Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT

DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Manager of the Housing Centre and Director of Central Area Planning in consultation with the Director of Legal Services and the General Manager of Engineering Services

SUBJECT:

CD-1 Text Amendment: Quayside Neighbourhood -

800-1100 Pacific Boulevard

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Council requires that 20% of the units in major projects be designated for non-market housing, and requires that major project developers provide public amenities, such as schools, community centres, and child day care facilities.

PURPOSE

This report recommends that Council refer amendments to the Quayside CD-1 directly to public hearing that: would provide the ability to shift non-market residential floor space from one non-market housing site to another within the Quayside Neighbourhood; would exclude the floor space for the child day care facility required in the neighbourhood from FSR calculations; and would set the parking requirement for family non-market housing at 1.1 space for each unit.

BACKGROUND

In April, 1993, Council approved the original Quayside Neighbourhood (800-1100 Pacific Boulevard) CD-1, which would accommodate 2,588 units of housing of which 538 (188 family, 350 non-family) units had to be designated for non-market housing. On July 9, 1997, Council approved an amendment to the Quayside CD-1 to reduce the non-market housing required to 388 units (188 family, 200 non-family units) in return for a payment-in-lieu. This left 4 non-market housing sites in the Quayside Neighbourhood as indicated on Figure 1.

DISCUSSION

Site

Site 4H is a family non-market site designated for 88 units (8 800 m²), a 49-space child care facility, and, at Concord's discretion, parking for the Quayside marina. Site 4H was identified as a potential recipient of the pay-in-lieu approved on July 9, 1997. It was agreed by Concord Pacific and the City that the site would be made available in 1997 to the Province at a price that would result in a project costing 90% of the maximum budget allowed, instead of the 100% budget otherwise permitted under the non-market housing agreements between Concord and the City.

Last December, the Province allocated 88 units to Site 4H. Since then, the design process has been underway and a development application has been submitted (DE403063). Through the review of the Development Application, 3 issues have been identified which require amendments to the Quayside CD-1: flexibility to transfer square footage between the non-market sites; the need to exclude the floor space for the child care facility from the FSR calculations; and the need to establish a parking requirement for the family non-market housing.

Transfer of Non-Market Floor Space

The building envelope for Site 4H, defined by the footprint and height approved through the CD-1, can accommodate 93 units, 5 more than were set aside for the site through the CD-1 rezoning process. The CD-1 allows both market and non-market units to be transferred between sub-areas in Quayside, and allows market residential floor space to be transferred from site to site within sub-areas, but it does not provide any flexibility to transfer floor space between the non-market sites.

It is reasonable to allow the transfer of some floor space from one non-market project to another within the Quayside Neighbourhood to provide design flexibility. The size of a project, both in terms of units and floor space, is not fully determined until the detailed design at the development permit stage. As the detailed design of the blocks containing the non-market projects is undertaken, it could be found that some sites can accommodate the non-market housing easier than others.

For example, the non-market sites 5E and 5H are currently designated for 2 small projects each, one seniors and one family. The detailed design may indicate that one should be wholly seniors and the other wholly family, and to accommodate this it may be necessary to move floor space as well as units from one site to the other. In the case of Site 4H, the project currently undergoing detailed design, the 5 additional units and their floor space would be transferred from lower amenity non-market sites north of Pacific Boulevard to Site 4H located south of Pacific Boulevard on the waterfront opposite Cooper Park. This is a net benefit since more non-market units would be built sooner and in a higher amenity location. The Province has agreed to fund the additional 5 units.

The transfer of floor space would still require that the total number of non-market housing units required in Quayside be achieved, and that the minimum total floor space allowed for non-market housing be maintained. A transfer of non-market floor space or units would be evaluated on a case by case basis, and approved only if the transfer results in a net benefit to the non-market housing.

It is recommended that the Quayside CD-1 be amended to allow a transfer of up to 10% in the maximum floor space for each of the four non-market housing sites in Quayside subject to the minimum total residential floor space for the Quayside non-market sites of 31 203 m² (335,861 sq. ft.) as required under the Quayside Neighbourhood Non-Market Housing Agreement.

Child Day Care Facility Floor Space

The False Creek North Official Development Plan (FCNODP) (Section 3.2.5) states that the floor space for the amenities required by the City, such as the schools, community centres and child day care facilities, is to be excluded from FSR calculations. The practice has been to rely on this section in the FCN ODP for these exclusions, and not to include the amenities in the lists of excludable uses in the CD-1 By-laws for the individual neighbourhoods in the False Creek North development.

When the Site 4H project came forward with its 49-space child day care facility, this practice was called into question. The Director of Legal Services and Land Use staff have reviewed the issue, and both believe that the required amenities such as schools and child day care facilities should be listed with the other excludable uses in the individual CD-1s. It is therefore recommended that child day care facilities be added to the exclusions allowed under the Quayside CD-1 By-law. Amendments to the CD-1s for the other neighbourhoods which contain community centres, child day cares and schools to include those amenities in the list of excludable uses will be brought forward in the near future.

Parking Requirements for Family Non-Market Housing

The Quayside CD-1 sets parking requirements for the various uses allowed in the neighbourhood. There is a parking requirement that applies to all residential uses, with the exception of core-need subsidized seniors housing to which the Parking By-law would apply. The Quayside residential parking standard would result in a requirement of 1.4 space per unit for family non-market housing, which, based on previous experience, would be excessive. The Parking By-law standard for low-income family housing is not applicable for mixed income projects. For family non-market housing developed at this location under the current Homes B.C. programs where 60% of the units will be occupied by core-need households, the City Engineer believes that 1.1 space/unit is the appropriate parking requirement. This is less than the requirement for co-op housing, but still would provide a space for each household, plus visitor parking. It is consistent with BC Housing's parking requirements under its Homes B.C. Program. It is therefore recommended that the parking provisions in the Quayside CD-1 be amended to require 1.1 parking space per unit of family non-market housing.

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ag980512.htm

APPENDIX A

PROPOSED CD-1 TEXT AMENDMENTS - 800-1100 PACIFIC BOULEVARD

(CD-1 By-law No- 7248)

Section 6 Floor Area and Density

Add:

6.3(i) child day care facilities

6.6(d) subject to the approval of the Director of Planning, up to 10 percent of the floor area allocated for non-market housing at sites 4H, 4J, 5E and 5G may be transferred between these sites, provided that the total non-market residential floor area for these sites is not less than 31 203 m² and is comprised of floor area provided through government funded programs targeted for core-need households or other non-market housing programs of initiatives approved by City Council.

[Insert map shown in Figure 1 after 6.6(d) and label Diagram 2]

Section 9 Parking

amend:

9(c) multiple dwelling uses, not including units designated for core-need subsidized seniors housing or family non-market housing, shall provide a minimum of 1 space for each 200 m² of gross floor area plus 0.9 spaces for each dwelling unit, while family non-market housing shall provide a minimum of 1.1 space for each dwelling unit; and

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ag980512.htm

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