ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: January 19, 1999
Author/Local: B.Boons 7678
RTS No. 00486

CC File No. 2604

TO:	Vancouver City Council
FROM:	Director of Community Planning on behalf of Land Use and Development
SUBJECT:	3637 West 17th Avenue Development Application Number DE403554 Owner of Development: Dunbar Heights Developments Inc.

CONSIDERATION

The Director of Planning submits the following for consideration:

THAT the Director of Planning be advised that Council would favour the approval of the construction of a four-storey Retail/Residential building at 3637 West 17th Avenue as submitted under Development Application Number DE403554.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services submits the foregoing for CONSIDERATION.

COUNCIL POLICY

At its meeting on June 2, 1998, Council instructed the Director of Planning to:

A. refer all proposed height relaxations under Sections 4.3(a) and (b) C-2 Residential Guidelines to Council for advice;

B. amend the C-2 Residential Guidelines to add a general clause indicating that projects should have a very good architectural design and should use qualityexterior materials and that projects should be referred to the Urban Design Panel (UDP) for advice;

C. instruct staff that the Guidelines take precedence where there is a conflict between the District Schedule and the Guidelines.

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This report seeks Council's advice on a development application requesting permission to construct a new four-storey mixed-use building on this double-fronting site. The proposal seeks a relaxation of building height. It also seeks relaxations to allow ground floor residential uses to occur within 10.7 metres (35.0 ft.) of the West 17th Avenue frontage and to permit an approximate 1.5 metres (5.0 ft.) building setback from West 17th Avenue. Staff support some of the relaxations, but recommend design changes to reduce the proposed height.

The development proposes an overall Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of 2.84, of which 2.5 is residential use, and 0.34 (228 square metres [2,460 sq.ft.]) is retail space on the ground floor fronting onto West 16th Avenue. It also contains a total of 21 residential dwelling units located on the top three storeys fronting West 16th Avenue and on all four storeys fronting onto West 17th Avenue. The proposal includes two levels of underground parking, providing a total of twenty-seven (27) off-street parking spaces and one (1) off-street loading space. Vehicle access is from West 16th Avenue only.

The proposal has the unanimous support of the Urban Design Panel.

The site fronts onto both West 16th Avenue and West 17th Avenue (as shown on the attached Appendix ‘A’) and is bordered by C-2 zoning on the north, west, and east, and by RS-5S zoning on the south.

Simplified plans, including a site plan and elevations of the proposal have been included in Appendix ‘B’.

DISCUSSION

The proposed development has been assessed against the C-2 District Schedule and C-2 Residential Guidelines and generally meets the intent, with the exception of the relaxations discussed below.

Relaxation - Height

The District Schedule specifies the maximum height of buildings in this zone at 12.2 metres (40.0 ft.). The Director of Planning may permit an increase in the maximum height but the C-2 Guidelines specify the increases should only be considered where it can be demonstrated that there will be no increased overshadowing or reduction of views for surrounding neighbours, and where sites slope more than 1.5 metres (5.0 ft.). This particular site slopes approximately 1.2 metres (4.0 ft.) from west to east and approximately 2.7 metres (9.0 ft.) from south to north. The proposed development indicates a height of 13.39 metres (43.95 ft.) at the worst case on the 16th Avenue frontage, and a height of 14.31 metres (46.95 ft.) at the worst case on the 17th Avenue frontage.

Most of the height overage is due to the provision of private roof decks above the fourth floor level. Staff are recommending the elimination of some of these decks and a further minor reduction in the overall height of the building in order to reduce the requested relaxation (see Staff Design Response to Notification Concerns, page 4).

Relaxation - Location of Ground Floor Residential Uses

The District Schedule requires that no portion of the first-storey of a building, to a depth of 10.7 metres (35.0 ft) from the front wall of the building, shall be used for residential purposes. The purpose of this regulation is to ensure commercial continuity on streets in these areas. Since this is a double-fronting site, however, the regulation also applies to the frontage on West 17th Avenue, which is primarily a residential street. Staff believe that residential development at grade on West 17th Avenue is preferable given the single-family context across the street.

