P1
POLICY REPORT
URBAN STRUCTURE
Date: November 25, 1996
Dept. File No. 5305-3
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of Central Area Planning
SUBJECT: Proposed Rezoning of the North-East Corner of the 1200 Block
West Hastings Street
RECOMMENDATION
THAT the Director of Land Use and Development be instructed to make
application to extend the Coal Harbour Official Development Plan to
cover the Central Waterfront District portion of the site on the
north-east corner of the 1200 Block West Hastings Street (new legal
now being registered is: Lot K, Block 29, D.L. 185, Plans 92 and
15918).
FURTHER THAT this application be referred to Public Hearing.
AND FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to
prepare the necessary by-law for consideration at Public Hearing.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of
the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
Relevant Council Policies for the site include:
Central Area Plan, adopted December 3, 1991;
Coal Harbour Official Development Plan, adopted November 1990.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
As part of the enactment of Marathon s Harbour Green Neighbourhood
(501 Bute Street) the zoning and subdivision pattern for the north end
of the 1200 Block West Hastings have been changed. Instead of two narrow
triangular parcels, a new
subdivision down the centre of the block creates two rectangular
development sites. The western portion of the block is proposed for
non-market housing as part of the Harbour Green Neighbourhood. The
eastern portion is a private development site with a split Downtown
District and Central Waterfront District (CWD) zoning.
Unfortunately, the CWD zone which covers most of the site is no longer
regulated by an official development plan. Consequently, the CWD portion
of the site is un-regulated in terms of height and floor area, and only
broadly regulated as to use by the CWD zone itself. To correct this
situation it is recommended that the Coal Harbour ODP be extended to
cover the CWD portion of this site.
Figure 1. Site and Zoning
DISCUSSION
During the preparation of the Coal Harbour ODP, the diagonal subdivision
of the north side of the 1200 block West Hastings was noted as an issue.
The diagonal boundary reflected the existing escarpment edge with the
upland triangular parcel used for parking and a lower level incorporated
in the railyards.
Specific direction was given to resolve this boundary during the
sub-area rezoning stage. As part of the 501 Bute (Harbour Green)
rezoning, a property exchange was negotiated between Marathon Realty and
the other owner, Firwood Holdings, which resulted in the creation of two
rectangular sites. The new boundary was reflected in the ODP maps posted
at the Harbour Green public hearing with the eastern private site
outside the ODP boundary. The by-laws which were presented for enactment
on November 26 reflect this change.
There is, however, a problem on the eastern portion of this block. A
large portion of the new lot, including the majority of Firwood s
original site and the triangular portion which has been added, is zoned
Central Waterfront District (CWD). While this zoning still exists, the
Official Development Plan which regulated amount of use, density and
height on this site was repealed in 1990 when the Coal Harbour ODP was
adopted. The net result is that the majority of this site is not
regulated save for the CWD zoning district schedule which lists only
permitted uses in very generic, broad terms. This was not a significant
problem with the original triangular site due to the difficulty of
development; however, the recent acquisition of Marathon land makes the
site now viable for major development.
At any time we could be faced with a development application at a height
and FSR which would be inappropriate, even in the downtown context. The
Development Permit Board would have no regulations to measure such an
application against, creating a difficult and controversial situation.
This can be corrected by extending the Coal Harbour Official Development
Plan to cover all but the small DD section of this block. This will
provide a temporary fix.
As soon as possible, staff will meet with the property owner to work
together on developing a new, more appropriate zoning for this site.
CONCLUSION
The subdivision negotiated through the Harbour Green Neighbourhood
rezoning (501 Bute) has created a private development site on the
north-eastern end of the 1200 block West Hastings Street which, for the
most part, is not regulated by an existing ODP. To correct this
situation in the short term it is recommended that the Coal Harbour ODP
boundary be extended to include the CWD portion of this site. In the
long term, staff will enter into a cooperative process with the property
owner to develop an appropriate zoning for this split-zoned site.
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