SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 3
P&E COMMITTEE AGENDA
DECEMBER 12, 1996
POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING
Date: December 5, 1996
Dept. File No. 96043 - LC
TO: Standing Committee on Planning & Environment
FROM: Director of Land Use & Development
SUBJECT: CD-1 Rezoning - 5605 Victoria Drive (Former Safeway Site)
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the application by the Director of Land Use and
Development, to rezone 5605 Victoria Drive (Lots 1 and 2, DL
707 South Half, Plan 13918) from C-2 to CD-1, to permit the
uses included in the C-2 District Schedule and to establish
the form of development as approved by Development Permit Nos.
49894 and 73721, be referred to a Public Hearing, together
with draft CD-1 By-law provisions, generally as contained
in Appendix A and the recommendation of the Director of Land
Use and Development to approve the application;
FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to
prepare the necessary CD-1 By-law for consideration at Public
Hearing, including a consequential amendment to the Sign
By-law to establish regulations for this CD-1 in accordance
with Schedule "B" (C-2).
B. THAT the Director of Land Use and Development be instructed to
report any development applications for this site to Council
for possible withholding pursuant to Section 570 of the
Vancouver Charter.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A
and B.
COUNCIL POLICY
On October 22, 1996 Council approved the selection of Kensington-Cedar
Cottage as one of two communities selected for the CityPlan Community
Visions Pilot Project.
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
This report advises Council of the potential impacts of redevelopment
under existing zoning of a former Safeway site and recommends that the
Director of Land Use and Development's application to rezone this
property from C-2 to CD-1 be referred to a Public Hearing.
MAP
BACKGROUND
History of the Property A recently vacated Safeway grocery store and
parking lot currently occupies two individual parcels separated by a
City lane. Previously, a Safeway store was located on five C-2 zoned
parcels fronting onto Victoria Drive, and the parking was on nine RS-1
parcels west of the lane. In 1970, fourteen RS-1 parcels were rezoned
to C-2 to allow the development of a new Safeway grocery store, located
west of the lane, and with revised parking. The 1970 rezoning included
as a condition of enactment the closure of a portion of East 40th Avenue
and its consolidation with the fourteen parcels into a single parcel
(Lot 1) west of the lane and the consolidation of five parcels into a
single parcel (Lot 2) east of the lane.
A further condition of the 1970 rezoning required approval by the
"Technical Planning Board" of the detailed scheme of development. This
condition reflected the intent of the rezoning only to develop the
grocery store and its associated parking. The approach used in 1970 is
similar to how Council presently approves CD-1 By-laws, except that the
procedure employed in 1970 did not preclude future redevelopment of the
site under C-2, whereas future CD-1 redevelopment generally requires an
amendment to the by-law.
Potential Redevelopment Canada Safeway recently closed this grocery
store and put both parcels up for sale. Planning staff have now
received inquiries about potential redevelopment of the property. Under
the existing C-2 District Schedule, either parcel could be redeveloped
outright with uses which include office, retail and service (or
conditionally with residential) at a height of up to 12.2 m (40 ft.), a
density of 3.00 floor space ratio (FSR) and with no required yards or
setbacks. This could result in a development proposal including up to
20 190 m2 (217,000 sq. ft.) of retail or office development with no
landscaped setbacks, no control over the form of development, and a
legal obligation to issue a development permit.
DISCUSSION
Staff are concerned about the potential scale and impact of
redevelopment which could occur on this property, immediately adjacent
to a single-family area. Staff also believe that redevelopment of the
site to maximum C-2 potential is not consistent with the original intent
of rezoning Lot 1.
Charter Authority Under Section 570 (2) of the Vancouver Charter,
Council is empowered to withhold development applications submitted
under existing zoning, where approval of the application would allow
development in conflict with a rezoning or zoning by-law amendment "in
the course of preparation". By making the CD-1 rezoning application,
the withholding provisions of the Charter are available to Council. Of
course, Council could choose to instruct me to withdraw the rezoning
application, if it believes site redevelopment under current C-2 zoning
is in the public interest.
Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood Visioning Program On October 22, 1996
Council endorsed Kensington-Cedar Cottage as one of two communities
selected for the CityPlan Community Visions Pilot Project. The Safeway
property falls within the boundary of Kensington-Cedar Cottage. The
project provides an opportunity for each community to prepare a vision
that moves CityPlan directions in a way that fits the community.
Staff are concerned that redevelopment of this large, assembled site
under the existing zoning could preclude options for the visioning
program. It is anticipated that the Vision for this area will be
completed by late 1997.
Rezoning to CD-1 Because of concerns about potential redevelopment of
the property, I have applied to rezone the property from C-2 to CD-1 not
only to accommodate the presently permitted uses, but also to ensure
that the City's concerns about scale and compatibility are addressed.
This approach would allow for the existing building to be used for a
full range of outright approval uses permitted under current C-2 zoning,
as well as all C-2 conditional approval uses. This approach would also
preserve a large redevelopment site until after either:
the neighbourhood visioning has been completed; or
a comprehensive redevelopment scheme, meeting community objectives,
has been proposed.
Any new development proposal would then be considered by way of a new
CD-1 rezoning application.
There are at least two previous occasions when City Council approved
similar rezoning applications submitted by the Director of Planning.
The first was in July 1984 when staff learned that the site of the
former B.C. Transit "bus barns" at Cambie Street and West 16th Avenue
was for sale, and the second was in August 1984 when the Pacific GMC
site at Broadway and Nanaimo Street was for sale. As with the Safeway
property, both of these sites contained large portions previously
rezoned to C-2 to accommodate very specific uses, offered significant
redevelopment potential and raised concern about the impacts of
redevelopment.
Property Owner's and Prospective Purchaser's Concerns Staff have been
in contact with both the property owner, Canada Safeway Ltd., and the
prospective purchaser/developer who recently met with staff. Both have
indicated that there is a binding contract of Purchase and Sale for this
site (see Appendix B - letters). Although Council can take this into
consideration, normally this is not considered a factor when making a
decision on a rezoning application.
Director of Legal Services Comments "The Director of Legal Services is
of the opinion that rezoning of this parcel does not give rise to an
action for damages against the City by the property owner or third
parties contracting with the property owner".
CONCLUSION
Due to the size and location of the property and concerns about
potential redevelopment, it is recommended that the application be
referred to Public Hearing, with a recommendation from the Director of
Land Use and Development that it be approved, subject to draft CD-1
By-law provisions generally as shown in Appendix A.
* * * * *
APPENDIX A
DRAFT CD-1 BY-LAW PROVISIONS
Use
- According to the C-2 District Schedule.
Density
- Maximum floor space ratio of 0.30 FSR (in total across
Lots 1 and 2), based on calculation provisions of the C-2
District Schedule.