Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

 

Date: November 19, 1998

 

Author/Local: LChallis/7135

 

LU&D No. 98031

 

RTS No. 351

 

CC File No. 5306

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: Director of Central Area Planning on behalf of Land Use and Development

SUBJECT: CD-1 Text Amendment - 4500 Oak Street

CONSIDERATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

Relevant Council policies for this site include:

· On March 12, 1992, Council resolved that it was not prepared to approve a redevelopment plan until additional information is provided; that a tertiary care hospital was not supported as a replacement for Shaughnessy; that the replacement of Shaughnessy must be limited to the provision of essential services to Grace and Children’s, and services to meet the needs of Vancouver residents; and that theGVRHD and the Ministry of Health provide a comprehensive picture of the hospital service needs of Vancouver residents and a hospital facilities plan for the region;
· On October 22, 1991, Council resolved that a CD-1 text amendment application for the re-development and expansion of Children’s and Grace Hospital be considered; that the application consider the phasing out of the University Hospital general hospital function, while retaining the Spinal Cord Unit and Women’s Health Care centre; and that the Medical Health Officer consult with the Ministry of Health and the Greater Vancouver Regional District Hospital Board and report back prior to the Oak Street Hospital’s rezoning application on the overall role of general hospitals in Vancouver;
· On February 20, 1979, Council resolved that future development of the Shaughnessy Hospital site should conform totally to the existing CD-1 By-law; and
· CD-1 By-law No. 5091, enacted on June 14, 1977.

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This report assesses an application to amend CD-1 By-law No. 5091 for the Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of British Columbia (C&WHC) to increase the floor space ratio from 0.60 to 0.616 to allow completion of the second phase of the Research and Education Centre at 980 West 28th Avenue. Although the application would have only minor impacts on the overall site and surrounding area, it is technically contrary to existing Council policy and is therefore submitted for Council’s consideration without a staff recommendation.

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DISCUSSION

Background: Since this site was rezoned to CD-1 in 1977, Council has resolved that future development of the site should conform to the existing CD-1 By-law and that redevelopment of the site should occur within the context of a comprehensive hospital facilities plan.

Density: The CD-1 By-law permits a floor space ratio of 0.60 for all buildings and an additional 0.25 for parking structures. There are no exclusions from FSR calculations.

In October 1996, a Development Permit was issued for a new research building (British Columbia Research Institute/Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics) which exceeded the permitted 0.60 FSR by 0.01 FSR and was approved under the Director of Planning’s hardship relaxation provisions (Zoning and Development By-law: Section 3.2.4).

In January 1998, a development application was submitted for an education-related addition to the research centre which is the subject of this report. The addition would provide an essential educational component to the research facility as well as a resource to the community at large. Staff expect the impact of the addition on the overall site and the surrounding community to be minimal. The effect on the street facade is very minor as the development faces into the site. Neighbourhood concern to the development application has been negligible. However, staff have been unable to process the application as the additional floor area cannot be considered as another hardship.

In the past, the C&WHC has been able to free up density for new development by demolishing some of its older or temporary structures. This is no longer a preferred option because City staff are encouraging the C&WHC to retain some of the former Shaughnessy Hospital buildings (i.e., Jean Matheson Memorial Pavilion) for heritage purposes. Staff have discussed the option of acquiring additional density through heritage designation but the C&WHC will not pursue this option due to lack of funds for upgrading the heritage buildings.

A remaining option is an amendment to the CD-1 By-law to increase the density to permit the proposed addition; however, current Council policy indicates that any rezoning of this site should occur within the context of a comprehensive master plan. The C&WHC is presently preparing a master plan for the site and anticipates submitting it in the near future with a rezoning application to significantly amend the CD-1 zoning in accordance with the plan. However, funds are available now to complete the Research and Education Centre and the C&WHC is concerned that the funding will be lost if the development is delayed until the completion of a comprehensive rezoning of the site. In the interim, they have submitted an application for a small amendment to the CD-1 to increase the density to 0.616 FSR solely for the purpose of completing the proposed education centre. The proposed density increase of 0.016 FSR would be equivalent to 2 898 m² (31,195 sq. ft.) of floor area.

Staff would support the proposed text amendment to permit the modest increase in FSR if there were no Council policies for this site. But in light of the existing policies, staff put forward the application for Council’s consideration.

