We will begin the heritage tour at Quebec Manor located at 7th and Quebec Street at 1pm. This tour of the neighbourhood is list as one of the Jane’s Walk events on the weekend of May 4-5 (see link here).

Description

Join us for a trip down memory lane with a Heritage Walk in Mount Pleasant, Vancouver’s original suburb. Find out about the urban design principles that shaped the evolution of this historic neighbourhood.

In addition to visiting landmark buildings such as the 101 year-old Quebec Manor, the Lee Building, the tour will touch Belvedere Court, Ashnola Apartments, Crosbie Block, Wenonah Apartments and the Royal Bank’s building. Other points of interest are apartment blocks on Quebec Street, a few rowhouses, Brewery Creek and Watson Street.

The tour will conclude at a local coffee shop – please feel free to join us after the walk!

Walk Leader

Urban Design Specialist Lewis N. Villegas is a resident of Mount Pleasant. He has studied the history and evolution of the neighbourhood over the years, and has explored how urban design principles apply to Mount Pleasant. Lewis Villegas is a regular guest speaker and lecturer appearing at a number of events around the region such as the City Shaping Growth and Land Use Workshop held in North Vancouver earlier this year. His work is focused on creating livable density and Villegas has blogged on the website SUNN Vancouver: Historic Quartiers and on his own site lewisnvillegas.wordpress.com.

Robert McNutt has lived and worked in Mount Pleasant for 19 years. He is an avid antique collector and has done significant original research on Vancouver’s Heritage.

This walk is done in coordination with Residents Association Mount Pleasant (RAMP). RAMP can be contacted at info[at]rampvancouver.com.

There will be a City sponsored Open House for the rezoning of 2290 Main Street (Main & 7^th)

to 99 feet (9 storeys) and a density of 4.92 Floor Space Ratio.

The date, time and location are:

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
4:30 – 7:30 p.m. (drop-in)

NEC Native Education College, 285 East 5^th Avenue

FILL OUT THE OPEN HOUSE FORM – READ BELOW FIRST

Here is a summary of why RAMP doesn’t think the proposal works on this corner of Main Street:

Current zoning allows a 4 storey (12.2 m) podium at the street-front with an additional 2 storeys set back from the street for a total building height of 18 meters and 6 storeys.

This building should not be taller than 6 storeys with a density in line with current zoning of 3.0 FSR. When additional height and density goes up on one property it forces the price of land up on properties around it and the taxes increase. Land goes up, taxes go up and rents go up.

The Mount Pleasant Community Plan says, Section 5.2 says, “Allow up to 6 storeys for mixed use developments along Main Street from 2nd to 7th Avenues; investigate permitting additional height during plan implementation (see Section 6.1 c)”

Section 6.1 says, “They also expressed concerns about allowing buildings above 6 storeys at the intersections of Main Street with 2nd Avenue and with 7th Avenue.”

The Rezoning Policy for Main 2^nd to 7^th Avenues is the Industrial Lands Policies and it states:

For any rezoning applications, the following conditions will be considered before land is released from industrial uses:

(a) Compatibility of Proposed Land Uses with Existing Industrial Activity

The proposed development should not affect the operations of adjacent existing and potential future industrial activity in the area. The proposed development should not increase land values of surrounding industrial land.

(b) Land Use Suitability for Alternate Land Uses

The proposed development should comply with relevant planning policies such as Central Area Plan, Artist “live/work” Studio Policy, etc.

(c) Environmental Impacts

The proposed development should comply with relevant legislation concerning environmental impacts and mitigation measures.

Proposed rezoning development: 275 Kingsway (NE corner of 11^th and Kingsway)
Requested height: 12 storeys, 127 ft (38.7 m)  Requested density: 8.88 FSR (figures based on concept shown on December 13, 2012) Open House: March 12, 2013 (details below)

FACTS

This location is zoned for a base building height of 30 feet (9.14 m) and a density of 1.0 FSR.

Through relaxations in existing zoning the density could be increased to as much as 3.0 FSR.

The City’s new rezoning policy of October 2012 allows

• new development on arterials with 100% rental to build up to a maximum of 6 storeys.
• the density must match existing density which is 3.0 FSR in new buildings surrounding this site.

This proposal is for a 12 storey, 127 ft (38.7 m) building at a density of 8.88 FSR where 100% of the residential floor space will be rental (height & density figures from Dec 13th, 2012 concept).

The BC Residential Tenancy Branch can permit a residential tenancy landlord an additional rent increase above inflation if the rent for his rental unit is significantly lower than that of similar units in the area.

