TRANSCRIPT OF THE PUBLIC HEARING HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, CITY HALL, 141 WEST 14 th STREET, NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2005 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS Mayor B.A. Sharp Councillor R.C. Clark Councillor R.J. Fearnley Councillor R.N. Heywood Councillor C.R. Keating Councillor D.R. Mussatto Councillor B.W. Perrault STAFF MEMBERS A.K. Tollstam, City Manager R.G. Anderson, Acting City Clerk J.M. Rowe, Assistant City Clerk F.A. Smith, Director, Community Development K. Russell, Development Planner Re: Bylaw No. 7723 203 East 8 th Street File: 3345-02 8E 203 The Public Hearing was called to order at 7:10 p.m. Moved by Councillor Keating, seconded by THAT the meeting recess. CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY The meeting recessed at 7:11 p.m. and reconvened at 7:22 p.m. with the same personnel present. Mayor B.A. Sharp Ms. Anderson! Ms. R.G. Anderson, Acting City Clerk Thank you Your Worship. Bylaw No. 7723 is to rezone Lot 1, Block 108, D.L. 274, Plan 878, located at 203 East 8 th Street. The amending bylaw will have the effect of reclassifying the said property from RT-1 [Two-Unit Residential 1 Zone] to CD-503 [Comprehensive Development 503 Zone] to permit the development of five dwelling units in two separate buildings each consisting of two storeys plus loft. The building to the north would contain two units with one unit facing East 8 th Street and the other unit facing St. George s Avenue. The south building would contain three units facing St. George s Avenue. Underground parking for both buildings is located beneath the south building and accessed from the lane.
The applicant is MIKE FOURNOGERAKIS/TERRA FIRMA DESIGN LTD. and Council will consider this under item 8, this evening Your Worship. Miss Russell! Ms. K. Russell, Development Planner Thank you Your Worship. As mentioned this is a rezoning application for the lot that is located on the southeast corner of East 8 th and St. George s Avenue. It is a 50 x 140 lot, so a 7,000 square foot lot. It is currently occupied by a single-family home but it is located in an RT-1. That s the zoning which allows for two-family attached form and in the Official Community Plan it was designated as Level 4 which allows land use up to 1.0 through a rezoning application. As I mentioned, it is occupied by a single-family home but it is surrounded by higher density uses. To the west across St. George s is high density apartment buildings. To the north is medium density, more of a townhouse form as well as to the south and to the east, along east 8 th. Council may remember a rezoning application just recently for the lot adjacent at 207 East 8 th. That also has a single family home and the proposal which was approved is to prevent a duplex in the rear for a total of 3-units. In this application for 203 on the corner, the proposal is for five units within two buildings. The north building would contain 2 units and the south building would contain 3 and the boards on my left refer to them. You can see this is the landscape plan and site plan so this is north with East 8 th and St. George s here. The two-units at the north end, one would face to the north on East 8 th and one would face on St. George s so it wraps around the corner. The three units to the rear that is separated by a walkway and parking at the rear for off the lane for 8 cars which is the required parking under the Zoning Bylaw. It would be underground parking. The walkway does allow some visual penetration into the proposed form here that has been approved. There would be approximately a five foot set back from St. George s much like a lot lined context and about 11 ½ feet the north. The proposed density for this development is 1.03 FSR which is the maximum that can be considered under the Official Community Plan and there would be exclusions for parking underneath and cellar storage areas. The Advisory Design Panel and the Planning Commission considered this project. The Design Panel supported it as did the Planning Commission with the proviso that additional parking be provided which the applicants did comply with. Originally there was 7 proposed which was reflected in the planning report actually but it since has been changed and I believe the applicant will speak to that. Your Worship, the applicant and the architects are here to speak to the project. Thank you. City of North Vancouver Page 2 of 6 Public Hearing
