ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: March 24, 1998

Author/Local: M. Cho/6496

CC File No. 5308

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Community Planning on behalf of Land Use and Development
SUBJECT:	Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)

RECOMMENDATION

THAT the floor space ratio be increased to 2.389 FSR for a temporary period of time to allow minor additions where significant pubic open space would not be affected and existing parking would not be reduced.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

Council, in 1993, approved by resolution for the VGH site that the floor space ratio (FSR) increase to 2.38 FSR and site coverage to 55.48% for a temporary period of time to allow minor alterations to a maximum floor area of 3 027 m¾ (32,580 square feet) be approved by the Development Permit Board where public open space would not be affected and parking would not be reduced.

PURPOSE

The FSR cushion created by the previous Council resolution did not allow for the underground power plant to be constructed, and the cushion has now been fully used. This report seeks Council approval to reinstate the FSR permitted under the above resolution, by increasing the interim floor area limit to reflect the area of the power plant. The above resolution alleviate the need for minor hospital additions to be reported to Council.

DISCUSSION

Since 1993, when Council established the permitted interim floor area, several development permits have been issued within Council's parameters. On July 29, 1994, Development Permit Number DE216484 was approved for the construction of an underground power plant (approximately 13,111 square feet) to the south side of Jack Bell Research Centre. As most of the power plant is constructed underground, staff inadvertently excluded this area from the floor area calculation.

However, it has recently been recognized that this area, even though it is mostly underground, cannot be excluded from the floor space calculation. There is no provision in the CD-1 By-law for such an exclusion. This floor area must therefore be added to the total interim floor area, which would result in an overage to the permitted interim floor area. In order to accommodate this additional floor area, the established permitted interim floor area for the VGH site must be increased from 32,580 square feet to 45,691 square feet.

CONCLUSION

The underground power plant was excluded from FSR calculation, leading VGH to believe the floor area remained available for minor additions. Recalculation of the totals has eliminated this flexibility. The Director of Planning concludes that it would be consistent with the intent of the above Council resolution to accommodate minor additions for which this latitude was created by Council, by increasing the temporary floor area limit to reflect the 13,111 square foot area of the power plant.

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