March 26, 2025 - Minutes

Time:

3:30 p.m.

Place:

Remote (Zoom) Meeting

Present:

Wayne Craig, General Manager, Planning and Development, Chair

Roeland Zwaag, General Manager, Engineering and Public Works

Marie Fenwick, Director, Arts, Culture and Heritage

MINUTES

It was moved and seconded

That the minutes of the meeting of the Development Permit Panel held on February 12, 2025 be adopted.

CARRIED

1.

DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 23-029303

 (REDMS No. 7796597)

APPLICANT:

Manswell Enterprises Ltd.

PROPERTY LOCATION:

9371 and 9391 Francis Road

INTENT OF PERMIT:

1.

Permit the construction of nine townhouse units at 9371 and 9391 Francis Road on a site zoned “Low Density Townhouses (RTL4)”.

2.

Vary the provisions of Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500 to:

(a)

reduce the front yard setback from 6.0 m to 4.5 m; and

(b)

allow six small car parking stalls.

Applicant’s Comments

Jiang Zhu, Imperial Architecture, 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 development consists of nine townhouse units in four building clusters which include three-storey units along Francis Road and two-storey units along the rear property line;

§   

the proposed vehicle access is from Francis Road which is consistent with the City’s Arterial Road Guidelines for Townhouses;

§   

the proposed common outdoor amenity area is centrally located at the T-intersection of the internal driveways opposite the main entry driveway for visibility and accessibility;

§   

all townhouse units will be provided with two residential parking stalls arranged in a side-by-side configuration in the garage of each unit, with six townhouse units each having one small car stall alongside one standard-size stall subject to the proposed parking variance and the rest of the units each containing two standard-size stalls;

§   

two visitor parking stalls are proposed for the subject site;

§   

one convertible unit is proposed which is designed to accommodate a future elevator; and

§   

the project has been designed to comply with the City’s BC Energy Step Code requirement (Step-3 and Emission Level-4).

Eason Li, Homing Landscape Architecture, with the aid of the same visual presentation, briefed the Panel on the main landscape features of the project, noting that (i) two existing on-site trees will be retained, (ii) 29  replacement trees will be planted on the site in lieu of trees that have been identified for removal due to their existing poor condition, (iii) each unit will be provided with either a front yard or rear yard with patio, shade tree and shrub or groundcover planting, (iv) pedestrian routes along the drive aisle will be treated with a different coloured permeable pavers to enhance pedestrian safety, (v) high perimeter fencing is proposed along the north, east and west property lines to provide privacy to the proposed development and adjacent developments, (vi) dense landscape buffers are proposed for each unit, (vii) a wheelchair ramp is proposed in the social gathering space (south part) of the outdoor amenity area to enhance the accessibility within this space, (viii) the proposed children’s play area in the north part of the outdoor amenity area includes, among others, movable play elements and fixed play structures, (ix) evergreen hedges are proposed to provide privacy to townhouse units adjacent to the outdoor amenity area, and (x) an on-site irrigation system will be provided.

Staff Comments

Joshua Reis, Director, Development noted that (i) the project includes one convertible unit that is designed to be easily converted to accommodate a future resident in a wheelchair including the potential for installation of a vertical lift in the future, (ii) the project also provides one secondary suite, (iii) all units include aging-in-place features, (iv) the proposed setback and parking variances were identified at the time of rezoning, (v) a Statutory-Right-of-Way (SRW) is provided over the subject site’s internal drive aisle which has been designed to provide future access to the adjacent properties to the east should they redevelop in the future for townhouse development, (vi) signage is proposed to be installed at the east end of the internal drive aisle to indicate future access to adjacent properties to the east, (vii) there is a Servicing Agreement associated with the proposed development for frontage works along Francis Road as well as servicing connections which is required prior to Rezoning Bylaw adoption.  

Panel Discussion

In reply to queries from the Panel, the applicant noted that (i) there is no change of grade between the children’s play structure and the grassed area to the north of the play structure, and (ii) the proposed species of replacement trees to be planted on-site which consist of conifers and deciduous trees are appropriate for the subject site in terms of their size and long-term maintenance. 

Correspondence

None.

Gallery Comments

None.

Panel Discussion

The Panel expressed support for project, noting that (i) the project has been sensitively designed, (ii) the street-facing view of the proposed townhouse development fits well with its neighbourhood context, and (iii) the retention of some trees on the site is appreciated.

Panel Decision

It was moved and seconded

That a Development Permit be issued which would:

1.

permit the construction of nine townhouse units at 9371 and 9391 Francis Road on a site zoned “Low Density Townhouses (RTL4)”; and

2.

vary the provisions of Richmond Zoning Bylaw 8500 to:

(a)

reduce the front yard setback from 6.0 m to 4.5 m; and

(b)

allow six small car parking stalls.

CARRIED

2.

DEVELOPMENT PERMIT 23-035352

 (REDMS No. 7946078)

APPLICANT:

Public Services and Procurement Canada

PROPERTY LOCATION:

3540 and 3800 Bayview Street

The Chair advised that Item 2 was removed from the agenda and will be added to a future Development Permit Panel meeting.

4.

New Business

CARRIED

5.

Date of Next Meeting:  April 16, 2025

ADJOURNMENT

It was moved and seconded

That the meeting adjourn (3:51 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, March 26, 2025.

_________________________________

_________________________________

Wayne Craig

Chair

Rustico Agawin

Committee Clerk