June 23, 2021 - Minutes (Special)


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City of Richmond Meeting Minutes

 

 

Planning Committee

Date:

Wednesday, June 23, 2021

Place:

Council Chambers
Richmond City Hall

Present:

Councillor Linda McPhail, Chair
Councillor, Alexa Loo (by teleconference)
Councillor Carol Day (by teleconference)
Councillor Bill McNulty
Councillor Harold Steves (by teleconference)

Absent:

Councillor Chak Au (by teleconference) 
Councillor Andy Hobbs 
Councillor Michael Wolfe (by teleconference)

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 meeting of the Planning Committee held on June 8, 2021, be adopted as circulated.

 

 

CARRIED


 

 

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING DATE


 

 

July 6, 2021, (tentative date) at 4:00 p.m. in Council Chambers


 

 

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION


 

1.

Application by Kenneth Kim Architecture Inc. for Rezoning at 6500 Cooney Road from the “Low Density Townhouses (RTL1)” Zone to the “Parking Structure Town Housing (ZT93) - Brighouse (City Centre)” Zone 
(File Ref. No. RZ 08-429600; 12-8060-20-010265/008618) (REDMS No. 6657013 v. 2)

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

(1)

That Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500, Amendment Bylaw 10265 to create the “Parking Structure Town Housing (ZT93) - Brighouse (City Centre)” zone, and to rezone 6500 Cooney Road from the “Low Density Townhouses (RTL1)” zone to the “Parking Structure Town Housing (ZT93) - Brighouse (City Centre)” zone, be introduced and given first reading; and

 

 

(2)

That Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500, Amendment Bylaw 8618, for the rezoning of 6500 Cooney Road from the “Low Density Townhouses (RTL1)” zone to the “Parking Structure Townhouses (RTP4)” zone, be abandoned.

 

 

CARRIED


 

2.

Application by Zhao XD Architect Ltd. for Rezoning at 9200, 9220, 9240, 9260, 9280, 9300, 9320 & 9340 Francis Road from “Single Detached (RS1/E)” to “Town Housing (ZT94) – Francis Road (Broadmoor)” 
(File Ref. No. RZ 20-907463; 12-8060-20-10254) (REDMS No. 6673518 v. 4A)

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500, Amendment Bylaw 10254, to create the “Town Housing (ZT94) – Francis Road (Broadmoor)” zone, and to rezone 9200, 9220, 9240, 9260, 9280, 9300, 9320, and 9340 Francis Road from “Single Detached (RS1/E)” to “Town Housing (ZT94) – Francis Road (Broadmoor),” be introduced and given first reading.

 

 

CARRIED


 

3.

Securing Market Rental Housing in New Development and Increasing Low End Market Rental (LEMR) Contributions  

 

 

Staff reviewed the proposed Market Rental Housing and Low-End Market Rental (LEMR) regulations, noting the following:

 

 

§   

the proposed recommendations would (i) introduce city-wide requirements securing 10% of the floor area for market rental housing in multi-family developments that include more than 60 apartment units, (ii) introduce an expansion of required LEMR floor area from 10% to 15% of the total residential floor area for sites within the City Centre, and maintain the required LEMR floor area at 10% for sites outside of the City Centre in multi-family developments that include more than 60 apartment units, (iii) update LEMR cash-in-lieu rates for single-family, townhouse and apartment development with less than 60 units, and (iv) introduce a new community amenity contribution for  townhouse and apartment developments with 5 to 60 units;

 

 

§   

the proposals include consideration of incentives for development market rental housing, including consideration of a variable density bonus to secure market rental housing; and

 

 

§   

the City undertook a review of affordable housing initiatives in other municipalities and conducted consultation with key stakeholders.

 

 

The Chair noted the following pieces of correspondence were distributed:

 

 

§   

Raman Kooner, Richmond Home Builders Group (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 1);

 

 

§   

Anne McMullin, Urban Development Institute (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 2);

 

 

§   

Jesse Galicz, Vanprop Investments Ltd. (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 3); and

 

 

§   

John Roston, Richmond Rental Housing Advocacy Group (attached to and forming part of these minutes as Schedule 4).

        

 

Discussion ensued with regard to (i) enhancing incentives to develop market rental projects, (ii) adopting city-wide policies related to market rental requirements, (iii) reviewing building height restrictions, (iv) reducing development costs for market rental projects, (v) comparing the market rental policies and rates in other municipalities, and (vi) connecting new developments into the City’s district energy.

 

 

In reply to queries from Committee, staff noted that proposed incentives to develop market rental projects include a density bonus, a reduction in parking rates and certainty in the development review process.

