December 13, 2023 - Minutes

Time:

3:30 p.m.

Place:

Remote (Zoom) Meeting

Present:

Joe Erceg, General Manager, Planning and Development, 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 November 29, 2023 be adopted.

CARRIED

1.

DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 23-025993

(REDMS No. 7412868)

APPLICANT:

Anthony Boni (Boni Maddison Architects)

PROPERTY LOCATION:

4831 Steveston Highway

INTENT OF PERMIT:

1.

Permit the construction of a three-storey 25-unit affordable rental housing building at 4831 Steveston Highway on a site zoned “Low Rise Rental Apartment (ZLR48) – Steveston Highway (Steveston)”; and

2.

Vary the provisions of Richmond Zoning Bylaw No 8500 to allow 37 per cent of the required vehicle parking spaces to be small car spaces.

Applicant’s Comments

Anthony Boni, Boni Maddison Architects, 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, highlighting the following:

§   

the proposed supportive housing project includes 25 affordable rental apartment units with 10 two-bedroom units and 15 studio units;

§   

the building’s form and character is consistent with its intended use and residential neighbourhood context;

§   

the proposed building is sited and designed to provide an appropriate interface with the neighbouring townhouse development to the west and the Railway Greenway to the east and takes into consideration the existing Right-of-Way for the sanitary force main along the east edge of the subject site;

§   

the subject site grade will be raised above existing grade to comply with the City’s Flood Construction Level requirement for the building; the southern portion of the site will require retaining walls to be installed along portions of the west property line and adjacent to the sanitary sewer Right-of-way along the east property line;

§   

semi-transparent fencing is proposed along the perimeter of the subject site and in order to provide screening to outdoor amenity areas; 

§   

the project includes 14 Basic Universal Housing (BUH) units, two of which are fully accessible;

§   

common indoor and outdoor amenity areas are proposed to provide opportunities for covered and outdoor seating, relaxing, dining, urban agriculture gardening, and children’s play, among others;

§   

vehicle access is located as far west as possible from the corner of Steveston Highway and Railway Avenue;

§   

the project includes indoor and outdoor bicycle parking; and

§   

office, programming amenity spaces will be provided to support the tenants that will be housed in the proposed building.

Kristin Defer, ETA Landscape Architecture, with the aid of the same visual presentation, briefed the Panel on the proposed landscaping for the project, noting that (i) the proposed common amenity spaces are distributed in different areas, (ii) the outdoor amenity deck is located adjacent to the indoor amenity space, (iii) a row of trees will be installed on the west side to provide privacy from neighbours, (iv) a flowering feature tree is proposed at the front of the building entrance, (v) flowering trees are also proposed at the south edge to provide a welcoming experience for people entering the subject site, and (vi) native and low-maintenance species are proposed for planting on-site.

Panel Discussion

In reply to queries from the Panel, the applicant noted that (i) there is no retaining wall along the east property line of the development, (ii) the retaining wall along a portion of the west property line has a four-foot fence on top and the height of the retaining wall decreases downward to the south, and (iii) there are two existing trees along the east property line that will be relocated to the adjacent Railway Greenway to provide protection.

Staff Comments

Wayne Craig, Director, Development, noted that (i) the proposed variance associated with the project is a technical variance based on the overall number of required parking stalls  provided, (ii) the project  is required to provide, i.e. 11 parking stalls, which does not meet the Zoning Bylaw provision that allows small car parking stalls if more than 31 parking stalls are provided, (iii) the proposed variance will allow the project to provide the maximum number of parking stalls and is consistent with the approach of larger developments providing small car parking stalls, (iv) all parking stalls, including the visitor parking stalls, will be provided with Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, (v) the building has been designed to achieve Level 4 of the BC Energy Step Code, and (vi) the Servicing Agreement associated with the project includes frontage works and site services.

In reply to a query from the Panel, Mr. Craig noted that the project’s target for Energy Step Code Level 4 compliance exceeds the required energy efficiency for the proposed building.

Gallery Comments

None.

Correspondence

None.

Panel Discussion

The Panel expressed support for the project, noting that (i) the project is modest and functional, (ii) attention has been given to the project’s interface with the neighbouring townhouse development to the west and the adjacent greenway to the east, and (iii) the project will provide additional housing needed in the City.

Panel Decision

It was moved and seconded

That a Development Permit be issued which would:

1.

permit the construction of a three-storey 25-unit affordable rental housing building at 4831 Steveston Highway on a site zoned “Low Rise Rental Apartment (ZLR48) – Steveston Highway (Steveston)”; and

2.

vary the provisions of Richmond Zoning Bylaw No 8500 to allow 37 per cent of the required vehicle parking spaces to be small car spaces.

CARRIED

2.

New Business

None.

3.

Date of Next Meeting:   January 17, 2024

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (3:58 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, December 13, 2023.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Joe Erceg

Chair

Rustico Agawin
Committee Clerk