COUNCIL REPORT: DEVELOPMENT VARIANCE PERMIT – 17A JEDBURGH RD
Staff report recommending a variance for an access road distance to a property line for a proposed 7-lot subdivision.
TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT
TO: Council
FROM: J. Davison, MCIP RPP Planner
DATE: July 16, 2015
MEETING DATE: July 21, 2015
FILE NO.: 3090-20-2015/04
DEVELOPMENT VARIANCE PERMIT – 17A JEDBURGH RD
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve a variance to the distance of the common access roadway to the existing side lot line from 9m to 1m as per the plans attached to the report from the Planner dated July 16, 2015.
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 the application for a Development Variance Permit (DVP) for 17A Jedburgh Rd to permit a seven lot bare land strata subdivision on what is an existing 6152m2 (~1.5 acre) panhandle lot in an R-1B: Detached Residential (Medium Lot) configuration.
This submission is a new application which presents an alternative option to that of DVP2015/02, presented to Committee in February 2015. Rather than access off Jedburgh as per the previous (withdrawn) application, the proposal in this application is for six lots to access off Bishan Place and one lot to access off Jedburgh Road.
BACKGROUND
The site is currently zoned R-1B: Detached Residential (Medium Lot). The site is surrounded by detached residential uses to the east and west, and to the south. The site is bound by the E&N railway and rail trail to the north.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Proposal
The proposal for the property is to subdivide the existing 6152m² (~1.5 acre) panhandle lot into 7 bare land strata lots.
Over the course of the application, three options have been discussed regarding access to the lot:
- Jedburgh option – 7 lots accessed via Jedburgh Rd
- Bishan option – 7 lots accessed via Bishan Pl
- Bishan/Jedburgh option (6 lots accessed off Bishan, one lot accessed off Jedburgh)
The current proposal is for the third option. Six lots are proposed to be accessed off Bishan Pl, and one lot off Jedburgh Rd. The existing detached residence would be removed, and almost all trees on the property will require removal. The applicant has provided a tree retention plan to illustrate this.
The proposal, if all eligible lots are provided with suites, has the potential to introduce 7 detached dwelling with 7 suites for a total of 14 dwelling units on the property.
The property is subject to the requirement to obtain a Development Variance Permit (DVP) pursuant to Section 922 of the Local Government Act. This DVP focuses on the consideration of the proposed variance impacting the use and enjoyment of the adjacent properties.
The applicant has submitted the following information in support of their application:
- Draft Plan of Subdivision – Wey Meyenburg Land Surveying Inc
- Preliminary Site Layout with updated Tree Retention – Westbrook Consulting Ltd
- Traffic Impact Report – Boulevard Transportation
- Geotechnical Considerations – Brimmell Engineering Ltd
- Blasting Statement and Elevations – Westbrook Consulting Ltd
- Tree Retention Plan – Talbot Mackenzie & Associates
- Site Photos
The proposed Development Variance Permit addresses the following aspects:
- A variance to the distance of the common access roadway to the existing side lot line from 9m to 1m.
The identified variance is based on the provision of a 6m road surface within the 9m wide access strip, plus 0.5m as a buffer on each side.
Issues
The variance relates to vehicular access, and the central issue with the variance is the impact of vehicles – access, parking, traffic – on adjacent properties. The question to be put towards Council is that of the appropriateness of the variance to the common access roadway. The variance will create a single point of vehicular entry for six lots to the property's narrow strata private roadway, on which parking will not be permitted, but off which it has been shown that it is possible to provide roughly 6 parking spaces for visitors.
The question posed to Council is: Will this create a situation for adjacent residents which will unduly impact the use and enjoyment expected of the R-1B zone, in terms of street parking or traffic generation? A secondary question is whether the creation of the access via the removal of rock is reasonable.
Access
The property has frontage on both Jedburgh Rd and Bishan Pl, but the Bishan access is hindered by a significant rock outcropping. The Bishan access will require blasting and rock removal (an illustration and report from the engineer is attached to the report). The rock removal will require a separate Soil Deposit/Removal Permit. There is a question the permit may be at a level of Council approval in that there may be over 500m³ of material to be removed. The consulting engineer estimates the volume at 400m³, and the pre-blasting survey will confirm this.
