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Kensington-Cedar Cottage CityPlan Committee
Meeting Notes
October 3, 2002
Trout Lake Community Centre
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
In Attendance: Uli Rasehorn (Chairperson), Ronda Field (Secretary), Anne Roberts, Mary Boulanger, Jeff Nulty, Kim Nulty, John Buckeberrough, Peter Wohlwend, David Marcantonio, Elliot Neck, Raymond Chang, Dennis St.Aubin, Aideen Clery, Sarah Slack, Margaret Marquardt, Tom Little, Heather Imrie, and Barbara McGeough
Also In Attendance: Catherine Buckham, Planning Department, KCC Community Vision Implementation, Ronda Howard, Financing Growth Review, Planning Department, Randy Pecarski, Financing Growth Review, Planning Department, Eric Westberg, Financing Growth Review, Planning Department, Keith Hemphill, Rositch, Hemphill & Associates Architects, Francesco Aquilini, Aquilini Investment Group, Radoslav Lepur, Aquilini Investment Group, Alistair Fergusson, Royal LePage Commercial Inc.
1. Financing Growth in the City - Ronda Howard
- The City of Vancouver is expected to continue growing at a rapid rate (i.e. by approx. 100,000 people in the next 25 years). The challenge is to maintain existing services (e.g. fire, police, parks, libraries, childcare, non profit housing, cultural and community centres, etc.) and to also provide services for new residents. Other financial challenges include seismic upgrades, aging infrastructure, etc.
- Traditionally, funding for provision and maintenance of services has come from property taxes and Capital Plan funding, but this money is not enough to cover the costs. Therefore we need to look at alternative methods of funding.
- Municipalities in the GVRD have begun charging development charges in order to recoup some of the costs associated with building new facilities. Currently, Vancouver has instituted the following interim charges: a Development Cost Levy (DCL) on all new residential developments of four units or greater, and a Community Amenity Contribution (CAC) on all rezoning applications. These charges apply only to new construction - small additions and renovations are exempt.
- The interim DCL is $2.50 per square foot. This allows the city to recover about 33% of the money required to finance new services. Vancouver's interim DCL is much less than that charged by other GVRD municipalities. One option for increasing revenue is to increase the DCL rate. A DCL of $7.50 / ft2 would recover approximately 100% of the estimated costs of service provision, but may deter new development. A DCL of between $3.25 - $5.00 / ft2 would recover approximately 40-66% of the estimated costs and would be similar to what other GVRD municipalities are charging.
- Other options for recovering costs are to consider implementing development charges for commercial and industrial developments, institutional, non-profit and heritage developments and on residential developments of less than 4 units (e.g. single family homes, duplexes and triplexes). Implementation of these charges would require an amendment to the Vancouver Charter. It is recommended that any charges on residential developments of less than four units be at a lower rate (i.e. approximately 25% of the DCL) than that for larger developments.
- The CAC charges are collected infrequently as they are only applied to developments that undergo a rezoning. They can be applied to DCL-exempt developments, except social and heritage housing.
- There are currently two types of CACs - standard and non-standard. Interim CAC charges for standard rezonings are a flat rate of $3.00/ ft2 on added density. For non-standard rezonings (e.g. sites over 10 acres), Council may apply the flat rate, or negotiate a new rate/contribution. One question is how to determine whether a rezoning is standard or non-standard. One recommendation is to consider rezonings of less than 5 acres as standard.
- Other issues include how to spend the revenue from these levies. Currently only certain projects are 'eligible' to receive DCL money (including parks, replacement housing, water/sewer, transportation, childcare). There is discussion about whether other services such as libraries, community centres, neighbourhood houses, cultural facilities and/or police/fire services should receive funding. The allocation of resources is another issue (currently based on % of growth of eligible recipients). Another issue is spending of funds (combination of DCL and Capital Plan funds) to ensure that they are growth related, and will benefit the entire city. Funds should be used to implement approved capital plans. There is no provision to ensure that levies collected in a certain community will stay in that community. Therefore, it is important that communities continue to submit funding requests for capital plan funding.
- Council is currently discussing these issues and is seeking feedback from the community. There will be a public workshop on January 18, 2003 to allow community members to express their opinions. There will also be a feedback form available on the city website or by mail to allow communities to give their feedback.
