1.

Minutes

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Development Permit Panel held on June 28, 2006 be adopted.

CARRIED

2.

DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 05-309265
(Report: July 10, 2006 File No.: 05-309265)   (REDMS No. 1996355)

APPLICANT:

Burrowes and Huggins Architects

PROPERTY LOCATION:

10688 No. 6 Road (formerly 14060 Triangle Road)

INTENT OF PERMIT: To permit the construction of a hotel of approximately 5,525 m² (59,500 sq. ft.) with approximately 104 rooms at 10688 No. 6 Road (formerly 14060 Triangle Road) on a site zoned “Athletics and Entertainment District (AE)”.

Applicant’s Comments

Mr. Philip Burrowes, Applicant/Project Architect, advised that the project is a hotel of approximately 59,500 sq. feet, with 105 rooms, and is located at the corner of No. 6 Road and Triangle Roads, on the western edge of the Riverport Entertainment District. The entrance to the proposed hotel is from No. 6 Road through an easement to the south of the hotel, and not directly from No. 6 Road

The facilities on the ground floor of the hotel include a main lobby with a high ceiling, a breakfast area, small meeting rooms, a pool, and service space. Upper floors have hotel rooms along corridors.

The proposed hotel has been set on the site so that the building comes out to No. 6 Road, with the parking spaces behind the hotel, facing the west wall of the skating rink that is situated adjacent to the hotel. The hotel has been sited to give it some presence and to try to address the street. A courtyard feeling has been developed where the L-shaped hotel wraps around the parking area. Landscaping will assist in breaking up the parking area into smaller parking portions.

Other buildings in the area are large and this was taken into consideration when the proposed hotel was designed. The applicant/architect felt he had to respond to the scale of the surrounding buildings and has developed a hotel that reflects some of the flavour of the larger buildings but at the same time has included some smaller scale elements into his design. These elements include: stucco running horizontally along the lower floors, the building is slightly higher at the corners, the top floor is broken up with bays that have bris-soleil of heavy timber brackets and steel, the windows are all articulated, the trellis on the top floor is repeated on the lower floor and again at the main entrance, and around the pool

The building will feature an earth-tone palette, and a range of cladding materials and such components as timber, metal panels, stucco and timber and steel trellising.

Mr. Burrowes stated that the washrooms in the hotel units allow for wheelchair manoeuvring. There are 6 units for hearing impaired guests, and 3 of these are also designed for the physically disabled.

Stamped concrete and pavers were included in the landscape treatment. 

To minimize light spillage onto adjacent sites, the parking lot lighting will be oriented directly into the hotel’s parking lot and will be pedestrian oriented.

There are no existing trees on the site. Landscaping elements include: trees and shrubs planted and maintained around the perimeter of parking lots; extensive plantings of ground cover and ornamental grasses, and a small water fall feature.

Staff Comments

Jean Lamontagne, Director of Development, stated that no variance in the zoning on the site is required.

Correspondence

None.

Gallery Comments

None.

Panel Discussion

In response to a query from the Panel, regarding the access easement vs. vehicle access directly off No. 6 Road, staff responded that there was an existing access to No. 6 Road that was adjacent to the site and would be used by the hotel through an easement.  The entrance to the site of the proposed hotel was modified a little to provide for queuing and stacking so that access and egress would be easier at peak times.

In response to queries from the Chair Mr. Burrowes advised:

·      

that nothing has been done to date to prevent skateboarding activity on the site;

·      

that a service room on the ground floor could accommodate visitors’ bicycles for safe storage;

·      

that service rooms on the ground floor that are accessible from both the outside and from the interior corridor would be used to store sports equipment when teams are accommodated at the proposed hotel;

·      

teams that would stay at the proposed hotel would be able to leave their vehicles parked at the hotel and would use a footpath from the hotel to the parking lot of the adjacent rink and the pedestrian path to the entertainment precinct would be illuminated and emphasized during the working drawings;

The Chair advised that Mr. Burrowes consider the possibility that when hotel guests walk from the hotel to the rink they will probably create their own footpath, and thereby damage landscaping features that are planted between the rink and the hotel parking lot.

Panel Decision

It was moved and seconded

That a Development Permit be issued which would permit the construction of a hotel of approximately 5,525 m² (59,500 ft²) with approximately 105 rooms at 10688 No. 6 Road (formerly 14060 Triangle Road) on a site zoned “Athletics and Entertainment District (AE)”.

CARRIED

3.

New Business

None.

4.

Date of Next Meeting: Wednesday, July 26, 2006

5.

Adjournment

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting be adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

CARRIED

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Development Permit Panel of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Thursday, July 20, 2006.

_________________________________

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Cathy Volkering Carlile
Chair

Sheila Johnston
Committee Clerk