Vancouver
Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability
OP Amendment - Re-zoning for Housing Development
15415
Executive summary
- This report evaluates an application to rezone 1063-1075 Barclay Street to permit a 47-storey residential building with a total floor area of 30,646.4 sq. m (329,875 sq. ft.) and floor space ratio (FSR) of 19.10.
- A total of 372 residential units are proposed, of which 285 are strata-titled residential and 87 are social housing units for City ownership.
- The application meets the intent of the West End Community Plan and Rezoning Policy for the West End.
- Staff recommend that the application be referred to a Public Hearing, with the recommendation of the General Manager of Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability to approve it, subject to the conditions outlined in Appendix B.
Climate implications
Green Buildings –
- The Green Buildings Policy for Rezonings requires that rezoning applications satisfy green and resilient building conditions, including strategies to meet energy, emissions and embodied carbon targets. This application complies with the policy.
- This project also falls under the Higher Buildings Policy, in which applications must demonstrate leadership in sustainability and carbon neutral buildings.
- These targets are to be met at the development permit stage to significantly enhance the passive design and reduce carbon emissions by an additional 50%, beyond the Green Buildings Policy. This results in an energy-efficient tower with a nearly zero emissions building.
Green Assets –
- The Urban Forest Strategy seeks to preserve, protect and strengthen Vancouver’s urban forest and tree canopy. The Protection of Trees By-law aims to maintain a healthy urban forest by requiring permission be sought to remove trees that meet certain conditions to retain and protect as many healthy, viable trees as possible.
- The proposal seeks to retain seven mature trees with new trees and planted boulevards, all to enhance the urban forest canopy. The landscape plan incorporates 39 on- and off-site trees, along with new green edges, urban agriculture plots, and a moss garden. A landscape review will form a part of the development permit process.
- To advance the Higher Buildings Policy for the intensification of green assets, a rezoning condition seeks to increase the scale and public realm of the plaza at Thurlow and Barclay Streets.
- Additional landscaping features are also required for the social housing entrance to strengthen its prominence and visibility. A requirement has been added to ensure that the outdoor children’s play area will remain shared between the social housing and strata housing residents.
- Detailed conditions are in Appendix B.