2. Rezoning Proposal for Kingsway & Knight - Keith Hemphill
- Aquilini Investment Group is looking at developing the southeast corner of Kingsway & Knight, but first it must be rezoned. Currently it is zoned C-2 with resultant limits on height (4 storeys), setbacks and density (FSR = 3). The proposal is to rezone the site to mixed-use (CD-1), which could allow higher density (FSR = 4).
- The vendor of the property has imposed a time limitation on negotiations, so the Aquilini Group is eager to pursue this matter quickly. They require community support in order to apply for a rezoning and are looking for community input into their development proposal. They are working with Keith Hemphill, who has previously been involved in discussions with the community regarding what the community wants to see happen on this site.
- Keith reviewed his understanding of priorities, issues and concerns from previous discussions with the community. These included:
- pride in the neighbourhood - increasing name recognition and providing a focal point for the community;
- incorporation of a library as a significant focus (the proposal is to provide an area with the intention of leasing it to the library, as the library may not desire outright ownership of property);
- architectural design that incorporates elements of quality and neighbourliness and an 'urban village' atmosphere;
- development must be an ongoing asset to the community (both business and residential sectors);
- higher density is required to support retail, services and public transit;
- the development needs to be nicely landscaped to allow for beautification, traffic calming, improved pedestrian friendliness and to act as a buffer from the Knight Street traffic corridor;
- a pedestrian mall (retail mews), instead of a traditional lane;
- improved traffic safety and access;
- retail and commercial uses that are responsive to the community;
- a large grocery store as an anchor .
- The rezoning process is difficult and lengthy. The applicant must demonstrate public benefit and must have community support. Some assets of this proposal are increased community focus, possibility of affordable housing, rental accommodation, senior's or special needs housing. The idea is to attract new residents and keep existing residents.
- The current proposal is NOT A DESIGN. It is a concept. Components include:
- setback for landscaping/buffer along Knight and King Edward ;
- corridors with possible 'boulevard' (green space) between street and sidewalk;
- central open space/pedestrian access plaza with a connection to retail (may be able to 'double-front' e.g. have a café with main street access and rear patio access);
- mixture of low-rise (2-4 storey), mid-rise (6-8 storey) and high-rise (12-16 storey) development, with ground-oriented housing (row-type), at the east end of the site, low-rise around edges of site, mid-rise in between and two central high-rise towers in the middle;
- library on south potion of Knight Street façade;
- underground parking with access from King Ed and with a 'lay-by' for traffic safety;
- possible access off Kingsway also, but no access to parking from Knight Street.
- The next step is to work on a proper design. There will be a workshop with the Urban Design Panel on October 16th at City Hall, after which the group will meet with the committee again. It was proposed by the committee that a web site be established with the design posted, to facilitate access to the information and feedback from the community.
- Overall, the response of the committee was very positive. Committee members described the concept as 'the most viable proposal in the past 10 years'. Anne proposed that a committee member sit in on the design session as well as future meetings with the developers and planners. Peter Wohlwend and Elliot Neck volunteered to attend the design session and future meetings - if/when they are available.
3. Knight Street Study Update - Uli Rasehorn
- A public meeting was held on September 19th. Two sub-committees have been formed. One will address the larger vision and future plans of the area, while the other will concentrate on the details and 'nitty gritty' of the process.
- A copy of the background report and online is available online at www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/knight.
- Melina Scholfield (Engineer at City of Vancouver) is having difficulty contacting Raymond Chang, Ken Baker, Katherine Yuen and Elliot Neck via email (bins are full).
4. Thesis Topic - Sarah Slack
- Sarah introduced her thesis topic: 'Democracy in Implementation of City Planning'. She will concentrate on implementation of the KCC Vision. She will need to interview some members of the committee to gather information. Sarah will draft a letter outlining her request and send it to Cathy. Cathy will send the letter to KCC committee members in order to preserve confidentiality.
5. Other Business
- There will be a free walking tour of the Mountainview Cemetery on Thursday, October 10th at 5:30 PM. Please RSVP Sandy James at 604-873-7679 if you are interested in going. Meet at the corner of Fraser & 33rd at 5:30 p.m.
Meeting adjourned.
Next meeting date:
Thursday, November 7, 2002*
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Trout Lake Community Centre
*KCC CityPlan Committee meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month, except for September, when the meeting is held on the second Thursday of the month.
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