Senior Vancouver staff urge council to uphold refusal to issue development permits in Shaughnessy

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      One of the more intense neighbourhood battles against the City of Vancouver is taking place in First Shaughnessy. It's an enclave of stately heritage homes bounded by Arbutus and Oak streets, and West 16th and King Edward avenues.

      Residents have taken the city to court over council's decision last September to designate First Shaughnessy as a heritage conservation area.

      Council's approved this measure, which was unprecedented in Vancouver, to preserve pre-1940s homes from being demolished.

      Last week in response to the court action, council voted to refer staff's proposed amendments to the heritage-conservation-area bylaws to a public hearing.

      In the meantime, the city is facing three appeals of the director of planning's refusal to issue development permits and related heritage alteration permits in First Shaughnessy.

      Senior staff members want council to hold line

      The acting general manager of planning and development services, Jane Pickering, and the city's director of legal services, Francie Connell, have recommend that council uphold the planning director's rulings.

      On Tuesday (January 26), council is scheduled to address all three applications for reconsideration from Loy Leyland Architect Inc.

      Staff have maintained in reports that there were no provisions for grandfathering applications that had been filed prior to designation of the heritage conservation area.

      In the first instance, Loy Leyland Architect wasn't granted a development permit after applying in March 2015 to build a new single-family home at 3688 Hudson Street. Leyland's firm has worked on several houses in the neighbourhood.

      "There is an existing, post 1940s home on the Property," Loy Leyland wrote in a December 7 letter to the city. "The property is not on the Heritage list."

      The architect stated that the director of planning (then Brian Jackson) refused to issue the permit because "the proposed house does not comply with the regulations of the Zoning and Development ByLaw that affect the site".

      Moreover, Jackson ruled that the application "does not comply with the intent statement in the District Schedule...to protect the distinct estate character of FSD", according to Leyland's letter.

      The architect maintained that staff could have dealt with the application before council turned the neighbourhood into a heritage zone.

      "The Board of Variance no longer has jurisdiction to consider appeals of this nature as Shaughnessy is now a Heritage Conservation Area," Leyland wrote. "The Planning department did have time to process the application and has now refused it because it does not comply with the new schedule."

      Two other applications filed before conservation area created

      The second request for reconsideration concerns a refused development permit and related heritage alteration permit at 1341 Matthews Avenue. According to Leyland's second letter, there's a post-1940s home on the property.

      The Matthews Avenue application was filed on May 4, 2015 during the one-year temporary protection period that had been authorized under the First Shaughnessy bylaw.

      "At the time of application, the standard processing time of 12-14 weeks for approval of a development permit could not be completed before Council would make its decision on the proposed new regulations," wrote Pickering in a report to council.

      The third request for a council review arises from a Loy Leyland Architect application filed in May 2015. It was to construct a new single-family dwelling at 4033 Osler Street to replace a pre-1940s home on this property, according to Leyland's letter.

      Comments