ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: January 22, 1998

Author/Local: C. Kristiansen/7307

CC File No. 5753

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT:	Proposed Closure of Portion of the North Side of West 12th Avenue, East from Vine Street

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RECOMMENDATION

A.THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to sign on behalf of the City the Reference Plan attested to by Dieter Soukup, BCLS on January 8, 1998, marginally numbered 4711-W12, DWG A, defining the horizontal limits of the encroachments onto the north side of West 12th Avenue east from Vine Street (See Appendix A ) and apply to raise title to the portions of West 12th Avenue defined on the said Reference Plan in the name of the City of Vancouver.

B.THAT all those volumetric portions of the north side of West 12th Avenue east from Vine Street included within the heavy outlines and illustrated isometrically on the plan prepared by Dieter Soukup, BCLS on January 8, 1998 and marginally numbered 4711-W12, DWG B, a reduced copy of which is attached hereto as Appendix B , be closed, stopped-up, and that easements for Volume 1 and Volume 2 be granted to the owners of abutting Lots A and B, Block 362, District Lot 526, Plan LMP 32154 respectively, to contain portions of the existing buildings which encroach onto the north side of West 12th Avenue east from Vine Street. The easements are to be for the life of the encroaching portions of the existing buildings on said Lots A and B, and to be to the satisfaction of the Director of Legal Services.

C.THAT the fees for documentation preparation, and registration of the easements referred to in Recommendation B are to be in accordance with those charged for in an agreement pursuant to the Encroachment By-Law, and that the fees for the use of the easement be under a prepaid encroachment agreement. Documentation and registration fees for the two easements amount to $6,100 and the prepaid fees for use of the easement amount to $3,500.

D.THAT if Council approves A, B and C above, they accept also the proposal by Greystone Properties Ltd. to pay for construction of the full width of Vine Street from 12th Avenue up to and including the 11th Avenue greenway pedestrian crossing as an addition to the Services Agreement .

COUNCIL POLICY

The authority for closing and disposing of streets and lanes is set out in the Vancouver Charter.

PURPOSE

This report is required to obtain Council authority to grant an easement to contain the encroaching elements onto the street of the buildings located at 2788 Vine Street and 2268 Redbud Lane.

BACKGROUND

On March 12, 1997, development applications DE401657 and DE401656 for 2788 Vine Street and 2268 Redbud Lane respectively, were approved for the construction of 4-storey residential buildings with a shared underground parking structure, subject to a number of conditions. Conditions of the Services Agreement with the developer require, amongst other things, road improvements on the east side of Vine Street, from West 12th Avenue to the centre of the 11th Avenue (Greenway) intersection to be completed at the developer’s expense. Building permits BU4051657 and BU405488 were subsequently approved. No encroachments were approved or contemplated.

During construction, the parkade structure was mistakenly built beyond the property line, encroaching 0.2m onto the north side of West 12th Avenue east from Vine Street. As an alternative to removing the structure, an agreement is proposed whereby the City will allow a prepaid encroachment agreement and the developer will extend their street improvement obligations to include the construction, to the General Manager of Engineering Services’ satisfaction, of the full width of Vine Street, from West 12th Avenue to the 11th Avenue greenway. This will include the full paver crossing connecting the greenway to Connaught Park , as contemplated in the greenway design.

The Condominium Act requires that a building being strata titled be contained within the boundaries of the parcel or that easements be provided for access to any part of the building that is not within the boundaries. The portion of the road encroached upon was dedicated by the deposit of Plan 2300. As there is no title to the portions of streets encroached onto, we must first raise title. Then we must close the volumetric portion occupied by the building and register an easement against the title of the streets.

DISCUSSION

A construction error of this nature is uncommon and the resulting encroachment is a serious imposition into the street. However, removing the encroaching structure at this stage would be very difficult and very expensive. Mitigating the impact is the fact the encroachment is underground and would not impact greatly planned street works. The developer has offered to construct all road works on Vine, between West 12th Avenue and the 11th Avenue greenway as a community amenity in addition to the original half block which is required in their services agreement.

In addition, the developer will pay for all document preparation, and registration of the encroachment in accordance with those charged for in an agreement pursuant to the Encroachment By-Law, and rental. The rental is proposed to be a prepaid encroachment agreement instead of an annual payment in order to charge the developer responsible for the mistake and not to burden the future owners. The proposed lump sum payments of $1,750 per encroachment are based on the present values of the annual encroachment fees over the projected 70 year life of the building. The annual fees are based on those normally charged under the Encroachment By-Law. Total fees of $9,600 include the $3,500 lump sum payment in lieu of annual rental fees, two $3,000 registration fees, and two $50 preparation fees. All fees required by the Land Titles Office to register associated agreements will also be paid by the developer.

CONCLUSION

Greystone Properties offered to provide additional community amenities, including construction of the west half of Vine Street, between 12th Avenue up to and including the 11th Avenue greenway crossing, in consideration for Council approving this extraordinary encroachment. We recommend Council accept this offer.

Accordingly, this report seeks Council authority to raise a title as described and to close up, stop-up and to authorize registration of volumetric easements over portions of the new title. We recommend that fees for documentation and preparation be charged as per the Encroachment By-Law. This is consistent with past Council direction. We also recommend that a prepaid encroachment be accepted in lieu of the annual rentals set out in the Encroachment By-Law.

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(c) 1997 City of Vancouver