Mr. Del Otten, Designer Good evening Your Worship and Council members. My name is Del Otten. I am the designer of the project. Karen has covered most of the items on the project. I d just like to go over some of the design elements which I feel are important. I ll just move over to the boards here. As Karen mentioned, we ve tried to leave a view and a light corridor between the two buildings in sympathy to the project next door. They align somewhat and it sort of reduces the massing of the project to a more residential scale. Other elements, we ve tried to repeat entrance porches and these front gables to have a repeated element not only up the St. George s side but around the front corner also. The materials for the project we want to use very natural earth materials, stone pebbles, stucco and partly plank siding for the lower section. As far as the landscaping, we are proposing to expand our landscaping and provide some boulevard trees and to soften the impact of the building massing. As Karen mentioned we re proposing to enter our underground parking only off the lane. There will be no other automobile access. Only pedestrian access off the front streets. In closing I feel that our five unit proposal will provide economic benefits to the community and be constructed in efficient manner with the latest in high efficiency equipment and materials and be a safe livable units for a mix of life styles. Thank you. Okay. Is that it. Are you done? Then, at this point I would go to members of the public because I don t have anyone signed up on the list for this. So, if there is anybody that has any comments or questions about this particular proposal at this time if they would let me know, whether you are inside or outside there. I don t see anybody. Any members of the public on this. Then I ll go to members of Council. Councillor Perrault! Councillor B.W. Perrault Yes, I have a question for the applicant. Looking at the height I noted in the proposal that the guidelines recommend 36 foot maximum and you are at 36.38 feet. Could you clarify that for me. That s the decimal. Does that mean its not quite a foot. Could you qualify what that means. Is that part of a foot..36.38 feet. That s the height of the building. Our guidelines say 36 foot maximum. So is that inches. Not audible Councillor Perrault 3 inches. Okay. And then the parking I understand has been resolved. You re now having 8 parking spaces. Not audible. City of North Vancouver Page 3 of 6 Public Hearing
Can you please come to the microphone. It s approximately a 10 foot extension to the parking. We would comply. Councillor Perrault You are complying there now. 8 parking spaces. Yes. Councillor Heywood! Councillor R.N. Heywood Thank you Your Worship. Just to follow on with that point. I remember at the APC we talked about getting additional parking and also storage for the units. You only went 10 feet more. Is it not economical to also create basement space under the other units. The front building is approximately 4 ½ feet higher. The floor elevations of the parkade and what would be the basement of the front building are not in plane so it would be difficult to do that. We are, however, proposing to put cellars under the two front buildings much like a normal single family home with full basement under it. It would be almost entirely below grade but it could be used for storage and mechanical, etc. Councillor Heywood Thank you.! Councillor R.C. Clark Yes, Your Worship, if I might ask the applicant. This is to be stratified and sold is it or is it going to be rental units. My understanding it will be built to be stratified but the owner may or may not sell them all but it will be organized and developed as a strata project. I ll ask a procedural question then of our Clerk. We received a letter from David Maclean and Sue Morgan which I believe will probably be part of the record. City of North Vancouver Page 4 of 6 Public Hearing
Ms. Anderson That s correct. They ve asked some questions there with respect to whether its rental or stratified and made note of unacceptable conditions on other properties, probably this one, before its redone. So where does that go. What are we going t do with that. Do we just file that and that s just a matter of public record. Ms. Anderson, Acting City Clerk Perhaps the Director of Community Development might be able to respond to some of those questions. Mr. Smith! Ms. Russell! Ms. Russell Through Your Worship, to. I don t have a copy of the letter in front of me unfortunately but if there is something that staff can do to follow up with the respondents then we certainly will do so. I ll give you the letter and in it its referenced what I suggest is maintenance problems. I believe its referring to this site before its redeveloped and I m just wondering what recourse we would have to rectify some of those. Ms. Russell Your Worship to. If its referring as you say to poor maintenance about the house and the garage it would be our hope through this redevelopment that the conditions would be improved. I believe its been a rental property, the developer can respond to that, but for a while, and would likely be redeveloped to a standard that we would hope effect for quality in the City. Okay, thank you. I see no other speakers on this. Did you want to speak Councillor Mussatto? Then, I ll ask for a motion to recess the Public Hearing. Councillor Mussatto! City of North Vancouver Page 5 of 6 Public Hearing
Councillor D.R. Mussatto So moved. Councillor Keating! Councillor C.R. Keating Second. All those in favour, contrary, carried unanimously. Moved by Councillor Mussatto, seconded by Councillor Keating THAT the Public Hearing conclude. CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY The Public Hearing concluded at 7:35 p.m. Certified a true and accurate transcript of the Public Hearing Robyn G. Anderson, Acting City Clerk Date City of North Vancouver Page 6 of 6 Public Hearing