November 10, 2021 - Minutes

Time:

3:30 p.m.

Place:

Remote (Zoom) Meeting

Present:

Miton Chan, Director, Engineering, Acting Chair 
Cecilia Achiam, General Manager, Community Safety 
Peter Russell, Director, Sustainability and District Energy

Minutes

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Development Permit Panel held on October 27, 2021 be adopted.

CARRIED

1.

DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 18-838656 
(REDMS No. 6742472)

APPLICANT:

ZGET Holdings Corp.

PROPERTY LOCATION:

6031 Blundell Road

INTENT OF DEVELOPMENT PERMIT:

1.

Permit the construction of a two-storey building totalling approximately 728 m² in area, containing retail uses on the ground floor and offices above at 6031 Blundell Road, on a site zoned “Community Commercial (CC)”; and

2.

Vary the provisions of Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500 to:

(a)

reduce the minimum west interior side yard from 6.0 m to 0.15 m;

(b)

increase the maximum building height from 9.0 m to 9.6 m for rooftop mechanical equipment and screening; and

(c)

allow eight of the 17 on-site parking spaces to be small car parking spaces.

Applicant’s Comments

Eric Law, Eric Law Architect, with the aid of a visual presentation (attached to and forming part of these Minutes as Schedule 1), provided background information on the proposed development, including its site context, site layout, and architectural form and character, highlighting the following:

§   

all existing on-site mature trees as well as off-site trees on neighbouring properties and street trees will be retained and protected;

§   

the location of the two-storey building and the proposed west interior side yard setback variance would result in a larger separation from retained trees and the existing neighbouring residential property to the east;

§   

accessible pathways are provided to/from storefront entries, lobby and accessible parking space;

§   

the existing driveway crossing on the subject site will be retained;

§   

at-grade covered and outdoor surface parking spaces are proposed;

§   

clear glazing is proposed for the front elevation of the building to animate the street;

§   

a heat pump system is proposed to be located on the building rooftop and a height variance is proposed to provide acoustical screening around the heat pump units; and

§   

a canopy is proposed to wrap around the ground floor of the building to provide weather protection for pedestrians.

Denitsa Dimitrova, PMG Landscape Architects, provided an overview of the proposed landscaping for the project, noting that (i) the landscape plan has been designed to incorporate existing on-site, neighbouring off-site trees, and street trees, (ii) the existing on-site grade has been retained, (iii) all construction work within the Tree Protection zones will be done under the supervision of an arborist to protect the retained trees, (iv) proposed planting for the site includes three medium-sized trees, a variety of shrubs, perennials, grasses and groundcovers, (v) wood fencing is proposed along portions of the perimeter of the site to provide privacy from neighbouring properties, and (vi) permeable pavers are proposed for the drive aisle, on-site pedestrian pathways and surface parking area.

Staff Comments

Wayne Craig, Director, Development, noted that (i) there is a Servicing Agreement associated with the project for site servicing and frontage works, (ii) staff commends the applicant’s efforts to retain on-site and off-site trees, (iii) as a result of the proposed interior side yard setback, the proposed building would abut the east façade of the adjacent building to the west, (iv) flashing will be installed to hide the gap between the proposed building and the adjacent building to the west, (v) the building height variance is proposed to provide acoustical screening around the rooftop heat pump units, and (vi) the proposed parking variance is a technical variance and the proposed eight small car parking spaces constitute less than 50 percent of the total on-site parking spaces, which is consistent with the intent of the Zoning Bylaw.

Panel Discussion

In reply to a query from the Panel, Mr. Law acknowledged that (i) the proposed patio space and bench in front of the commercial/retail space is not associated with restaurant use, and (ii) the number of on-site parking spaces in the proposed development would not be able to meet the parking requirements for commercial buildings with restaurants.

In reply to a query from the Panel, Mr. Craig noted that the patio space could be used for commercial uses such as an outdoor coffee shop subject to the proposed development meeting the required number of on-site parking spaces for such use.

Gallery Comments

None.

Correspondence

None.

Panel Discussion

The Panel expressed appreciation for the project’s site layout, the building’s separation from neighbouring properties to the north and east, and good integration with existing neighbouring developments.

Panel Decision

It was moved and seconded

That a Development Permit be issued which would:

1.

permit the construction of a two-storey building totalling approximately 728 m² in area, containing retail uses on the ground floor and offices above at 6031 Blundell Road, on a site zoned “Community Commercial (CC)”; and

2.

vary the provisions of Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500 to:

(a)

reduce the minimum west interior side yard from 6.0 m to 0.15 m;

(b)

increase the maximum building height from 9.0 m to 9.6 m for rooftop mechanical equipment and screening; and

(c)

allow eight of the 17 on-site parking spaces to be small car parking spaces.

CARRIED

2.

Date of Next Meeting:  November 24, 2021

3.

Adjournment

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting be adjourned at 3:49 p.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 Wednesday, November 10, 2021.

_______________________________

_____________________________

Milton Chan 
Acting Chair

Rustico Agawin 
Committee Clerk