached hereto as Appendix "C".
Most of the site was a former Safeway grocery store and parking lot. Over the past ten years this former Safeway site has been the subject of a number of development proposals, none of which have proceeded.
Council, on July 24, 2003, approved the rezoning of the site to allow for the construction of a mixed-use commercial/residential development consisting of two high-rise residential buildings, several low to mid-rise buildings, a neighbourhood branch library and public open space; with a retail mews in the centre of the site.
The neighbourhood library is seen as a key component of the rezoning application. The rezoning approval included a number of conditions, related to the interface of the development with the public realm.
The project design focuses on the at-grade use of the lane as an internal "mews". The library front door is set to be off of the "mews".
Additionally, the rezoning approval included the following condition:
"(ii) Enter into an agreement to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services, to provide for on-site and off-site services, including but not limited to, the following off-site services:
(1) street and traffic signal improvements to existing infra-structure within 150m approaching the intersections of Knight and Kingsway, Knight and King Edward, and Kingsway and King Edward, and any other street or lane lying within the area bounded by Kingsway, Knight Street and King Edward Avenue, within five years of occupancy of the final phase of the development, subject to Council approval."
The City is currently reviewing two development applications for the site, DE408036 for the lands south of the lane and DE408144 for the lands north of the lane.
As the design of the two development applications has evolved, it has been determined that improved ingress and egress, that is traffic flow to, from and within the development site could be achieved if access was available to both sites, under the lane.
Originally two tunnels connecting the separate development sites were proposed. This option was eventually rejected as it did not provide the functionality required.
DISCUSSION
The developer has made application to acquire the City-owned lane that divides the development site. The acquisition of the lane would allow for the construction of a single parking structure below grade. This would create not only a very functional underground parking layout, but would facilitate site access as follows.
The site is surrounded by three arterials, Kingsway, Knight Street and King Edward Avenue. All three streets prohibit left turns across them. By constructing a single underground parkade users could access the site efficiently from all directions without having to go around the block. This provides the benefit of reduced neighbourhood traffic.
The developer would also achieve significant construction cost savings by not having to shore both sides of the lane during construction, which construction becomes a single excavation. Additionally, walls separating the parkade north and the parkade south of the lane will not be required.
Engineering Services has completed a full review of the request to close, stop-up and convey the lane for inclusion in the development. A number of concerns were identified, however all concerns can be resolved through rights-of-way to be required over the site, as noted in conditions 4, 5 and 6 to Recommendation "A".
As required by the rezoning application, the lane to be closed will function as a "mews", albeit with local traffic.
There are currently no "through" utilities in the lane, however when the Kingsway fronting lands east of the site redevelop their sewer connections are anticipated to be reconfigured to drain to the lane.
Through the conditions identified in Recommendation "A", the applicant will be required to:
a. consolidate the lands into a single parcel, or make alternative arrangements;
b. dedicate as road small corner-cuts at Knight Street and King Edward Avenue and at the lane intersection with King Edward Avenue;
c. grant the City a right-of-way for public passage over the closed lane, an additional 2.0-metre by 6.0-metre corner-cut at the closed lane and Knight Street, the driveway access to King Edward Avenue, and over other minor "out-of-alignment" areas that result from the "mews" design;
d. grant the City a right-of-way for the future installation of storm and sanitary sewers over the "driveway" to King Edward Avenue, all future costs to be borne by the development;
e. enter into an encroachment agreement for the special treatment and landscaping for screening purposes to be constructed on the lane east of the development site, as a condition of the rezoning. All maintenance obligations shall be borne by the development site.
In all cases, the agreements shall be to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services.
In regards to the proposed consolidation, it is intended that a single site be created, however project phasing and future strata titling requirements may necessitate alternative or interim arrangements.
The Director of Real Estate Services has negotiated a purchase price of $325,000 (plus GST if applicable), for the 5020 square feet (466.4 square metres) of lane to be closed, stopped-up and conveyed. The Director of Real Estate Services advises that the sale price represents approximately 70% of the "land" value that would typically be attributable to the closed lane. As the site has recently been rezoned, there is no additional floor area (density) that is achieved by the lane closure. Further, the rights-of-way being required restrict the uses above-grade to an open "mews".
All benefits achieved by the development site are below-grade and associated with improved circulation and reduced construction costs.
Therefore, the Director of Real Estate Services has determined that the discounted sale price of $325,000 (plus GST if applicable), represents fair market value for the 5020 square feet (466.4 square metres) of lane to be closed.
The applicants will be responsible for all costs, plans, documents and Land Title Office fees required to complete the conveyance.
The rezoning conditions established in 2003 included a number of on-site and off-site improvements. Paramount to these improvements, the developer will be contributing to improvements to street and traffic signals, and public realm improvements within 150 metres approaching the three major intersections surrounding the site or bounded by the block.
Discussions at the July 24, 2003 Public Hearing and through the KCC Community Visioning process have caused the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Planning to pursue a public realm plan for the KCC community. Certain improvements under consideration go beyond the scope of the subject development and its parallel rezoning conditions.
These may include items currently under discussion such as:
1. a landscaped median on Kingsway;
2. character lighting on Kingsway and Knight Street frontages;
3. replacement of cobra head poles on Knight Street frontage with trolley type poles;
4. street tree infill and replacement;
5. corner bulges and related landscaping and amenities;
6. sidewalk repair and replacement, with an overall streetscape design; and
7. an area wide public art master plan.
Current estimates, not including sidewalks, curb work and /or street lighting changes, indicate that the City share of these improvements will be approximately 50% of the total costs or upwards of $625,500. TransLink will contribute to the total cost, as will the developer, through the rezoning conditions.
In 1993 the City acquired a 767 square-metre dedication from the original site, for widening of Knight Street at a cost of $750,000. This acquisition was funded through Streets Capital accounts. The General Manager of Engineering Services notes that considerable City budget dollars have already been invested into improvements adjacent to the site.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Under normal circumstances, Council policy requires the proceeds from the sale of lands deemed surplus to civic needs to be credited to the Property Endowment Fund. However, this disposition is of a different character. The lane to be closed, rather than being surplus is still required for movement of people and goods. There are, however, benefits as described above, to the development site in creating a single underground parking structure. The civic needs for this lane are being retained through various rights-of-way and restrictions on the development.
The development, and the KCC Community both benefit by the lane sale and the use of the sale proceeds for public realm improvements in the immediate vicinity of the site. Allocating the $325,000 sale proceeds to the Streets Capital Account No. 30006950 - Public Realm Improvements - KCC Community will allow the City's public realm work to proceed in a timely manner and could be ready with occupancy of the new development.
The General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Planning are currently working on the designs and plans for the public realm improvements and will be reporting to Council for design approval in 2004. The funding created through this report will not be allocated or spent until a report back to Council on the scope and cost of the project.
CONCLUSION
The General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Real Estate Services, RECOMMENDS approval of Recommendations A and B so as to facilitate the proposed development at Knight Street and Kingsway. An opportunity exists to credit the proceeds from the lane closure into a source of funding for public realm improvements within the KCC Community.
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