Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Director of Central Area Planning on behalf of Land Use & Development, in consultation with the Director of Legal Services

SUBJECT:

Zoning and Development Fee By-law Amendment

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

On April 9, 1999, Council approved an amendment to the Zoning and Development Fee By-law setting the current fees for rezoning applications which aim for 100% recovery of processing costs.

PURPOSE

This report proposes an amendment to the Zoning and Development Fee By-law which will create a new reduced application fee for rezoning large industrial sites to Comprehensive Development District (CD-1), where there is limited change from the existing zoning.

BACKGROUND

A separate fee for CD-1 rezoning applications was added to the Zoning and Development Fee By-law in 1983. Initially, the fee covered only a small fraction of the City’s cost to process rezoning applications. Over the years the by-law has been amended a number of times aiming toward recovering more and more of the costs. At present, the application fees are set for 100% cost recovery.

The current fee schedule has two fee categories for CD-1 rezoning applications. One for sites which are not part of an Official Development Plan (ODP) and one for sites which are within ODP areas. Both categories create higher fees for large sites, above 40 000 m2 (10 acres).

The rationale for the higher application fees was based on recovering the costs for the work required to process and enact high-density residential neighbourhoods. The City’s experience with False Creek North and Coal Harbour has shown that the processing costs are high for such projects due to the complexity of the issues involved. The City must consider residential liveability and various use mixes, assess diverse impacts on surrounding areas, review detailed development plans, undertake extensive public consultation and negotiate complex public benefit packages. A large number of legal agreements are also the norm. Existing fees appropriately cover the costs of this work.

The situation for industrial rezonings with limited variations, even though they involve a level of complexity, is vastly different from comprehensive residential neighbourhood plans. The case of Finning in the False Creek Flats provides a typical illustration. In July 1998, Council approved a payment of $198,684 to be contributed by Finning for the City to plan and develop appropriate zoning for high-tech industries on their False Creek Flats site. The payment was calculated to fully recover the costs of undertaking the planning work, and was to be ultimately applied against a rezoning application fee. Under the current Fee By-law, should CD-1 zoning be contemplated for the Finning site, the application fee would be $770,724 since the site falls into the large-site category at 107,000 m2 (26.5 acres).

At present, there is a provision for reduced fees in the By-law for large CD-1 sites, when limited changes are contemplated. This provision, however, is very restrictive and mainly intended for sites with very minor and few text amendments, usually where existing buildings will be retained. Finning, for example, would not qualify for this fee provision.

DISCUSSION

The City is in the process of creating a new I-3 zone to better accommodate high-technology industries. These industries include information technology, software development, telecommunications, biotechnologies, energy and environmental technologies, multimedia and film post-production. Growth in the high-tech sector creates thousands of new jobs forBritish Columbians each year. Like most cities, Vancouver is trying to capture a share of those new jobs, subject to the development being compatible with the existing context.

One focus of the new I-3 District is the western and southern portions of the False Creek Flats Industrial Area. Here, new high-tech development can take advantage of the large parcels of land available to build facilities which meet their needs, and which are conveniently located near downtown and close to the academic and medical institutions they often associate with.

I-3 zoning is expected to be good for most high-tech industries. There are, however, some very large sites within the I-3 District where there is more of an opportunity to create a high-tech business park or campus with open space, urban amenities, a wider range of uses and a higher caliber of design. This can be best achieved through further rezoning to CD-1, where associated, non-industrial uses (like retail stores, restaurants, and travel agencies) can be included. There are significant public benefits to this more tailored zoning. Design guidelines can be adopted with a CD-1 by-law to control the quality and form of development to a higher degree than permitted with I-3 regulations. For example, building height limits can be altered to preserve existing views from surrounding neighbourhoods. Moreover, public amenities, like parks and greenways, can be negotiated as a condition of enacting a CD-1 by-law.

While the advantages of CD-1 zoning for large, high-tech industrial parks are clear, the major barrier is the rezoning application fee. As these sites fall into the large-site category of the Fee By-law, the fees, which are based on recovering the costs for processing and enacting zoning for much more complex high-density residential neighbourhoods, are disproportion-ately high.

The $198,684 payment collected from Finning was based on all the costs of a one-year planning process that would lead to enactment of CD-1 zoning for the site. Since this work is now well underway, staff have been able to verify that it accurately reflects the costs of processing rezonings of this nature. The objective, therefore, is to create a new fee for CD-1 rezonings of large industrial sites where change is limited which reflects the actual costs of the required work.

