West End Neighbours for a community plan

West End Residents want a vision and comprehensive plan for Vancouver’s West End. Spot rezonings threaten the quality of life, and the unique and distinctive character of our neighbourhood. (Image: The “hotspot” watch list for developments in West End) Read more.

Shadow analysis of 1401 Comox proposal shows 22-storey tower will have major impacts on community

WEN’s petition, signed by thousands, calls for a halt to rezonings until our community has a comprehensive plan. The West End community planning process is starting to move forward, but some major rezoning/development applications are still in the pipeline. The controversial 22-storey tower proposal at 1401 Comox Street (site of St. John’s Church) is one of them. An independent architect has created and shared for the public two videos that model the shadows of the proposed building  on March 21 and June 21. The West End community is encouraged to notice the difference in shadow impacts on the neighbourhood and nearby park area between the proposed tower at 7.14 floor space ratio (FSR) being requested and a 1.5 FSR five-storey building (which the current site zoning allows as the maximum density). The usual shadow studies as required by the City concentrate on the larger context. They lack the focus on any specific area. In this case the adjacent mini park as a public amenity needs to be studied more carefully to understand the actual impact of the proposed project. The following movies and images simply provide that extra information to gain a better understanding.

Residents should note that the shadow impact is still quite strong in the afternoon, when the mini-park on Broughton Street is used by the community and children from Gordon Neighbourhood House. We believe that the public open house on February 9, 2012, may not have provided the full information on shadow impacts.

After reviewing these images, concerned residents may wish to write Mayor and Council with their thoughts on this rezoning application, and prepare to speak to the rezoning public hearing when the date is announced. You may also wish to write to the Planning Department (details here at bottom of web page) requesting clarifications. If you have not yet provided written comments to the City, you may do so ASAP using the online feedback form.

Still images of the shadows are provided below:

On Feb 22, the 1401 Comox design (St John’s Church site) goes back to Urban Design Panel

In the next step toward a public hearing for the rezoning of 1401 Comox Street, the slightly-revised design for this project returns to the Urban Design Panel on February 22, 2012, at 5:15 pm (see  agenda), in the Town Hall Meeting Room, 1st Floor at City Hall. A public Open House for this item was held on February 9, with a turnout of about 300 people. This proposal is for a 22-storey residential tower with 186 market-priced rental units on the site where a church stood for over a hundred years. The entire project is still being processed under the now-defunct Short-Term Incentives for Rental Housing (STIR) program, which WEN has pointed out to the City is legally flawed.

Westbank, Peterson and Henriquez continue to ignore West End residents with 1401 Comox proposal

The architect and developers for 1401 Comox continue to dismiss concerns of West End residents about their massive building proposed for 1401 Comox Street. Little has changed since their initial proposal ignited a controversy in the community almost two years ago. This newest proposal still requests a huge increase in density (from an FSR of 1.5 to 7.14) to accommodate development of a 22–storey market rental residential tower with 180 apartments and 6 townhouses at ground level.

So what has changed from the original proposal submitted to the City in March 22, 2010? Not much.

• The total building height has been slightly reduced from 66 m (216.5 ft.) to 61 m (200 ft.) by eliminating the rooftop amenity space and deck.
• The vehicle parking spaces have been reduced from 81 to 79 spaces (a parking ratio of 0.4 parking spaces per dwelling unit).
• The top 15 floors of the tower have been somewhat altered in an attempt to reduce shadowing on the neighbouring Broughton Mini-Park.
• The number of ground floor townhouses has been increased from 4 to 6.
• After promising community groups space, the 3,500 square foot community facility (shared by “Qmunity” and Gordon Neighbourhood House) has been removed from the development.
• There are larger setbacks on the west and east property lines because the community space building has been removed and the proposed tower has been shifted slightly to the west.

All said – they have not substantially moved from their original redevelopment proposal.

The details of the current application and the previous two versions of this proposal are here. You can fill out the online form to express your opinions about the development here.

Attend the Community Open House
Thursday, February 9, 2012
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Coast Plaza Hotel, Nelson Room
1763 Comox Street

There are numerous issues that surround this proposal and questions that the City needs to address.

