ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: June 16, 1998

Author/Local: B.MacGregor/7303

CC File No. 6007

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Deputy City Engineer and the Director of Central Area Planning, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services
SUBJECT:	Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre - Memorandum of Understanding

RECOMMENDATION

A.THAT Council approve the draft Memorandum of Understanding, attached as Schedule A, and further that the City Manager be authorized to finalize and sign the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the City.

B.THAT the Director of Central Area Planning bring forward the necessary referral report to have a Comprehensive Development shell zoning considered at Public Hearing.

CITY MANAGER COMMENTS

The City Manager recommends approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no Council policy directly related to this matter.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to request Council approval of a process to reach agreement on a Comprehensive Development Plan for the Central Waterfront Port Lands which include the expanded Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre (VTCC).

BACKGROUND

In 1992 Council endorsed a process for planning these Port lands and for working towards agreement with the Vancouver Port Corporation (VPC), as agents for the Federal Crown. As senior government, the Port would not always need to comply with municipal by-laws and regulations. A process envisioned in 1992 contained a mediation/arbitration method to resolve any disputes during the development of the comprehensive development plan, ancillary agreement stages.

A process for issuing the Development Permits, Building Permits and Occupancy Permits was not included in 1992, but is now.

The report before you does not identify a formal mediation process, but if an impasse is reached between regulatory bodies, they could certainly decide on an appropriate method to resolve any differences, consistent with the proposed City/Port Charter recently considered by Council.

The VTCC project is complex, as it involves all levels of senior government. The approvals include, but are not limited to, Federal Environment, Fisheries, NWPA, Provincial Environment, Provincial Financing, City Development Permits, Building Permits and Occupancy Permits, as well as sub-division approval.

The key document to approve for the project will be the Comprehensive Development Agreement, to be approved and negotiated between the VPC, the Developer, and the City.

If this project were not on Federal Government land, the normal major project approval process would include establishment of an official development plan, rezoning consideration, the formal legal rezoning process, legal agreements, enactment of a zoning by-law, and development approvals processed through the normal City permit system.

The reason to alter the process is because the project is on Federal Government land, and therefore it does not strictly fall under City by-laws. In addition, Greystone, who is developing the lands, want normal City permits approved, and, since they are leasing the land from VPC, there will be direct obligations for Greystone to deliver development services. Normal City approvals are required by Financial Institutions and other financing groups.

The development in this area of the VPC lands has been discussed previously when the Trade and Convention Centre proposals were being evaluated. In addition, the VPC and the City agreed to a Policy Statement in 1994 which governs development on the Lands. The latest document was the Community Context Report from 1997, which identified site issues. Staff will review the proposals submitted by Greystone in the context of all the previous reviews and consideration for the latest development program.

The VPC will be leasing the land to Greystone for a term of 99 years, as well as providing access across their lands. It is important to note that the policy statement approved by the City and the VPC incorporates a list of public benefits to be provided. While there will be some discussion around the specifics, however, in this particular project, the benefits have been agreed upon.

In order to expedite the approval processes with respect to the VTCC development, it was considered early that a Memorandum of Understanding, between VPC, the City, and Greystone would be most appropriate to identify overall goals and mutual objectives. This draft Memorandum is attached as Schedule A.

The Memorandum is based upon the underlying understanding, that the parties will all work together to achieve a consensus on details of the Trade and Convention Centre project. The City will go through a conventional process with respect to public involvement with all stakeholders.

In fact, since the submission by Greystone on May 19, 1998, public information meetings have begun and more are scheduled. Groups to be invited to public review meetings include, but are not limited to Gastown BIA, Downtown Vancouver Association, Downtown BIA, Tourism Vancouver, First Nations representatives, Downtown Eastside representatives, etc. In this way, staff will achieve a broad spectrum of comments from effective groups. The process identifies also a key understanding that not only the developer and the City will be discussing issues, but the VPC staff and Board members will be involved in attending public meetings, to hear directly any concerns expressed by various interest groups, and ultimately City Council.

The review of the project will be undertaken by the City’s Major Projects Steering Committee, a multi-departmental committee, which will review the issues and the development from a technical perspective. Any major issues which are identified will be brought to Council’s attention at an early stage for decision. This has been a process which has worked well over the last decade in handling major projects, such as the north shore of False Creek, Coal Harbour, Bayshore, Collingwood, etc.

As a separate process, a legal mechanism needs to be put in place to facilitate the City issuing development permits, building permits, and occupancy permits in accordance with normal procedures. The vehicle to do this Comprehensive Development "shell zoning", which will simply identify that existing uses are permitted, the fact that the Vancouver Port Corporation acts as agent for the Federal Crown, and all development on the site will be governed by a Comprehensive Development Agreement, to be negotiated between VPC, the City, and Greystone. The Director of Central Area Planning will bring forward a referral report shortly and recommend proceeding to Public Hearing on this matter.

The Comprehensive Development Agreement (CDA) will be very similar to a zoning document in terms of densities, heights, parking, views, uses, etc. However, it will go further to identify some of the legal agreements, which must be entered into prior to any development permit approvals. In order to achieve agreement on the Comprehensive Agreement (CDA), work on legal agreements will begin early in the review process.

There are three specific items of work which must begin now to lay the groundwork for proceeding with the project upon conclusion of the Comprehensive Development Agreement and necessary legal agreements. Specifically, the Seabus Terminal will need to be relocated, and this work is expected to begin in early summer. As well, the soil stabilization of the shoreline will begin as part of overall site preparation work to facilitate timing, provided, of course, that the necessary senior government permits with respect to Fisheries and Environment are obtained.

Also, the City will be involved in exercising options to purchase road rights-of-way to link the site to the City street grid system. These options were negotiated some years ago, and agreements are in place to obtain roadways under certain conditions and upon notice. A report will come forward to Council on this matter shortly.

CONCLUSION

The process identified in this report is one founded on co-operation between all the levels of government to achieve a major re-development of the important Cruise Ship Terminal, Trade and Convention facilities, and ancillary uses to service these developments and to provide residential and commercial development in the area. The project proposals and plans will be discussed through a full public process, as is done with all other major projects in the City.

This process was identified for Council in a previous report, and is expected to culminate in a public review meeting where Council will hear from those attending, who may wish to speak about the project. It is only after this meeting that the Comprehensive Development Agreement (CDA) will be signed off by the City, the Port and Greystone. All parties have agreed that the CDA document will confirm all specifics of the development to be approved. After the CDA is in place, approvals of various components of the project will follow normal City processes.

NOTE: ATTACHMENT (SCHEDULE A) NOT AVAILABLE ON-LINE. ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver