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Kensington-Cedar Cottage CityPlan Committee
Meeting Notes
Kensington-Cedar Cottage Community
Wide Meeting
Thursday, November 4, 2004
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Trout Lake Community Centre
In Attendance: John Buckberrough (Chairperson), Peter Wohlwend, Gary
Shilling, Jason O'Brien, Chris Taulu, Marcia Choi, Donna Chang, David
Marcantonio, Jeff Nulty, Gillian Fullerton & Alex Schoebel & Doris
Schoebel (Alpen Club), Wolfgang Christl, Jennifer Fix (UBC), Dennis St.
Aubin, Cathy Buckham & Andrea Tang (Planning Department)
Alpen Club
Gillian Fullerton, Pacific Development Advisory Group and Alex Schoebel,
President of the Vancouver Alpen Club made the following comments about
their preliminary proposal to redevelop the site at Victoria & 33rd
..
- The Alpen Club was established in 1935.
- Club members purchased the site at Victoria & 33rd in 1948. They
constructed a building in 1950 and expanded it in 1960.
- They are in the process of purchasing the site to the north, owned
by the credit union.
- Club members would like to develop the entire site for seniors housing,
targeting seniors 75+.
- The current proposal is for 80-100 units of housing - a combination
of market housing and affordable seniors housing. Members noted that
the portion of housing sold at market rates would subsidize the affordable
housing for seniors. The market units would be in a building situated
on the south end of the site; the affordable housing units would be
located on the north portion of the site. The Alpen Club had discussions
with the Housing Centre at the City of Vancouver and have agreed to
enter into a Housing Agreement to secure the affordable units, should
the proposal go ahead.
- Units in both types of housing would be around 550 sq.ft. Assisted
living units would rent for about $1,800 per month for an apartment
plus services (meals, laundry, housekeeping,.).
- Although the current zoning for the site calls for an allowable 2.5
FSR, their current proposed is for up to 4.5 FSR.
- Proponents argued that a direction in the KCC CityPlan Community Vision
supports the development of mid to high rise buildings (if you add the
respondents who were 'uncertain', 19%, about this form of housing).
Cathy noted that the direction approved by the majority of the community
and by City Council is for low rise seniors housing.
CityPlan Committee members made the following comments about the preliminary
proposal.
- "I suggest you decrease the density and height" or it won't pass
at City Hall. If I owned a house on the street west of this site I would
be lying down in front of the bulldozer. You need to rework this proposal
to address issues of shadows, massing, traffic in the lane, etc.
- I wouldn't want to say we support this. I don't live on the adjacent
street. In fact, our committee members live in the general area, but
not adjacent to this site.
- Your problem is that you have a thin lot (only 101' wide) and a monolithic
building. You don't have latitude with the size of the site (101' wide)
- no room for setbacks, etc.
- If you were proposing 4 storeys (instead of 9), it would not be a
problem at City Hall. That said . . . I like the use and what you're
trying to do here.
- I am supportive of the use and the combination of market housing and
subsidized housing. ("Obviously you are not just trying to make a buck.")
We would be happy to help you with providing seniors housing in the
neighbourhood, but we also need to think about the neighbours that live
adjacent to the site and the impacts this may have on their property.
In response, the proponent replied.
- I understand and we know about the constraints of the site and the
issues with density. What if we had the support of the immediate neighbours?
CityPlan Committee members noted.
In conclusion, the Chair noted that the Committee would take the proposal
into consideration. The proponent thanked committee members for their
time and noted that she would like to keep them informed. Next steps for
the proponent is to carry on with discussions with the City and consider
meeting with adjacent property owners.
KCC Newspaper
- Donna reported that the Newspaper although requiring much time to
put together, is coming together very well. They are currently working
on bringing all the articles together, with Donna tracking the articles.
They are starting to take posters and mock-up copies to the community
to look for sponsors.
- 15,000 copies of the Newspaper will go out for distribution for the
first week of December. The Layout will be complete by November 18th
. Liz showed the group 3 options for re-design noting that Option 1
and Option 3 are favoured by most people.
MOBY
- Jason gave an update on his participation in the American Gardening
Association Conference, where he spoke to 60 people about the work of
MOBY. He brought back with him a lot of resources including training
material.
- Jason reported that in the future, funding for MOBY will be managed
through the Social Planning Department, although they have been working
closely with the CPC as their non-profit partner. MOBY is currently
trying to start a safety committee that will aim to train residents
for Block Watch. The KCC CityPlan Committee also discussed the work
of the "Mount Pleasant Cares" group.
Dickens Elementary School
- Marcia reported that some residents are not supportive of building
a new school. One possible reason is that although letters were distributed
to inform them of the plans, there were few opportunities to view the
plans or meet with VSB staff. Submissions from the community on the
new school project are accepted until December 1st. The next hearing
is on Tuesday, December 7th at the Vancouver School Board.
Special Needs Facility Meeting
- Cathy reported briefly on the October 18th meeting at John Oliver
Secondary School . Hundreds of people came to the meeting. People had
an opportunity to meet with staff from the Vancouver Coastal Health
Authority, the City's Housing Centre, Triage Emergency Services and
the Vancouver Police Department.
- Staff from VCHA will be meeting with local groups throughout November.
A special City Council meeting has been scheduled for December 7th.
A decision on the project will be made by the City's Development Permit
Board in early 2005.
Future Meetings with Social Planners
- Following up on a suggestion made by Donna, Cathy offered to contact
Social Planner, Devorah Kahn, to come to a meeting in February to talk
about her work on Food Policy. The committee agreed that it would be
good to identify specific themes that are important to the Committee
before asking Social Planners to attend meetings.
Pan Visions Meeting
- Cathy told the committee that the Victoria-Fraserview/Killarney CityPlan
committee offered to host the next Pan Visions meeting in late January
or February. The committee approved this suggestion.
Budget
- Cathy reported on the KCC CityPlan committee's budget as the end of
the fiscal year is fast approaching ( December 31st , 2004 ). There
is a balance of (roughly) $1,500 remaining.
Knight & Kingsway
- John showed the committee a map of the King Edward Village site. He
reported that the new lane running adjacent to the new library will
be called "Cedar Cottage Mews".
Cool Vancouver
- Andrea introduced the Cool Vancouver initiative and encouraged the
committee to take a look at the website: www.coolvancouver.ca
- Cool Vancouver is a task force which has been working with community
members to address climate change. A Draft Community Climate Change
Action Plan is waiting for Council approval and the implementation of
it will begin thereafter.
Making Meetings Better Workshop
- Andrea reminded the committee about the upcoming "Making Meetings
Better" training workshop on Sunday, November 21st , with Eli Mina.
Next Meeting:
Thursday, December 2, 2004
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood Pub (3728 Clark)
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