Applicant's Statement: 301 Nursery Hill Drive

RE: PROPOSED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AT 310 NURSERY HILL DRIVE, VIEW ROYAL, B.C.

Dear Mayor Screech and Members of Council,

This letter is for the purpose of explaining the details of our Development Permit application to the Town of View Royal for 72 condominium / residential units on Lot C of the Lakeside Village Development, situated at 301 Nursery Hill Drive.

The Lakeside Village area is designated as "Neighbourhood Mixed Use" with the objective of establishing a compact central neighbourhood, with a mix of housing types and services. The neighbourhood is zoned CD-9, Lakeside Village Mixed Commercial and Residential and the project site is zoned Sub-Zone CD-9B, Medium Density Residential. Public infrastructure for the site is in place, with new service connections in the street and roadways in place. Several developments have already been completed in the area.

The site is accessed off Nursery Hill Drive and has a small frontage to the street. To the west there is an existing 4 storey residential building and to the north is a single-family residence. There is a public access easement along the north property line from the street leading into the public parkland to the north and east of the site.

This condominium project comprises a 65-unit apartment building and 7 townhouses contained in a triplex and a fourplex. The apartment has been designed to fit the steep slopes of the site, which has been partially blasted and excavated at some time in the past. A split-level underground parkade is sunk into this excavation and this allows the 5 / 6 residential storeys to appear as a 4 / 5-storey building facing the park access and residential neighbourhood to the north. The apartment and the underground parking are accessed directly off Nursery Hill Drive. The visitor parking is accessed via a driveway to the south, as are the townhouses, which overlook the E&N railway. The grades allow the majority of the south facing apartment units a view over the townhouse roofs towards Esquimalt Harbour.

The buildings are designed to reflect the natural surroundings of garry oak meadow and forest in the parkland beyond. Local stone and a natural colour palette, are combined with planters, climbing plants and green roofs to create a durable and attractive building. The facades are broken up with balconies and vertical window features, with a combination of horizontal siding and paneling to vary the wall texture. Sloped roofs are used to highlight entrances and upper floor living areas, and to conceal the elevator and mechanical equipment on the roof.

The project conforms to the Official Community Plan recommendations for this site and to the requirements of the Comprehensive Development Sub-Zone CD-9B. The intent of the project is to provide quality housing for couples and families, with 1 and 2 bedroom apartments and 3 bedroom townhouses. New condominium units are tending towards studio suites which are too small to accommodate a family. The proposed apartment units and townhouses represent a return to well proportioned residential units aimed at these families and couples. With the neighbouring parks, trails, library, recreation centre, and school, as well as ease of access to the highway and nearby commercial centres, the site is an ideal location for this type of residential accommodation, being close to all the services that either a family, or young or older couple would require.

The apartment building is taller than the other buildings that have been constructed in the neighbourhood, but this height is permitted under the zone. (A further 2 storeys would be permitted under the zone if all the parking were situated underground.) Because of the location of the site, tucked into the corner of the neighbourhood, and because of the challenging grades of the site, which allow the building to appear to be 4 / 5 storeys on the north side, we feel that the height of the condominium is appropriate for the situation.

We are requesting two variances for this project. Under the CD-9B zone, the side yard setback for a building is required to be 4m. On the east side of the site, adjacent to the park we have provided a 4m setback to the building wall, but are requesting a variance of the setback to 2.53m for the balconies along this building face. Under the CD-9B zone, the minimum size for a residential unit is 75 sq.m. (808 sq.ft.) We are providing a number of 1-bedroom units in the Apartment Building which will be 60.4 sq.m. (650 sq.ft.) in size.

We trust that this letter provides you with the information you require at this time, but please contact the undersigned at 250-382-1320 if you should have any further questions.

Yours sincerely,

JOE NEWELL ARCHITECT INC

Margaret Newell, Architect AIBC, LEED AP