July 2, 2019 - Minutes


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City of Richmond Meeting Minutes

 

 

General Purposes Committee

Date:

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Place:

Anderson Room
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie, Chair
Councillor Chak Au
Councillor Carol Day
Councillor Kelly Greene
Councillor Alexa Loo
Councillor Bill McNulty
Councillor Linda McPhail
Councillor Harold Steves
Councillor Michael Wolfe

Call to Order:

The Chair called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

 

 

MINUTES

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That the minutes of the meetings of the General Purposes Committee held on June 10, 2019 and June 17, 2019, be adopted as circulated.

 

 

CARRIED

 

 

COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION

 

1.

Council Approval of Private Development Public Art and Developer Contributions – New Policy
(File Ref. No. 11-7000-00) (REDMS No. 6135219 v. 21; 6155022; 3066549; 6153236; 6153496; 6153200; 6153500)

 

 

In response to questions from Committee, Liesl G. Jauk, Manager Arts Services, Biliana Velkova, Public Art Planner, and Wayne Craig, Director, Development advised that:

 

 

§   

the public art locations criteria only applies to the private development public program and would not apply to arts facilities and they would be located where they are most appropriate;

 

 

§   

arts facilities programs could potentially be located in high profile public locations depending on the space requirements and program needs;

 

 

§   

a negotiated split for contributions over $40,000 would be on a per project basis as there are currently no specific guidelines and details of the split would be finalized prior to the development permit or rezoning;

 

 

§   

level of voluntary developer contributions have a wide range depending on square footage and the size of the project;

 

 

§   

in terms of budget for any specific rezoning it depends on the scale of the project for example, small arterial road townhouses would most likely contribute cash and any large scale development through the city centre where contribution values are hundreds of thousands, most likely would contribute a public art piece;

 

 

§   

if a public art project through the public art program is rejected by Council or the developer opts out of the program, the developer can place the art on private land at their discretion;

 

 

§   

any developer participating in the public art program must follow city procedures even if the art will be placed on private land; and

 

 

§   

currently Council is not involved in the approval of the public art plan, the Richmond Public Art  Advisory Committee provides comments and recommendation.

 

 

Discussion took place on (i) referring the matter back to staff for further refinement and details, (ii) Council’s involvement in the approval process of public art, (iii) creating an overall theme and initiating art projects in Richmond, (iv) encouraging young artists to participate in public art, and (v) creating a vision plan for public art projects.

 

 

In further reply to queries from Committee, staff clarified that:

 

 

§   

there are several neighbourhood public art plans which all reference Richmond’s distinct heritage and culture;

 

 

§   

developers are responsible for the care and maintenance of art on private land;

 

 

§   

the public art policy includes a contribution rate based on land use and square footage, developers are strongly advised to contribute to the program however there is no incentive to participate unlike like the bonus density given for affordable housing contributions but most participate in the program;

 

 

§   

in terms of making private developer public art contributions mandatory, best practice from the Province would indicate that incentive needs to be provided in terms of bonus density, which the current approach does not include;

 

 

§   

the private proposed selection and approval process include recommended options for Council to further participate in the program; and

 

 

§   

the process included in the report has been developed in a way that would not hold up development but does add an additional Council approval prior to the rezoning.

 

 

As a result of the discussion, the following referral motion was introduced:

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That the report titled, “Council Approval of Private Development Public Art and Developer Contributions – New Policy” from the Senior manager, Arts, Culture and Heritage Services dated May 24, 2019 be referred back to staff for more information on:

 

 

(1)

local art plans;

 

 

(2)

suggestions in terms of vision and themes for art in the city such as heritage, history, culture and harmony;

 

 

(3)

opportunities for young and emerging artists; and

 

 

(4)

earlier reference to Council regarding public art on private property.

 

 

CARRIED

Opposed: Cllr. Loo

 

 

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

 

2.

Potential Transit Exchange as part of Steveston Community Centre and Branch Library Replacement Project
(File Ref. No. 06-2052-25-SCCR1) (REDMS No. 6196248 v. 5)

 

 

Sonali Hingorani, Transportation Engineer referenced a previously distributed staff memorandum with updated attachments (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 1.)

 

 

In reply to questions from Committee Ms. Hingorani noted that, through TransLink, the real estate department is actively investigating potential land acquisitions to address the operational issues that currently exist on Chatham Street however staff have not heard if there is one option being perused and will continue to have conversations with TransLink regarding the matter.

 

 

Councillor Harold Steves distributed materials to Committee relating to locations for the transit exchange at Steveston Community Park and rapid transit in Steveston (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 2) and spoke to three proposed referrals.

 

 

Discussion then took place on alternative locations for the transit exchange and in reply to queries from Committee, Ms. Hingorani and Lloyd Bie, Director, Transportation advised that (i) the proposal is to request options that include provision of bus turn around to alleviate the routing of bus circulation on Fourth Avenue, and (ii) staff have not had any direction to remove it off Chatham Street at this point in time so it is included as one of the options that TransLink could consider for the future bus exchange with improvements to Chatham Street.

 

 

As a result of the discussion, the following motion was introduced:

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That with respect to TransLink’s planned upgrade of the Steveston Transit Exchange as identified in Phase Three of the Mayors’ Council 10-Year Investment Plan:

 

 

(1)

TransLink be advised that the City does not support a location within Steveston Community Park as part of the Steveston Community Centre and Branch Library Replacement Project; and

 

 

(2)

That staff be directed to review other possible locations for the Steveston Transit Exchange including at 4320 Moncton Street or elsewhere in Steveston.

 

 

The question on the motion was not called as discussion further ensued regarding (i) other uses of City owned property in Steveston in conjunction with a Steveston transit exchange, and (ii) light rail transit (LRT) in Steveston.

 

 

The question on the motion was then called and it was CARRIED.

 

 

As a further result of the discussion, the following referral motions were introduced:

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That staff comment on possible LRT terminus options and potential routes in Steveston.

 

 

CARRIED

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That staff prepare options for LRT across Richmond to an LRT Transit Tunnel at Massey Tunnel utilizing the Shell Road Railway Line from Bridgeport, or a connection to the Canada Line, or a combination of both.

 

 

The question on the referral motion was not called as discussion further ensued on population density need for LRT to Steveston and the impact of the Massey Tunnel project.

 

 

The question on the motion was then called and it was CARRIED with Cllr. Loo opposed.

 

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That the meeting adjourn (5:12 p.m.).

 

 

CARRIED

 

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the General Purposes Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, July 2, 2019.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Mayor Malcolm D. Brodie
Chair

Amanda Welby
Legislative Services Coordinator