Relaxation - Front Setback

The District Schedule does not permit a front setback for buildings in this zone. Because this site fronts onto two streets, it is considered to have two front yards. This proposal includes a setback from the property line on West 17th Avenue that varies from 1.5 metres to2.44 metres (5.0 ft. - 8.0 ft.). This is in response to the existing single-family dwelling context across 17th Avenue.

URBAN DESIGN PANEL

At its meeting on September 23, 1998, the Urban Design Panel (UDP) unanimously supported the proposal including support for the requested height relaxation.

A copy of the UDP minutes is attached as Appendix ‘C’.

NOTIFICATION

As part of the review of this development application, 173 neighbouring property owners were notified of the proposal. In addition, a site sign was placed on the site. In response, Planning staff received a total of 29 individual letters expressing concerns with the proposal.

The concerns focused on:

- height of the proposed development, especially in regard to the loss of views;

- shortage of available street parking in the area;

- proposed vehicle crossing on 16th Avenue;

- small unit sizes; and

- design and detailing of exposed side walls.

Staff Design Response to Notification Concerns

Height:

At the request of staff, the applicant held open houses at the site on October 19th and 28th, 1998. A total of 23 persons attended.

Subsequent to these meetings, the developer did a further series of view studies from the homes of a number of concerned neighbours. The studies show that the proposed building would eliminate a small portion of water view for those neighbours, but no mountain views.The neighbours living closer to the proposal will lose more views; however, very little of this view loss is due to the requested height relaxation.

Nevertheless, staff believe that it would be reasonable to require the uphill part of the building (facing West 17th Avenue) to comply with the maximum height of 12.2 metres (40 ft.). This reduction in height would require the removal of the roof decks on the southern half of the building and the overall lowering of the building by an additional 0.15 metres (.50 ft.) at the southeast corner. The maximum height for the northern half of the building would remain at 13.39 metres (43.95 ft.), but staff believe that this relaxation would have minimal impact on views from properties to the south and is reasonable given the slope of the site.

Parking:

The proposed development meets the requirements of the Parking By-Law. While the increased number of dwelling units on the site may affect street parking, staff also note that additional street parking spaces will be available on West 17th Avenue due to the removal of an existing crossing.

Crossing off West 16th Avenue:

There was a concern that the proposed crossing would cause additional congestion at the nearby intersection of West 16th Avenue and Dunbar Street. Staff accept that there may be some effect on the intersection, but note that locating parking and loading access on West 16th Avenue allows a completely residential frontage to be developed on West 17th Avenue, which is in keeping with the existing context of single-family houses. The proposed location of vehicle access is also the lowest corner of the site, which has practical advantages. Staff believe that on balance, the issues of urban design and neighbourliness outweigh the relatively small traffic impact.

Small unit sizes:

The C-2 District Schedule does not regulate unit sizes. The units proposed are typical for the current market, ranging from 59.7 square metres (643 sq.ft.) to 104.8 square metres (1128 sq.ft.), with the average being 74.3 square metres (800 sq.ft.).

Design of side walls:

The side elevations of the building are exposed in places, although the architect has articulated and detailed them to improve their appearance. Staff are recommending additional design work in these areas, including a suggestion that more brick be used in place of the textured concrete block currently proposed.

OTHER ISSUES

Floor Space Ratio:

The proposal has a total Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of 2.84, of which 2.5 FSR is residential. The C-2 Residential Guidelines suggest that 2.5 FSR residential use is normally only achievable in an all-residential building on a corner site. This proposal is not all residential, but the amount of commercial space is very small since the entire West 17th Avenue frontage is residential. The double-fronting nature of the site also means that the normally required rear yard setback of 4.6 metres (15 ft.) is not applicable.

Staff believe that the FSR figure is supportable, given the context and the way in which the applicant has addressed streetscape issues along West 17th Avenue.

Design:

Staff believe that this proposal is above average in terms of architectural design, materials and detailing, and meets Council’s requirement for good architectural design. Staff are recommending some improvement in the treatment of the exposed portions of the side elevations.

CONCLUSION

The proposed development has been assessed against the C-2 District Schedule and C-2 Residential Guidelines, and responds to the stated objectives. Planning staff therefore support approval of this development application, subject to various conditions including those discussed in this report. However, before making a decision on this application, the Director of Planning is seeking any advice which Council may wish to provide.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver