ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: April 2, 1997
Dept. File No.002 027
CC File No. 5753-1
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Closure of a Portion of 26th Avenue, East from Dunbar Street
and a Portion of the Lane South of 26th Avenue, East from
Dunbar Street
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 26th Avenue and onto the lane
(see Appendix A), by the building at 4200-4250 Dunbar Street
and apply to raise title to the portions of 26th Avenue and
the lane defined on the said Reference Plan in the name of the
City of Vancouver.
B. THAT all those volumetric portions of 26th Avenue, east from
Dunbar Street included within the heavy outlines and
illustrated isometrically on a plan of survey completed on the
1st day of April, 1997 and attested to by C.S. Cryderman,
B.C.L.S., and marginally numbered G-116, 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 abutting Lot
A, Block 83, District Lot 2027, Plan LMP 26945, to contain
portions of the building which encroach onto 26th Avenue. The
easement to be for the life of the encroaching portions of the
building on said Lot A, and to be to the satisfaction of the
Director of Legal Services.
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C. THAT all those volumetric portions of the lane, south of 26th
Avenue, east from Dunbar Street included within the heavy
outlines and illustrated isometrically on a plan of survey
completed on the 1st day of April, 1997, and attested to by
C.S. Cryderman, B.C.L.S. and marginally numbered G-116, 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 abutting Lot A, Block 83, District Lot 2027, Plan LMP
26945, to contain portions of the building which encroach onto
the lane. The easement to be for the life of the encroaching
portions of the building on said Lot A, and to be to the
satisfaction of the Director of Legal Services.
D. THAT the fees for document preparation, registration and use
of the easement referred to in Recommendations B and C, are to
be in accordance with those charged for in an agreement
prepared pursuant to the Encroachment By-law.
If Council approves this report, the Formal Resolution to close the
portion of 26th Avenue east from Dunbar Street and the portion of
lane south of 26th Avenue east from Dunbar Street will be before
Council later this day for approval.
COUNCIL POLICY
The authority for closing and disposing of portions of streets and lanes
is set out in the Vancouver Charter.
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
4200-4250 Dunbar Street.
BACKGROUND
In 1996 a development application (DE400673) for 4200-4250 Dunbar Street
was approved for construction of a 4-storey commercial/ residential
building. The subsequent building permit that was issued for the site
(BU403052) included roof overhangs that encroach onto 26th Avenue, east
from Dunbar Street and the lane south of 26th Avenue east from Dunbar
Street. The overhangs onto City street and lane were approved in
accordance with the spirit - 3 -
of Subsection 11.1.7 of the Building By-law which allows maximum
projections of 0.915 metres (3 feet). The overhangs are intended to
drain rain water back into the buildings drainage system and to offer
some limited weather protection.
The developer intends to strata title the building. As required by the
Registrar of Land Titles, 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. Registration of the easements requires that titles be raised
for the portions of street and lane encroached upon.
DISCUSSION
The General Manager of Engineering Services does not generally support
the construction of the overhangs encroaching onto City streets and
lanes. Support is given for renovations to buildings where
encroachments previously exist, for historically significant buildings
and in the Chinatown, Yaletown and Gastown neighbourhoods where
encroaching features are common and an accepted architectural
characteristic of the building. None of these factors existed on this
application and Engineering Services did not support their construction.
There is no precedent in area for encroaching overhead features.
Through a series of miscommunications, both internally between staff and
externally between the applicant and staff, the encroachments that are
the subject of this report were approved. The General Manager of
Engineering Services has determined that as a result of these
miscommunications, it is reasonable to place these now constructed
encroachments under agreement. To obligate their removal would place an
unreasonable burden on the developer and expose the City to risk of
liabilities due to their inclusion on the approved building permit
drawings.
On the 26th Avenue side of Lot A, Block 83, District Lot 2027, Plan LMP
26945, the encroachment is limited to two portions of overhanging roof
that encroach a maximum of 0.60 metres (24 inches). Similarly, over the
lane, on the south side of Lot A, the encroachment is limited to two
portions of overhanging roof that encroach a maximum of 0.60 metres (24
inches). The portions of both 26th Avenue and the lane encroached upon
were dedicated by the deposit of Plan 1384 in 1907.
This report seeks Council approval to raise titles as described and to
close, stop-up and to authorize registration of a volumetric easement
over a portion of the new titles.
We recommend that fees for document preparation and annual rentals be
charged as per the Encroachment By-law. This is consistent with past
Council direction.
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