ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT Date: February 7, 1997 Dept. File No.000 526 CC File No. 5753-1 TO: Vancouver City Council FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services SUBJECT: Proposed Closure of a Portion of Burrard Street, and the Lane North of 16th Avenue, West from Burrard Street - 1811 West 16th Avenue RECOMMENDATION A. THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to sign on behalf of the City a Reference Plan defining the horizontal limits of the encroachments onto Burrard Street and the lane North of West 16th Avenue West from Burrard Street, a reduced copy of which is attached as Appendix A, by the building at 1811 West 16th Avenue, and apply to raise title to the portion of Burrard Street and the lane North of West 16th Avenue, west from Burrard Street, defined on the said Reference Plan in the name of the City of Vancouver. B. THAT all those volumetric portions of Burrard Street and the lane North of West 16th Avenue, West from Burrard Street included within the heavy outline and illustrated isometrically on a plan of survey, completed on the 30th day of January, 1997, by Alan Olsen, B.C.L.S., and marginally numbered 14179 VOL., a reduced copy of which is attached hereto as Appendix B, be closed, stopped-up and that an easement be granted to the owner of the abutting Lot E, Block 467, District Lot 526, Plan LMP 28977, to contain the portions of the existing building which encroach onto Burrard Street, and the lane North of West 16th Avenue West from Burrard Street. The easement to be for the life of the encroaching portion of the existing building on said Lot E, and to be to the satisfaction of the Director of Legal Services. C. THAT the fees for document preparation, registration and use of the easement referred to in Recommendation B, are to be in accordance with those charged for in an agreement prepared pursuant to the Encroachment By-law. COUNCIL POLICY The authority for closing and disposing of streets and lanes is set out in the Vancouver Charter. The building in question is listed as a Category B building on the Vancouver Heritage Register. In addition, there is a Heritage Revitalization Agreement registered pursuant to the Vancouver Charter. Permitting the building to remain encroaching onto the street will help ensure preservation, and is therefore consistent with Council s heritage policy. PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to obtain Council authority to grant an easement to contain the encroaching elements of the building located at 1811 West 16th Avenue. BACKGROUND Earlier today, Council approved the strata title conversion of the building at 1811 West 16th Avenue. The Registrar of Land Titles has taken the position that to satisfy the Condominium Act, the strata corporation must have control over the portion of street or lane affected by the building encroachment, for the life of the building. To accomplish this, the volumetric portion of street or lane containing the encroachments must be closed, stopped-up, and an easement granted for the volumetric portions of the building that encroach. The portions of Burrard Street and the lane North of West 16th Avenue, West from Burrard Street that abut the subject site (Lot E) were dedicated by the deposit of Plan 3557 in 1911. It will be necessary to raise a title for the portions of City street and lane that are encroached upon. DISCUSSION Along both the Burrard Street frontage and the lane North of West 16th Avenue, West from Burrard Street, the encroachment is limited to a roof overhang which encroaches a maximum of 0.61 metres (24 inches). It is necessary to seek Council approval to raise a title for the horizontal limits encroached upon (Recommendation A) and Council approval to close, stop-up and to authorize registration of a volumetric easement over the portion of the created titles that are encroached upon (Recommendation B). We are recommending that fees and annual rentals be charged as per the Encroachment By-law (Recommendation C). This is consistent with past Council direction. * * * * *