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CITY OF VANCOUVER POLICY REPORT
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Date: |
November 10, 2004 | |
Author: |
Paul Nowlan | |
Phone No.: |
604.873.7712 | |
RTS No.: |
04621 | |
CC File No.: |
5300 | |
Meeting Date: |
November 30, 2004 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
Director of City Plans |
SUBJECT: |
General Office Use in the I-3 District Schedule |
RECOMMENDATION
THAT the Director of City Plans be instructed to make application to amend the Zoning and Development By-law to:
i. add a definition for Call Centre in Section 2;
ii. clarify the intent of the I-3 District Schedule; and
iii. remove the 33% restriction on the floor area in General Office use in I-3;
FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary by-law, generally in accordance with Appendix A, for consideration at Public Hearing;
AND FURTHER THAT the application and by-law be referred to Public Hearing.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services recommends approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
· Industrial Lands Policies, 1995: To retain most of the City's existing industrial land base for industry and service businesses.
· I-3 District Schedule, 1999: To permit high technology uses in industrial areas that are well served by rapid transit.
· False Creek Flats Structure Plan, 2001, and I-3 District Guidelines, 2002: To guide subdivision and redevelopment patterns in the False Creek Flats and encourage developments that display a high quality of urban design.
· Grandview Boundary Industrial Area Plan, and Grandview Boundary Industrial Area Rezoning and Development Policies and Guidelines, 2002: To define areas suitable for high technology industry and Highway Oriented Retail; encourage pedestrian oriented environments around Skytrain stations; improve infrastructure and public amenities; and enhance the Still Creek environment.
PURPOSE
This report recommends amendments to the Zoning and Development By-law and the I-3 District Schedule, and asks Council to refer the amendments to Public Hearing.
BACKGROUND
A new I-3 zoning schedule was created in 1999 to permit high-technology industry and businesses with significant research and development activity, such as software developers and biotechnology companies. Such firms generally have space requirements and worker densities similar to conventional office uses. To ease traffic impacts, only industrial sites well-served by rapid transit are considered suitable for I-3 zoning.
About 78 acres in the False Creek Flats and 18 acres in the Grandview/Boundary area were rezoned to I-3 in 1999. To date, two properties have developed under I-3 zoning: "Vantech Centre" on Terminal Avenue, and "Broadway Tech Centre" on East Broadway.
DISCUSSION
Staff propose three amendments to the Zoning and Development By-law. The intention is to provide more flexibility in the I-3 zone for uses that provide business support or back-office services. Examples include engineering firms, computer services and call centres. It is not the intention to permit corporate head offices or other high profile offices, which will likely continue to seek locations in the City's metropolitan core. It is also not the intention to permit businesses that generate customer visits from the general public. Such services are permitted in the City's commercial districts.
1. Create a Definition for Call Centre
Call Centres provide business support services without bringing customers on site. There are two types of call centres: those that receive calls from clients requesting a service, and those that call out, mainly for tele-marketing purposes. Call centres are often employee-intensive and operate on extended daily schedules.
Defining a Call Centre will provide more certainty for property owners, tenants and City staff because it will help to distinguish between different types of permitted office activities. For example, an insurance agency is not permitted in most industrial districts. However, an insurance company call centre could be permitted.
Call Centre would be included in the definition for General Office use, which is the approach that was used to define Information Technology. As a General Office use, Call Centre would continue to be permitted in all zones that now permit General Office use.
(Proposed new text is in bold italics.)
Call Centre means the use of premises for processing a large volume of telephone calls by staff who provide marketing, sales, or support services by telephone but who do not serve customers in person at the premises.
General Office, which means the use of premises for any office use, including Call Centre, Information Technology and desktop publishing, but does not include Financial Institution or Health Care Office.
2. Clarify the I-3 Intent Statement
The I-3 District Schedule would be amended to include a reference to business support services which generate little customer traffic. The amendment would also confirm that I-3 zoning is intended for areas served by rapid transit. (Proposed new text is in bold italics.)