CONCLUSION

Staff put forward for Council’s consideration an amendment to the CD-1 By-law to provide a small increase in density to allow the completion of the Research and Education Centre and recommend the application be referred to Public Hearing.

APPENDIX A

DRAFT AMENDMENT TO CD-1 BY-LAW NO. 5091

1. Amend Section 3 [Density] by deleting the figure “0.6" and replacing with the figure “0.616".

APPENDIX B
Page 1 of 2

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Public Input: Rezoning information signs were posted on the site on November 23, 1998.
Comments of Engineering Services: “Engineering Services has no objections to the proposed zoning amendment.”

Environmental and Social Implications: The proposed text amendment neither contributes to nor detracts from the objective of reducing atmospheric pollution. The Research and Education Centre will be of benefit to society at large. There are no implications with respect to the Vancouver Children's Policy or Statement of Children's Entitlements.

Comments of the Applicant: The applicant has been provided with a copy of this report and has provided the following comments:

“As noted in the Planning Department Report concerning the Discussion on Density (page 3), the completion of the Research & Education Centre will necessitate that an excess floor area of 2,898 m2 (31,195 sq.ft.) be allowed. This represents an addition of only 1.5% to the total site area. The proposed Research & Education Centre was deferred from the 1996 Research building approval due to a lack of funds at that time. Since the Education Centre now will complete the Research Expansion, it is suggested that this new development could also be considered under the same hardship relaxation. It should be confirmed that the recently completed Research building, approved under the hardship clause, exceeded the allowable floor area by 1,272 m2 (13,695 sq.ft.) and the proposed Research & Education Centre will add a further 1,626 m2 (17,502 sq.ft.), to total 2,898 m2 (31,195 sq.ft.) as noted above.

Funding for the proposed Education Centre comes from both private donors (55%) and the Province (45%). It remains a serious concern that the private donations could be withdrawn if this development is not approved in the near future.

As noted, the Education Centre completes our Research Expansion by providing essential education facilities, not only for the Research complex, but also for the full hospital site and the community. In turn, this addition will provide a further attraction for our continued recruitment of world-class researchers to C&W, and to Vancouver. We are actively contributing to Vancouver’s policy of attracting high-technology health care and biomedical research to the City. Our Research Institute has already achieved steady annual increases to the external research funding grants (over $11 million in 1997/98 alone), with further increases to funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation already awarded in this current year.

APPENDIX B
Page 2 of 2

The Planning Report notes that C&W “will not pursue” the option of heritage density incentives. We wish to make the distinction that we cannot pursue this option at this time due to the high estimated costs to upgrade these health care facilities to post-disaster code compliance. We wish to repeat, however, our commitment to continue to work with the City to explore the heritage protection of these buildings. Moreover, we have applied for Provincial funding for upgrades to the some of the former Shaughnessy Hospital buildings but the status of these funds remains unknown. As such, we believe that the heritage issues on our site should be considered separate from this CD-1 amendment.

In conclusion, we reaffirm our commitment to continue to work with the City’s Planning Department with the review of our recently completed Master Plan Upgrade.

Respectfully submitted by David A.C. Nesbitt, Director, Project Planning, Children’s & Women’s Health Centre of British Columbia.”

APPENDIX C

APPLICANT, PROPERTY, AND DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL INFORMATION

APPLICANT AND PROPERTY INFORMATION

Street Address

4500 Oak Street

Legal Description

Blk 1009 Bal. Exc. Pl. 12393, 12719 & 14318 DL 526 Plan

Applicant

Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of B.C.

Property Owner

Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of B.C.

SITE STATISTICS

 

GROSS

DEDICATIONS

NET

SITE AREA

186 955 m²

-

186 955 m²

DEVELOPMENT STATISTICS

 

DEVELOPMENT PERMITTED UNDER EXISTING ZONING

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

RECOMMENDED
DEVELOPMENT (if different than proposed)

ZONING

CD-1

CD-1 Amended

-

USES

Hospital & customarily ancillary

Same

-

MAX. FLOOR SPACE RATIO

0.60 FSR buildings
0.25 FSR parking structures

0.616 FSR buildings
0.25 FSR parking structures

-

* * * * *

ag981208.htm

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