CD-1 Rezoning 320 East 2nd Avenue

Statement Watch

ALL RIGHT. HELLO. GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. MY NAME IS RICARDO PEGGY. I'M THE PLANNER ASSIGNED TO THIS REZONING APPLICATION AT 318 TO 346 EAST SECOND AVENUE. The subject site is located mid-block on the south side of East 2nd Avenue between Scotia Street and Brunswick Street in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood. The site is partially excavated in preparation for a previously approved development permit to construct a five-story mixed-use residential building. The neighboring properties along East 2nd Avenue are five-story mixed-use residential buildings. The surrounding neighborhood consists of a mix of light industrial, cultural, and residential uses and is undergoing significant change with the new Broadway subway scheduled to open in 2027. The Great Northern Way Emily Carr Station will be located about 250 meters to the east. The proposed land use and height are consistent with the mixed-use High-Rise 1 generalized land use designation in the Vancouver ODP, which envisions mixed-use residential buildings up to 26 stories in height. The site is located in Mount Pleasant Center Area H in the Broadway plan. The MCEH sub-area enables 20-story mixed-use residential buildings with an FSR up to 7.0 and a minimum of two levels of non-residential uses. A minimum of 20% of the residential floor area must be secured as below-market rental units. The applicant originally applied for a strata residential tenure with 20% of the floor area as social housing. The applicant revised the application to propose a rental residential tenure on August 1st of last year. The proposal is to rezone the site to a comprehensive development district to enable the development of a mixed-use residential building with ground floor commercial uses and office uses on the second floor. The maximum height is 19 stories or 64.9 meters, and the maximum density is 7.0 FSR. The development will contain 162 rental housing units and 20% of the floor area, residential floor area will be secured for below market units. 54 pieces of correspondence have been received during the public consultation. Public feedback supported new housing in the neighborhoods, the location for the additional density and the proposed mix of uses.

Some concerns were also expressed. The first was about height, massing, and neighborhood fit of the proposed development. Staff in response confirmed that the proposed height, scale, and uses are all consistent with the policies that apply to the subarea in the Broadway plan. Residents in a neighboring building also submitted concerns about potential security issues, given that the original design concept showed the podium to be nine feet higher than the neighboring rooftop with no setback. The applicant submitted a modified proposal which adjusted the proposed built form in part to alleviate security concerns. In this design concept, the podium was lowered and a vegetative buffer was added to prevent cross-rooftop access. Lastly, some were concerned about impacts to traffic in the area. And in response, the staff cite that the site's location provides a variety of transportation options. The site's located on an arterial road and near the future SkyTrain station. The area is also well served in terms of active transportation infrastructure with many daily needs available in walking distance. The public benefits from this application consist of DCLs and a public art contribution with a total value of $2.3 million. Other benefits of the development include 162 secured market rental, or sorry, secured rental housing units and 20% of the floor area to be rented at below market rates. And in summary, excuse me, STAFF RECOMMENDS APPROVAL OF THIS APPLICATION SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS OUTLINED IN APPENDIX B AS IT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE BROADWAY PLAN AND VANCOUVER ODP. THIS CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. STAFF AND THE APPLICANT TEAM ARE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.

Statement Watch

THIS IS JORDAN SUE FROM CAPE GROUP. I'D LIKE TO THANK staff members council and also chair of council today for the time and also the time spent working on this project diligently and efficiently um most of my notes have been covered by um ricardo so oh wave what i have to say to save time thank you thank you very much uh council you do have up to five minutes to ask questions of team members and the applicant uh counselor or