The city is asking the developer of the former Avalon Dairy property at 5805 Wales St. to rethink its rezoning application after two city advisory groups rejected its proposal.
On July 31, the Urban Design Panel (UDP) voted unanimously against the rezoning application, according to Brian Jackson, the City of Vancouvers manager of planning and development.
Jackson said many reasons were cited, according to city staff notes from the meeting, including too much density, the need for more space in front of the house for urban agriculture, concern about shadow impacts on the open space, and that the buildings are too close together and not family friendly.
Two days earlier, on July 29, the Vancouver Heritage Commission also voted against the application. Commission chair Richard Keate told the Courier at the time that there was support among members for the density and number of units, but more work needed to be done on the location and size of the infill buildings to allow for greater open space and greater visibility of the farmhouse. Members were worried no one would see the farmhouse from Wales Street, as well as about plans to divide it into three suites.
Avalonna Homes bought the property for $6 million in 2011. The property is zoned single-family residential, so the owner could subdivide it into 10 or 11 lots and knock down the Craftsman-style 1900s-era farmhouse, which isnt protected by legislation or heritage designation.
The city was willing to consider extra density in order to preserve it.
Hywel Jones Architect Ltd. submitted the rezoning application on behalf of the developer. It proposed to restore the heritage farmhouse and add eight multi-family buildings, which would reach up to three-storeys and contain a total of 68 units. The application also proposed underground parking, completing the greenway along 43rd Avenue and adding community gardens
"Were asking the developer to reconsider. Given the comments were unanimous in both [decisions] the Heritage [commission] and the UDP, I think its an unusual situation. So, well be taking that advice very seriously and thinking of that in terms of staff recommendations," Jackson said Thursday, while acknowledging conflicting advice from the two advisory groups.
"Thats what we have to spend the next few weeks figuring out because there is a difference between the advice that weve gotten from the two groups, so were going to have to sit down with the applicant and we have not at this point formulated a position."
Jackson said the city is worried about the fate of the farmhouse since its not protected from demolition should the developer opt to subdivide the 1.26 acre site into single-family properties.
"Yes that is a concern and we will lose the house as a result, so we have to take that into consideration as well," he said. "Thats why we need to take a breath. This only happened [Wednesday] night when we had the refusal at the UDP. So, we have to take into account the overall desire to save the house together with the proposal we had before for townhouses and see if theres a different way to achieve the objectives for the city and the developer and the interest groups, being the heritage people and the urban design panel, as well as the community. So this is one of those classic cases of us having to provide advice, which is probably not going to satisfy everybody."
When asked if the propertys neighbours should be concerned about the prospect of a proposal that includes six-storey buildings, Jackson said he couldnt say.
"That certainly comes from the heritage group. The heritage group is not typically the group that we tend to rely on for advice on density. We rely more on the urban design panel for that," he said.
Staff had hoped to bring the rezoning application before council in the fall, but the latest developments may affect the timeline.
"We are hoping to keep moving forward on this because again we dont want to trigger the decision to just move forward with a single-family subdivision and so we are going to be working as quickly as we can with the applicant to try and come up with solutions that address some of the concerns, most of the concerns, all of the concerns raised by the two groups that have been consulted so far, together with the public," Jackson said.
Hywel Jones, principal at Hywel Jones Architect Ltd., told the Courier Friday hed met with the city about the project and that it just requires refinement.
"Its just basically a refinement of the scheme that we have not a change in concept," Jones said, adding the UDP advice included simplifying the landscape plan, providing more variety of outdoor space and creating more separation between buildings. "We will refine the scheme, but as an overall concept, this is the one were not going to change the approach."
Jones said the owner has no plans to subdivide the property.
"No, I dont think thats in the cards. I think this is the sort of direction the public is looking for. Were close and we just need to do a bit more work. So, no, the owner is not thinking of changing course here. Its a long process and he doesnt particularly like the length of time, but hes committed to doing this kind of infill."
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