For industrial sites to qualify for the lower application fee, the following conditions are proposed:

(b) while the remaining 80% or more of the total floor area abides by the existing industrial schedule and its restrictions on use and density, and

The proposed amendment, as set out in Appendix A, would apply the lower category, or small-site, CD-1 rate to all qualifying sites, regardless of size. With this amendment, the application fee to rezone the Finning site to CD-1 would be $188,834 — a fee much more in line with the $198,684 Finning has paid for the planning process than the $770,724 fee that would be required as calculated under the current Fee By-law. (In the agreement with Finning, a rezoning fee was expected to be equal to, or less than, the payment collected. A refund is not contemplated.)

Other sites over 40 000 m2 (10 acres) in the False Creek Flats and in the Grandview-Boundary Area would also benefit from this Fee By-law amendment and may utilize CD-1 zoning to achieve both private and public objectives.

CONCLUSION

The proposed amendment to the Zoning and Development Fee By-law would establish lower fees in line with the actual processing costs for CD-1 rezoning applications for limited change to large industrial sites. The higher application fee currently charged is based on work required to rezone high-density residential neighbourhoods which are more complex and have greater processing costs. Experience with Finning has shown that processing costs for industrial developments would be fully recovered with the reduced application fee proposed. The reduced fee would benefit the City in securing more jobs, better public amenities, higher quality urban design and better compatibility with neighbours.

- - - - -
Zoning and Development Fee By-law No. 5585
SCHEDULE 2
with proposed revisions
A new paragraph 7 has been added, as highlighted.
Subsequent paragraphs and cross-references are renumbered.

Zoning By-law Amendments

Change Zoning District (Except to CD-1)Fee

1. For an amendment to the Zoning District Plan to redesignate from one zoning district to any other zoning district except a new Comprehensive Development District:

Text Amendments (Except CD-1)

2. For an amendment to the text of the Zoning and Development By-law$10,000.00

New CD-1 (Not Contemplated in an ODP)

3. For an amendment to the Zoning District Plan to redesignate from a zoning district to a new Comprehensive Development District that is not contemplated in an Official Development Plan:

Amend CD-1 (Not Contemplated in an ODP)

4. For an amendment, in terms of permitted uses and regulations, to an existing Comprehensive Development District By-law that is not contemplated in an Official Development Plan:

New CD-1 (Contemplated in an ODP)

5. For an amendment to the Zoning District Plan to redesignate from a zoning district to a new Comprehensive Development District that is contemplated in an Official Development Plan:

Amend CD-1 (Contemplated in an ODP)

6. For an amendment, in terms of permitted uses and regulations, to an existing Comprehensive Development District By-law that is contemplated in an Official Development Plan:

For each additional 100 m² of site area or part thereof$667.00

Reduced Fees for Large Industrial Sites

7. Notwithstanding sections 3(b), 4(b), 5 and 6 of this schedule:

For an amendment to the Zoning District Plan to redesignate from an industrial zoning district to a new Comprehensive Development District that relates to a site 40 000 m² or greater; provided

(a) that the combined total floor area, of proposed new uses and expanded retail uses, is limited to 20% or less of the total floor area,

(b) while the remaining 80% or more of the total floor area must remain consistent with the existing zoning schedule and its restrictions on use and density, and
(c) the maximum floor space ratio for all uses combined remains the same as that in the existing zoning schedule:

Reduced Fees for Large Sites with Limited Changes

8. Notwithstanding sections 3(b), 4(b), 5, 6 and 7 of this schedule:

(a) For an amendment to the Zoning District Plan to redesignate from a zoning district to a new Comprehensive Development District that is contemplated in an Official Development Plan or that is not contemplated in an Official Development Plan but relates to a site area of 40 000 m² or greater; or

(b) For an amendment, in terms of permitted uses and regulations, to an existing Comprehensive Development District that is contemplated in an Official Development Plan or that is not contemplated in an Official Development Plan but relates to a site area of 40 000 m² or greater;

(i) the approved or existing form of development is retained on at least 75% of the site area; or

(ii) the floor space ratio of buildings already existing on the site is not increased by more than 25% or 0.5, whichever is the greater; or
(iii) the Director of Planning determines that the application is similarly limited in scope having regard to use and form of development:

For each additional 100 m² of site area or part thereof$167.00
Maximum fee$66,660.00

Amend CD-1 (One Section Only)

9. Notwithstanding sections 4, 6, 7 and 8 of this schedule:

requires amendment$6,666.00

Resubmission Due to Change in Council Composition

10.

Notwithstanding any other section of this schedule, for the resubmission of an application which is unable to be enacted because of a change in the composition of Council, provided the resubmission does not alter the application and is made within 6 months of an election or by-election

$1,650.00 or 15% of the otherwise applicable fee, whichever is greater

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ag990622.htm

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