 

 

John Roston, Richmond Rental Housing Advocacy Group, referenced his submission and spoke on the proposed Market Rental Housing and LEMR Policy and the various development factors such as cost of land, land parcel size and total floor area.

 

 

Robin Glover, Polygon Homes, spoke on the proposed Market Rental Housing and LEMR Policy and potential impact to the feasibility of future development projects. He encouraged the City to (i) implement the policies incrementally, (ii) grandfather instream applications to the current regulations, and (iii) enhance incentives to develop market rental projects.

 

 

Discussion ensued with regard to grandfathering instream rezoning applications with the current regulations and conducting an information workshop for Committee members.

 

 

In reply to queries from Committee, staff noted that (i) the current market rental and LEMR policies have yielded a significant number of market rental units, (ii) utilizing certain types of incentives or the scale at which they are applied will vary across all proposed developments, (iii) it would be extremely difficult to extrapolate the number of potential market rental units from the proposed requirements, and (iv) there are currently six instream rezoning applications with two of those applications located outside of the city centre area.

 

 

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

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

(1)

That the following staff reports titled:

 

 

 

(a)

“Options to Secure Market Rental Housing in New Development and Options to Increase Low End Market Rental (LEMR) Contributions”, dated April 19, 2021,  from the Director, Policy Planning;

 

 

 

(b)

“Low End Market Rental Contribution Rate Review,” dated April 19, 2021, from the Director, Community Social Development; and

 

 

 

(c)

“Supplementary Information: Options To Secure Market Rental Housing In New Development And Options To Increase Low End Market Rental (LEMR) Contributions,” dated June 7, 2021, from the Director, Policy Planning;

 

 

 

be referred back to staff; and

 

 

(2)

That staff be directed to conduct a workshop for Council members on the proposed changes related to market rental housing policy and low-end market rental housing regulations.

 

 

CARRIED 
Opposed: Cllr. Day


 

 

Discussion then ensued with regard to options to grandfathering instream applications, and as a result, the following referral motion was introduced:


 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That instream rezoning applications are grandfathered under the current market rental housing policy and low-end market rental housing regulations and are processed concurrently during the consideration of the new proposed market rental housing policy and low-end market rental housing regulations.

 

 

CARRIED 
Opposed: Cllrs. Day 
Steves


 

4.

Supplementary Information - Steveston Village Advisory Design Committee and Steveston Area Plan Review 
(File Ref. No. 08-4200-01) (REDMS No. 6696866)

 

 

Staff noted that the proposed Steveston Village Advisory Design Committee will be incorporated into the Richmond Heritage Committee (RHC) and as such, the RHC’s terms of reference and composition will be updated. Staff added that staff will report back to Committee on the member selection process this coming Fall 2021.

 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

(1)

That Richmond Heritage Commission Bylaw No. 7906, Amendment Bylaw 10280, to revise the terms of reference for and composition of the Richmond Heritage Commission to clarify and strengthen the review of relevant development applications city-wide and in the Steveston Village, be introduced and given first, second and third reading;

 

 

(2)

That the enhanced development review process described in the report titled “Steveston Village Advisory Design Committee and Steveston Area Plan Review” dated May 25, 2021, from the Director of Policy Planning (considered at the June 8, 2021 Planning Committee meeting), be endorsed;

 

 

(3)

That the revised implementation strategy, as further described in the report titled “Supplementary Information – Steveston Village Advisory Design Committee and Steveston Area Plan Review” dated June 14, 2021, from the Director of Policy Planning, be endorsed, and that all new and in-stream applications be referred to the Richmond Heritage Commission once the proposed design members are appointed by Council; and

 

 

(4)

That staff be directed to report back to Council in two years regarding the effectiveness of the enhanced development application review process and the revised Richmond Heritage Commission.

 

 

CARRIED


 

5.

MANAGER’S REPORT

 

 

(i)

Special Planning Committees

 

 

Joe Erceg, General Manager, Planning and Development, noted that due to the number of upcoming agenda items, staff are recommending that additional Planning Committee meetings be scheduled in September, October and November 2021.

 

 

(ii)

Steveston Streetscape Design

 

 

Mr. Erceg noted that staff are planning to meet with TransLink to discuss the matter and will be presenting a report to Committee in the Fall 2021.


 

 

ADJOURNMENT


 

 

It was moved and seconded

 

 

That the meeting adjourn (5:43 p.m.).

 

 

CARRIED


 

Certified a true and correct copy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee of the Council of the City of Richmond held on Tuesday, June 23, 2021.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Councillor Linda McPhail
Chair

Evangel Biason
Legislative Services Associate