If the rents in this new building are higher than the rents in the area then the landlord can raise the rent in your building.

Generally the rents are higher on the upper floors.  If the buildings are kept to 6 storeys rents will be less.

CONCLUSION

This development should not be allowed higher than a maximum of 6 storeys (18 m) and 3.0 FSR (the current allowed FSR for the area).

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

There is an Open House for this project on Tuesday March 12, 2013 from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. (drop-in) at the Native Education College, 285 East 5 Avenue.

Please attend this Open House and fill-in the comment form. Please note that under existing zoning any new building should be built to a maximum 6 storeys or 18 metres and to a density of 3.0 FSR at this site.

The Board of Variance will review this proposal on April 10, 2013. Update: A relaxation will be sought to increase the height to 48.05ft and an increase in the number of storeys to five. Residents can sign up to speak to the board by emailing or calling the Board Secretary.

A development application has been submitted to the City of Vancouver to construct a 5-storey building with market condo units and retail (at grade) at the northwest corner of Broadway and Carolina Street. An existing shopping plaza with a small parking lot already exists at the location.

This is not a rezoning and as such the proposed development will not go to council. Rather, it will go through the normal development permit application. The site is zoned as C2-C, a designation that allows for the density requested (2.4FSR). A height of 10.7 metres (35′) is allowed outright, and the maximum height of 13.8m (45′) and 4 storeys is the maximum stated height in the bylaw. A variance will be sought to request height above the 45′ (for an approximate additional 2-3 feet, elevations show additional details). The north laneway section of the building is 5-storeys while the Broadway side is designed to be 4-storeys to account for a change in grade.

The project has not yet been scheduled to go to the Board of Variance for review.

The Urban Design Panel (UDP) voted for non-support (2-7) of the project on October 24, 2012 as recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The results of a UDP meeting are non-binding.

Further information on the proposal can be found on the City of Vancouver’s website at this link: 2477 Carolina Street – DE415819. City staff have confirmed that they will continue to allow for public input to be made until a decision is made (contact: Darren Lee, Project Coordinator, darren.lee@vancouver.ca, 604.871.6703)

We’ve noted to city staff that there is an issue with signage. The only sign about the development permit is located on the Carolina Street side. There is no signage on the much busier Broadway facing side to inform residents passing by about the submitted Development Permit Application.

Further photos of the site follow:

Walk description for May 6th, 2012:

Come join Robert McNutt and RAMP for a free Heritage Walk in Mount Pleasant on Sunday May6th, from 1pm to 3pm.

Robert McNutt has lived and worked in Mount Pleasant for 18 years. He is an avid antique collector and has done significant original research on Vancouver’s heritage. The walk will also be assisted by Lewis N. Villegas, SFU professor and trained architect whose work is focused on livable density. We will begin the heritage tour at Quebec Manor located at 7th and Quebec Street at 1pm on Sunday May 6th.

Description
Join us for a trip down memory lane with a Heritage Walk in Mount Pleasant, Vancouver’s original suburb. In addition to visiting landmark buildings such as the 100 year-old Quebec Manor, the Lee Building and Heritage Hall, the tour will touch Belvedere Court, Ashnola Apartments, Crosbie Block, Wenonah Apartments, the Royal Bank’s building, the Brewery, Williams Block and Watson Street. Mention will be made of the Vancouver Tannery, the original No. 3 Firehall, Mount Pleasant School, and Brewery Creek. Participants will be encouraged to share their views on heritage retention and/or adaptation in order to make our community as vibrant, livable, and affordable as it can be. The tour will conclude at Heritage Hall and JJ Bean Coffee House around 3pm. Please join us for coffee after the tour.

This Heritage Walk is registered as one of many Jane’s Walks in 2012 in the Vancouver Area:

http://janeswalk.net/walks/view/heritage_walk_in_mount_pleasant_uptown/

Jane Jacobs is the celebrated author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her influence on city planning is still felt 50 years after the publication of her landmark work.

“You’ve got to get out and walk” – Jane Jacobs

Most importantly, we’d like to thank so many of our supporters over the last year. The level of discussions and the scope and breadth of the public hearing would not have been possible without strong grassroots support.

We’ve reproduced a Thank You letter from a community member below:

Vancouver Transportation Policy: Where the Rubber hits the Road (video includes city staff comments and footage of truck maneuvering along 10th and Watson)

CTV new coverage:

Watson Street fails truck route test

On Friday afternoon at 1:30 PM Residents Association Mount Pleasant put the acid test to the route that City Engineering and Rize Alliance have decided will serve as a lane to receive large delivery trucks, historic Watson Street. To accomplish this they hired a semi trailer and professional driver. When he got to the location he appeared to be shocked. There was a lot of congestion with cyclists, pedestrians and other vehicles.
In making the turn from 10th Avenue onto Watson Street he had to stop half way then back up, his wheels then went onto the sidewalk and he barely cleared the building. All the time bikes were whizzing by and cars were piled up waiting.

