General Vancouver Updates

[TheTerminalCity]

[QUOTE=Feathered Friend;8626951]


The Fraser Street rental was approved at Public Hearing last night with a vote of 7-3. Fry was absent for the vote, while Swanson, Hardwick, and Carr were the dissenting voices. An interesting case of politics making strange bedfellows!

Also an important signal that this Council will still support rental housing. Unlike 4575 Granville, there was no hospice or other sensitive operation nearby. This is the type of project that moves forward regularly in Vancouver and for anyone hoping to see more rental housing, a good sign.

[WarrenC12]

Wait is this different than the one that was shot down last week?

[TheTerminalCity]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Wait is this different than the one that was shot down last week?

Yes, two different rental projects.

Council did NOT approve 4575 Granville, which was 21 rental units in 3.5 storey townhouses.

They did approve the 3800 block of Fraser, a 6 (or 7) storey building with 121 rental units and some commercial at ground level. That was last night

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by TheTerminalCity

Yes, two different rental projects.

Council did NOT approve 4575 Granville, which was 21 rental units in 3.5 storey townhouses.

They did approve the 3800 block of Fraser, a 6 (or 7) storey building with 121 rental units and some commercial at ground level. That was last night

Thanks. I thought the Fraser project that Don Davies spoke out against was voted down already. Good news.. though again, east side NIMBYs don't matter as much as west side.

[Feathered Friend]

The project may have passed, but it hardly feels like a win. Many councillors painted this decision on a fairly standard building as a hard one to make. Also, based on their comments, if I was in the industry I wouldn't touch the Affordable Housing Choices policy with a 10 foot pole.

The real winner of the hearing, aside from the people who will live in the building, was Tamara Taggart. Not only did she prove she can deliver a very well rounded speech, but she more than held her own in some very heated exchanges with city councillors. The pro-rental housing argument for teachers, nurses, etc. could be an election winner, but could also backfire.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

The real winner of the hearing, aside from the people who will live in the building, was Tamara Taggart. Not only did she prove she can deliver a very well rounded speech, but she more than held her own in some very heated exchanges with city councillors. The pro-rental housing argument for teachers, nurses, etc. could be an election winner, but could also backfire.

Wow did she show up the day after hearing Davies and seeing the flak he got online? That could be an interesting race, though it really depends on the opinion of local voters more so than housing advocates.

[Feathered Friend]

Don Davies was the last speaker Tuesday night, Tamara Taggart was one of the first unregistered speakers Thursday night, so yes there's a direct correlation.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

Don Davies was the last speaker Tuesday night, Tamara Taggart was one of the first unregistered speakers Thursday night, so yes there's a direct correlation.

Good for her. She got a lot of hate when her candidacy was announced, but I know her a bit through the community and she's always seemed genuine to me.

[Feathered Friend]

Million Dollar Rental Homes Make Way For Moderate Income Housing

4683 Arbutus Street (Quilchena Gardens)
Admittedly Hannah and I are both looking forward to the annual pause that comes to our city in the month of August. Out of respect to those who are vacationing, looking after children home on Summer Break, or those just wanting to spend a day at the beach, almost no civic engagement happens. This means we finally have a chance to eliminate our backlog of articles, and take some time for ourselves.

Things are already slowing down, as far as we knew there was only a couple open house events scheduled in the next couples weeks, and with two of them along the Cambie Corridor, it seemed like they would be rather uneventful. In short, we were starting to relax, unwind, and catch up on sleep. That was until we received this notice card for what will very likely be the most contentious event of the year.

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/07/12...es-make-way-for-moderate-income-housing/

[Migrant_Coconut]

Gone past the Hellenic Centre, but never in; anybody know if it'll be large enough to fit all those egos?

[Hmoob]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

Many councillors painted this decision on a fairly standard building as a hard one to make. Also, based on their comments, if I was in the industry I wouldn't touch the Affordable Housing Choices policy with a 10 foot pole.

Good.

While we desperately need more housing in this city, this policy needs to be allowed to die. Among other issues, it's so vague it provides almost no direction to a developer, or the Council, to determine what should or shouldn't be allowed. It doesn't specify a height or FSR limit, other than mentioning a maximum number of storeys (which wasn't adhered to in this application). It doesn't even mention acceptable land uses under the policy. Arguably inclusion of industrial is allowable.

I found it interesting that the Council and Mayor passed a rezoning that wasn't approvable under the applicable policy. And the planning office counselled them that they're permitted to approve projects that aren't allowable under existing policy. Why do we even bother with policies then?

It's this sort of approach, and the resultant regular use of CD-1 zoning, that adds so much time, inefficiency, and cost to development in this city. How can anyone, even in the industry, know what is and isn't approvable if every project is considered independently, not even bounded by solid policy? It sounds like a lot of busy work for the planning office.

Of note, the approval of this project set a precedent that developers can get a "free" additional residential floor by inclusion of a street-fronting commercial inclusion. Let's see how long it is until someone else tries the same; and if Council acts consistently and continues to allow the practise.