1 Intent
The intent of this Schedule is to permit high technology industry and related industry with a significant amount of research and development activity; to permit light industrial uses that are generally compatible with high-technology and other industrial uses, and with adjoining residential and commercial districts; to increase employment opportunities in areas served by rapid transit; and to permit General Office uses that provide business support services and do not generate significant customer traffic.
3. Remove the 33% Limit on General Office Floor Area
In the I-3 zone, Information Technology is permitted outright up to 1.0 FSR and conditionally up to 3.0 FSR, which is the maximum for all uses. A limited number of other General Office uses are permitted conditionally up to a maximum of 1.0 FSR. However, the floor area for these uses may not exceed 33% of the total building area. Permitted office uses include computer services, data processing centres, call centres, architects, engineers, construction companies and graphic artists. These business support services have employment densities and space requirements that are similar to high-tech uses. In addition, these businesses generally do not seek a central office location, where transit services are better developed.
In recent years, the high technology sector has not grown as expected, while demand has increased from other office uses, e.g. call centres and computer services. The restriction on General Office use in I-3 creates uncertainty for owners of buildings intended for high technology use, who subsequently need to lease vacant space to other tenants. In a competitive market, prospective tenants may be lost in the time it takes for City staff to determine whether a particular use may be permitted.
To provide more certainty and flexibility for property owners and prospective tenants, staff recommend removing the 33% restriction on the floor area in General Office use, thus permitting General Office up to 1.0 FSR in the I-3 zone. Areas that are zoned I-3 are also suitable locations for employee-intensive uses because they are well served by rapid transit, which helps to reduce automobile dependency.
No other changes are proposed for General Offices uses. Information Technology remains outright, and all other General Office uses remain as conditional approval uses, up to 1.0 FSR. The following office uses are still not permitted: Financial Institution; Health Care Office; offices of accountants, lawyers and notary publics; and offices of real estate, advertising, insurance, travel and ticket agencies. The above provisions are similar to those currently in place for the Mount Pleasant I-1 District Schedule.
CONCLUSION
The I-3 zoning amendments proposed in this report will provide more flexibility and certainty for property owners; provide more opportunities for businesses that do not require a central office location; increase opportunities to use public transit; and simplify administration of the Zoning and Development By-law. Staff recommend that Council refer these amendments to Public Hearing.
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APPENDIX A
PAGE 1 OF 1
Note: A By-law will be prepared generally in accordance with the provisions listed below, subject to change and refinement prior to posting. (Proposed new text is in bold italics.)
Draft Amendments to Section 2 of the Zoning and Development By-law
Insert a definition for Call Centre after the definition for Board of Variance.
Call Centre means the use of premises for processing a large volume of telephone calls by staff who provide marketing, sales, or support services by telephone but who do not serve customers in person at the premises.
Amend the definition for General Office to include Call Centre.
General Office, which means the use of premises for any office use, including Call Centre, Information Technology and desktop publishing, but does not include Financial Institution or Health Care Office.
Draft Amendments to the I-3 District Schedule
Amend sections 1 and 4.7.1 generally as follows:
1 Intent
The intent of this Schedule is to permit high technology industry and related industry with a significant amount of research and development activity; to permit light industrial uses that are generally compatible with high-technology and other industrial uses, and with adjoining residential and commercial districts; to increase employment opportunities in areas served by rapid transit; and to permit General Office uses that provide business support services and do not generate significant customer traffic.
4.7 Floor Space Ratio
4.7.1 The floor space ratio shall not exceed 3.0, subject to the following:
(a) the maximum floor space ratio shall be 3.0 for Manufacturing Uses, Transportation and Storage Uses, Utility and Communication Uses, Wholesale Uses, Service Uses listed in section 2.2.S, and Parking Uses;
(b) the maximum floor space ratio shall be 1.0 for all other uses combined; and
(c) the floor area in Retail Uses, including accessory retail, shall not exceed 1000 m2.; and
(d) the floor area in Office Uses listed in section 3.2.O shall not exceed 33 percent of the total gross floor area of all principal and accessory uses combined.
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