TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT - DEVELOPMENT VARIANCE PERMIT 2021/01 - 287 PALLISIER AVENUE
Staff report recommending a parking variance to allow a Large Daycare use (24 children) at an existing church site.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE REPORT
TO: Committee of the Whole DATE: March 4, 2021 FROM: J. Davison, MCIP RPP, Community Planner MEETING DATE: March 9, 2021 FILE NO.: 2021-01
DEVELOPMENT VARIANCE PERMIT 2021/01 - 287 PALLISIER AVENUE
RECOMMENDATION
THAT the report dated March 4, 2021 from the Community Planner titled “Development Variance Permit 2021/01 - 287 Pallisier Avenue” be received for information.
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS
I concur with the recommendation.
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES’ COMMENTS
I concur with the recommendation.
PURPOSE OF REPORT
The purpose of this report is to present a parking variance to permit the use of a Large Daycare on the site at 287 Pallisier in addition to the established church (Assembly) use.
BACKGROUND
The applicant has conditional licensing approval from Island Health to operate a large daycare for 24 children and 5 staff and requires parking approval to permit the use.
PROJECT INFORMATION
The site has nine parking spaces on site, in total, and street parking spaces typically account for 10-12 more in capacity for church services. The church holds 150 seats and would require 38 parking spaces under our Zoning Bylaw but has existed in a lawfully non-conforming configuration regarding the parking supplied for many years. The buildings pre-date incorporation of the Town and are listed on the Town's Heritage Register. The daycare use requires three parking spaces. The site has an outdoor play structure and will be primarily run out of the smaller, former church hall building on-site.
Regarding the Zoning Bylaw parking requirements, there is no allowance for a reduction in the parking requirements for times when a use is not active. Despite the weekend use of the church and the weekday use of the daycare, the parking requirement is the total of the two uses on the site at all times. A parking variance is required for the daycare use as a result.
Given the lawful non-conformance of the assembly (church) use, the requested variance relates to the daycare use only and is for zero spaces from the three required. The daycare use would only occur Monday to Friday when the property remains largely unused and would have no impact on the church parking capacity. As can be seen below, there is a lot of available adjacent street parking which is used at peak hours on-site and belies the capacity of the 9 spaces provided on-site. There is more than ample capacity on site for parking associated with the daycare during the week, in addition to there being generous space for pickup and drop-off off-street (which is not regulated in the Zoning Bylaw, but adds to the viability of the use on-site).
The applicant has included the following in support of their application:
- Letter to Mayor and Council – February 8, 2021
- Parking Plan – Westbrook Consulting - May 2019
- Letters of Support
Requested Variances
A variance to the required daycare parking use from three spaces to zero spaces.
DISCUSSION
The issue here for Council is whether to accept that this use will not create additional parking congestion, and whether Council is comfortable in accepting this parking configuration in the context of the creation of a new daycare in the Town, with 5 employees and 24 children in care.
Staff believes that this proposal creates a major benefit to the community with no additional burden on the site.
The Assembly use has existed on this site in various forms for more than 50 years. The parking allocated to the Assembly use has been in its current configuration likely since the original building was constructed. While there has been a brief exploration of providing additional parking on the site, this is inconsistent with other values pertaining to the site. The Statement of Significance for the site in relation to its heritage value speaks to the landscape and the trees that exist on the site. Removing the trees to create parking is inconsistent with the identified heritage value and character defining elements. Removing trees to provide parking would also be inconsistent with Council’s recently declared climate emergency. There are no alternatives available, and because the use is already established, it has non-conforming status in relation to zoning.
Staff is supportive of the application. The next step for this application is to send notices to surrounding neighbours and bring the application forward to Council for consideration.
RECOMMENDATION
THAT the report dated March 4, 2021 from the Community Planner titled “Development Variance Permit 2021/01 - 287 Pallisier Avenue” be received for information.
SUBMITTED BY: J. Davison, MCIP RPP, Planner
REVIEWED BY: L. Chase, MCIP RPP, Director of Development Services
ATTACHMENTS:
- Subject Property Map
- Letter to Mayor and Council – February 8, 2021
- Letters of Support - various
- Parking Plan – Westbrook Consulting - May 2019
Document Images
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