(full disclosure, I spoke against this proposal before Council)

[s211]

Originally Posted by Hmoob

Of note, the approval of this project set a precedent that developers can get a "free" additional residential floor by inclusion of a street-fronting commercial inclusion.

Hooray? More induced supply of commercial that's sorely not needed in most locations? I thought that lesson had been learned in Downtown South two decades ago.

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by Hmoob

Of note, the approval of this project set a precedent that developers can get a "free" additional residential floor by inclusion of a street-fronting commercial inclusion. Let's see how long it is until someone else tries the same; and if Council acts consistently and continues to allow the practise.

Many developments are rezoned based on allowable height in metres rather than storeys. There are many more approved and now built precedents like this project.

[jollyburger]

Exact wording on the additional height/density.

The AHC Policy permits consideration of additional height and density to support affordable housing developments on or near arterials that are on Translink’s Frequent Transit Network, and close to local shopping areas, subject to urban design performance. At this location, mid-rise forms up to six storeys may be considered. As the Policy is informed by local area design guidelines, staff have evaluated the proposal against the intentions set out in the base zoning. In this case, the base zone of RT-2 allows for outright duplex and conditional multiple dwelling development. The design guidelines of RT-2 expect the new development to maintain and enhance the physical and social character of these older residential areas and achieve
neighbourliness with respect to noise, privacy, views, and sunlight penetration.

https://council.vancouver.ca/20190611/documents/p4.pdf

https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/Affordable-housing-choices-interim-rezoning-policy.pdf

[Feathered Friend]

28 Floors Judged Appropriate For West Broadway – Urban Design Panel Expresses Strong Support

2538 Birch Street (formerly 1296 West Broadway)
Like the City of Vancouver, Hannah and I try to recap our experiences at a project’s open house before we cover its Urban Design Panel review. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to write up that episode yet. So, you’ll have to take my word that, while many Fairview residents supported the addition of another 100 rental homes to an approved 16 floor building in their neighbourhood, the opposition of members from various self-titled Kitsilano Resident’s associations was equally as strong.

That later group’s main concern is that allowing this development will set a precedent for similar buildings far to the west in Kitsilano. In their presentation to the UDP, city staff made it clear this wasn’t the case. They cited the example of a 22 floor development at Nanaimo and Kingsway that was approved prior to the Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan. Today that building stands alone in a community that only allows for 10 – 16 floor developments.

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/07/15...n-design-panel-expresses-strong-support/

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/07/12...es-make-way-for-moderate-income-housing/

Good scoop, thanks for sharing the news, should be an interesting approval journey for this project, given the neighbourhood.

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/07/15...n-design-panel-expresses-strong-support/

^Made my morning reading your blog entry today. UDP support should go a long way to approval of this tower, and I sure hope it becomes precedent!

I wrote another note of support, since I think this is a watershed moment for the neighbourhood, and if you want to see more of this on the Broadway corridor I would urge the rest of you to do so as well.

LITERALLY only takes 30 seconds:

https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/2538birch/feedback.htm

[WarrenC12]

Great news!

[logan5]

while many Fairview residents supported the addition of another 100 rental homes to an approved 16 floor building in their neighbourhood, the opposition of members from various self-titled Kitsilano Resident’s associations was equally as strong.

The Kitsilano Residents Association is headed off to protest a development in Calgary now.

Seriously, who do these people think they are going deep into another neighbourhood where there is support for this project and trying to shut it down. Outrageous.

This makes me wonder what's in store for the large Kingsgate site, which already has its foot in the door for taller buildings. Right at the doorstep of a future subway station and the confluence of 3 busy streets with 4 high frequency bus routes. We gotta be looking at something significantly taller than 28 stories. 40 plus maybe?

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by logan5

The Kitsilano Residents Association is headed off to protest a development in Calgary now.

Seriously, who do these people think they are going deep into another neighbourhood where there is support for this project and trying to shut it down. Outrageous.

This makes me wonder what's in store for the large Kingsgate site, which already has its foot in the door for taller buildings. Right at the doorstep of a future subway station and the confluence of 3 busy streets with 4 high frequency bus routes. We gotta be looking at something significantly taller than 28 stories. 40 plus maybe?

For what reason?

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by logan5

The Kitsilano Residents Association is headed off to protest a development in Calgary now.

Seriously, who do these people think they are going deep into another neighbourhood where there is support for this project and trying to shut it down. Outrageous.

This makes me wonder what's in store for the large Kingsgate site, which already has its foot in the door for taller buildings. Right at the doorstep of a future subway station and the confluence of 3 busy streets with 4 high frequency bus routes. We gotta be looking at something significantly taller than 28 stories. 40 plus maybe?

Those Kitsilano Residents have got their nerve. They seem to consider themselves the standard-bearers for what is acceptable in city construction and planning.
It's like a group of people knocking on your front door, letting themselves into your place of residence, and saying "WE don't approve of your taste in furniture. Change it."
............................................
As for 40 soreys at Kingsway and Main? Hmmmmm ... seems a bit out of kilter for that neighbourhood, even though most people want taller buildings in Vancouver. Just IMHO.