In the proposed option to use both accesses, there are potentially less impacts on neighbours with traffic generation than the exclusive Jedburgh option, as the panhandle and associated impacts on neighbours adjacent to the driveway are maintained at existing levels.
The benefits of the proposed option are as such:
- Maintain access volume off Jedburgh at existing levels
- Closes potential pedestrian access off from Jedburgh, reducing parking demand on Jedburgh
- Reduces vehicular access at Bishan by one (14% reduction in traffic) over the exclusive Bishan access option
- Provides more off-street parking off the cul-de-sac (6 is recommended to allow space for landscaping)
Traffic Generation
A Boulevard Transportation Traffic Impact Report is attached. Even as the report addresses 7 lots accessing Bishan rather than 6, it concludes that the 5 vehicle trips during the morning peak hour and the 7 trips during the evening peak hour will maintain Bishan’s status as a low volume road.
Blasting
Blasting is regulated through provincial legislation. However, there is a question as to whether blasting and the subsequent rock removal to create the access (which requires the variance) is appropriate. There is a Geotechnical Considerations report from Brimmell Engineering report attached. It maintains that “blasting tends to be problematic…but the proposed rock removal is doable with appropriate care”.
Emergency Vehicle Access
The applicant has provided an illustration (attached) of a Fire/Emergency Services access and turnaround which Protective Services finds acceptable. Final details will be determined at subdivision.
Tree Retention
A Tree Retention Report has been submitted with the application. The report outlines the species, health, structure and tolerance of the trees on the site, along with comments and recommendations for each. While the tree report reflects the Jedburgh option, the trees proposed to be retained are indicated on the preliminary layout.
In discussions with the arborist, retaining a small number of individual trees such as Douglas Firs, which are designed to stand together, increases the risk that the remaining trees blow over in the future. Staff does not see reason for a tree protection covenant to be put in place in this case; the Town’s Tree Protection Bylaw will suffice.
Parking
Illustrated on the preliminary layout attached to the property is the potential for 8 off-street parking spaces, which staff believes is an adequate amount for replacing on-street parking in a typical town-standard road cross-section.
A no-parking covenant will need to be registered against the strata common property roadway for the purpose of maintaining access for Fire and Emergency Medical Services. 6 metres is the minimum acceptable right-of-way for these services, which correlates with much of the width of the common access provided.
Screening
It is recommended that fenced screening be provided around the parking spaces and along the roadway adjacent to the E&N trail. This will be addressed at the time of subdivision.
Analysis
Sites such as this within View Royal still exist because they have challenges. Increasingly, View Royal is running out of ‘easy’ redevelopment sites and the ones which are left have issues to overcome. The ultimate question for the Town for this site is whether the issues are worth overcoming.
In this case, staff believes that the blasting is a short-term inconvenience which is adequately covered by professional insurance in the case of property damage. Ultimately, Bishan Place is better suited to handling the traffic load than the panhandle access onto Jedburgh Rd.
Staff is supportive of the application as illustrated in the preliminary layout.
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve a variance to the distance of the common access roadway to the existing side lot line from 9m to 1m as per the plans attached to the report from the Planner dated July 16, 2015.
SUBMITTED BY: J. Davison MCIP RPP, Planner
REVIEWED BY: L. Chase MCIP RPP, Director of Development Services
ATTACHMENTS:
- Subject Property Map
- Subject Property Orthophoto
- Draft Plan of Subdivision – Wey Meyenburg Land Surveying Inc
- Fire Access Illustration – Westbrook Consulting Ltd.
- Preliminary Site Layout with updated Tree Retention – Westbrook Consulting Ltd
- Traffic Impact Report – Boulevard Transportation
- Geotechnical Considerations – Brimmell Engineering Ltd
- Blasting Statement and Elevations – Westbrook Consulting Ltd
- Tree Retention Statement and Tree Plan – Talbot Mackenzie & Associates
- Site Photos - applicant
Document Images
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