Watson Street was very tight; it would have been a nightmare if he had encountered another truck from one of the proposed loading bays or cars from the 320 parking stalls in the design.

After a lengthy wait for traffic and pedestrians the truck was finally able to make the right turn onto Broadway. To complete the turn the driver had to use 3-1/2 lanes, crossing over the centre line into the oncoming centre lane.

An attempt to enter Watson Street from the other direction did not go any better, the truck ended up getting stuck and a tow truck had to be called to move a parked vehicle.

Conclusion: The proposed truck entry and exit routes both pose serious problems, not only for the trucks themselves, but for cars, pedestrians on Broadway and for cyclists on the 10th Avenue bike route. Add this to the long list of reasons this development should be rejected.

MEDIA RELEASE

Live demo Friday the 13th, on 10^th Avenue to test safety risks of large trucks versus cyclists before Rize 19-storey tower rezoning decision

(Vancouver, April 12, 2012) Can trucks mix with cyclists and pedestrians on crowded neighbourhood streets?  Leading up to the April 17 Council Decision on a rezoning application by Rize Alliance for a 19-storey tower and commercial development at the corner of Kingsway and Broadway, Residents Association Mount Pleasant (RAMP) will hold a demonstration of the risks posed by transport trucks competing for space with cyclists and pedestrians on Vancouver’s most popular bicycle route.

What: Live demonstration of transport truck navigating turns on busy street, competing with pedestrians and cyclists.
Media and observers are welcome, and there will be opportunities to take photos and video.
When:        1:20 – 1:40pm, Friday, April 13, 2012
Where: 10th Avenue, just east of Main Street at Watson Street

A professional driving school has been hired, complete with truck and driver, to demonstrate the challenges facing a driver attempting to deliver produce and merchandise into narrow Watson Street between 10th Avenue and Broadway in the community of Mount Pleasant.  The Rize rezoning application proposes to use Watson Street as the only access point for large truck deliveries and for cars going to one of 320 proposed parking spaces on three levels of underground parking. With over 94,000 square feet of proposed retail space on two levels in a 48 foot podium covering almost the entire site, many service vehicles are expected to use the multi-truck loading bay, if the development is approved.

Cyclists and pedestrians would have to navigate this additional traffic and the dangers posed by large trucks turning from 10th Avenue into Watson Street and from Watson Street onto Broadway, an issue raised by a number of speakers during the Rize Rezoning Public Hearing but not adequately addressed by the proponent or City staff. The hazards and impacts of 18 months of cement mixers, excavation trucks and other construction traffic for such a large project on the cross-town 10th Avenue bikeway would also be profound. With this demonstration, RAMP plans to document the hazards of the proposal, for the public record.

Stephen Bohus says “This site is completely unsuitable for large scale commercial retail and for large truck and heavy vehicular traffic on 10th and Watson Street. By removing most of the retail except for a row of stores along Broadway, you can remove the podium, and create a far more realistic development within the current zoning for the property that fits in with the scale and character of the neighbourhood.”

The Residents Association Mount Pleasant (RAMP) is a non-profit coalition of volunteers who recognize the unique character of the community and strive to maintain this special neighbourhood.

The illustrations below show other possible conflicts with 10th Avenue as a cyclist route approximately 18 months of construction traffic. Translink also uses 10th between Kingsway and Main as a short turn route.

Videos of excavation trucks at work:

Arbutus Ridge Citizens Association (ARCA)

download pdf

False Creek Residents Association (NEFC)

download pdf

Grandview-Woodland Area Council (GWAC)

download pdf

North West Point Grey Home Owners’/ West Point Grey Resident’s Associations (NWPGHOA)

download pdf

Riley Park/South Cambie (RPSC) Community Vision Steering Committee

download pdf

West End Neighbours (WEN)

download pdf

Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver (NSV)

download pdf

Residents Association Mount Pleasant is opposed to the current Rize Alliance proposal for CD-1 rezoning at Broadway and Kingsway.