Open house Feb. 9 about 1401 Comox Street: Revised proposal for controversial development

The City of Vancouver Planning Department has posted information about the revised development application for the 1401 Comox Street site (former St. John’s Church). The application was submitted to the City on November 30, 2011.

An Open House has been scheduled to allow the public to view the project plans, to ask questions and to share their opinions about the proposal.

The Open House will be held:
Thursday, February 9, 2012
5:00 – 8:00 pm
Coast Plaza Hotel, Nelson Room
1763 Comox Street (just east of Denman)

We encourage residents to attend the open house to share your opinions about the proposed development and what you think would be appropriate for this site. The details about the current proposal are available on the City’s website here.

You can download these information sheets to share with neighbours, family and friends:

1401 Comox-Things to Consider, February, 2012
Open House Notice – 1401 Comox Street, February 2012

Pacific Palisades story on YouTube. Hotel conversion creates rentals, re-uses buildings in the West End

This video shows the past, present, and future of the Pacific Palisades rental conversion project on Robson Street in Vancouver’s West End (4 minutes). Until recently, the buildings were operating as a hotel but soon the conversion to rental units will be completed. West End Neighbours supported this rezoning when it went to City Council months ago. It shows an alternative way to create rental units, and an environmentally sustainable approach to re-use existing buildings. When it opens, it will provide 234 rental suites at no cost to taxpayers. Project website: http://www.pacificpalisades.ca/

These will be one-bedroom units (dishwasher, but no in-suite laundry) starting at $1500 a month. Parking and storage lockers are available at an additional charge.

We contrast this re-use approach with the City’s STIR program which gave incentives to developers to create potentially expensive market rental apartments, and has resulted in considerable disruptions and controversy in the West End. Given that market rents for STIR units are likely to be in the same price range ($1500 per month and up) for a one bedroom, it’s questionable whether this disruption is a fair trade-off.

City of Vancouver hosts stakeholder workshop on West End planning process

On Saturday January 28, the City of Vancouver will hold a workshop for stakeholders with an interest in the community plan process for the West End.

WEN will be represented at the workshop and a total of twenty-one stakeholder groups have confirmed attendance including representatives from organizations such as St. Paul’s Hospital, the West End Seniors’ Network, the Urban Development Institute and Gordon Neighbourhood House.

We believe that WEN has the potential to play an important role in the planning process for the West End by raising awareness of the issues, promoting meaningful engagement, and encouraging education on relevant topics, such as zoning, planning and the development approval process.

WEN’s petition on “no rezoning without a comprehensive plan” stated that:
“I request in the event of considering general or site-specific land use and/or West End zoning changes, that these include meaningful consultation with residents, protect existing neighbourhood liveability, and respect/maintain the character of the neighbourhood. We need a comprehensive plan, not site-by-site rezoning.”

WEN will be encouraging meaningful consultation with residents calling for protection of existing neighbourhood liveability and for the need to respect and maintain the character of the neighbourhood.

For more information about the workshop, the planning process and potential issues, see West End Planning Process.

Background on the City’s planning program is located here.

Mount Pleasant’s Rize tower development may hold lessons for the West End in implementation of a Community Plan

West End residents should keep an eye on what is going on in Mount Pleasant in the coming weeks.

A critical development project was presented at a quietly-organized open house about a controversial development project being proposed for the corner of Kingsway and East Broadway. This project is significant for all taxpayers, neighbourhoods and citizens, as it reveals serious problems at the nexus of community planning processes, developers, the City’s Planning Department, and the city’s housing-related policies. It may have many lessons  for the West End.

City’s official website:
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/rezoning/applications/228-246ebway/index.htm

Open house for the Rize tower development at Kingsway & Broadway
When: Tuesday January 17, 2012
Time: 5:30-6:00 pm Open House
6:00-8:00 pm Presentation and Discussion 
Where: Heritage Hall, 3102 Main St. (near 15th Ave)

Residents Association Mount Pleasant (rampvancouver.com) provides extensive info and analysis of the project.

The West End has begun a million-dollar community planning process, with an invitation-only workshop to finalize the terms of reference to be held on January 28. And the West End is reeling from three major STIR (developer incentives to build market-priced rental housing) projects — one approved and two still in the pipeline.