Our position is consistent with the petition signed by 2671 persons to date as submitted to the City of Vancouver.  Generally, we request that the application be referred back for redesign under the existing current C-3A Zoning Bylaw, Central Broadway C3A Urban Design Guidelines, Mount Pleasant Community Plan, and with demonstrated community support.  Please see the petition wording as follows:

WE ARE OPPOSED TO A REZONING PROPOSAL TO ALLOW AN EXCESSIVELY HIGH TOWER AT 180 KINGSWAY / 228 – 246 EAST BROADWAY BECAUSE:

• It does not preserve Mount Pleasant’s historic character.  It will destroy the human-scale feeling of the area.
• It sets a precedent that will lead to more high-rise projects of this magnitude in the neighbourhood.
• It creates loading bays on Watson Street that will negatively impact pedestrians and bikes.
• It would cast long shadows on buildings and the streets to the north.  The open space within the project would be shadowed by the tall buildings.
• It does not respect the City’s guidelines for C-3A.
• Public and private views of the mountains would be lost.

WE REQUEST:

• That development be consistent with the current scale of the properties surrounding the “Heritage Heart” of Mount Pleasant.
• That Council consider an increase to the allowed height and density from 9.2 m (30 feet) to no more than 21.3 m (70 feet) with a high-low massing rhythm of up to a maximum 21.3 m (70 foot) tower surrounded by 2 to 4 storey buildings and an increase in the floor space ratio (FSR) from 1.00 to no more than 3.00.

BENEFITS:

• These recommendations respect the new Mount Pleasant Community Plan to increase height and density while maintaining the look and feel of the area and keeping the human-friendly scale of the buildings surrounding the Heritage Heart of our community.
• If the developer chose wood frame construction it would decrease the cost to build and thereby promote affordability.  Wood frame construction is also better for the environment than concrete and glass towers.
• The form of development we are advocating will have less impact on land values, property taxes and rents in the neighbourhood, resulting in less displacement of low-income residents and small businesses.

The Rize proposal does NOT conform to the Mount Pleasant Community Plan: The Rize site reference in the Community Plan only says that it can accommodate more height and density, but unlike the other two large sites, the plan doesn’t suggest that it be rezoned.  On page 25-26 of the Community Plan under “Large Sites”, the sections referring to The Kingsgate Mall and the IGA sites say, “Pursue additional density and height beyond that permitted under the current zoning”.  However, the section referring to the Rize site does not mention rezoning, and instead says, “Support the design of an iconic (landmark) building when granting permission for higher buildings”.  The additional height and density can be provided through the site’s existing C-3A Zoning Bylaw that conditionally allows increases from 1.0 FSR with 30 feet height, to 3.0 FSR with 70 feet height.  Under the C-3A zoning this increase has to be earned through design performance. Iconic should be based on quality of design not on extra large size.

Requirements for Increased Height and Density:

Under the current C-3A Zoning there are requirements to increase the height from 30 feet to 70 feet the City must first consider:

a) the intent of the district schedule, all applicable policies and guidelines and the relationship of the development with nearby residential area

b) the height, bulk, location and overall design of the building and its effect on the site, surrounding buildings and streets and existing views

c) the amount of open space, including plazas, and the effects of overall design on the general amenity of the area

d) the provision for pedestrian needs

e) the preservation of the character and general amenity desired or the area

f) the submission of any advisory group, property owner or tenant.

C-3A Zoning says that to increase density from 1.0 FSR to 3.0 FSR the City must first consider:
a), b), c), d), above as well as the effect of the development on traffic in the area and the design and livability of any dwelling uses.

The above have not been reflected in the current plan, so therefore, Rize has not earned the height and density based on all the above criteria.

Central Broadway C3A Urban Design Guidelines: The Guidelines say for this site, “New development should be built to a height that matches significant older buildings up to six storeys (70 feet) in height.” and “Maintain and enhance the view corridor to the north from Main and 12th by means of a descending scale of building heights with the Lee Building at Main and Broadway as the highpoint and 7th Avenue as the low point”, and  “Ensure that existing significant reference points in the Broadway area (the Lee Building) are not obstructed by adjacent building heights” and “Higher buildings should be permitted immediately adjacent to the ‘gateway’ or arrival point (Main & 12th) to ‘frame’ the view, but development should be reduced in height from this point (or terraced down with the slope of a hill) to allow for the widening of views as the bridges are approached”.  These are only a few quotes from the existing guidelines which show this project has not met the design criteria for the area.

In conclusion: We request that Council refer the applicant’s proposal back for redesign conforming to the existing C-3A Zoning Bylaw, Central Broadway C3A Urban Design Guidelines, Mount Pleasant Community Plan, and with demonstrated community support.

Residents Association Mount Pleasant (RAMP)
www.rampvancouver.com