At 1540 West 10th Avenue, a 21-storey tower is proposed. This rezoning breaks Broadway Plan greenspace solar protection rules and omits required balconies. Q&A ends June 18th

digitalmonkblog

June 15

March 20, 10am. Proposed building shades greenspace designated for solar access protection under the Broadway Plan (VSB Fir St and West 10th Avenue)

The City of Vancouver is holding an online Q&A session ( https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/1540-w-10-ave ) that concludes on June 18th, in order to receive feedback on a 21-storey tower proposed at 1540 West 10th Avenue. This rezoning appears to breaks the Broadway Plan on an number of key points. The tower would introduce new shadow on solar-protected greenspace between 10am and 4pm from the spring equinox and fall equinox (see Figure 11.5 - Solar Access for more details).

The floor plans show that there are suites that don't have balconies, as required under the Broadway Plan (the plans show two suites per level without balconies; sliding windows don't count as balconies). The 'tower in the park' design doesn't follow Broadway Plan specifications for a 4-storey podium. The site has a 125 foot frontage, which is below the 150 foot frontage in the plan. While the Director of Planning may grant a relaxation (down to a 99 ft. frontage), the proposed design would have to conform to other parts of the Broadway Plan (which is does not). The floor to floor height maximums of 3.0m are exceeded. The floor to floor heights could be reduced slightly to allow two extra storeys to be included in a later development permit stage; a potential "bait and switch" tactic which could be used to exceed the maximum storeys per the Broadway Plan.

Required balconies have been omitted for some of the units, such as two studio units per level (detail from levels 2 to 4 plan, other plans for level 5-20 also show no balconies for studio units). What can be said of rezoning and planning departments that present this rezoning as being consistent with the Broadway Plan?

The submitted design has 112 rental units with 20% of the units below market (per the City's definition). A total building height of 65.8m or 226 ft. is requested, with a FSR of 6.5. A total of 47 new parking spaces are proposed for residential uses, along with the replacement of 33 spaces for commercial uses (as part of an existing covenant with 2609 Granville St.).

The designers are omb (office of mcfarlane biggar architects + designers).

The proponent behind the submission is Reliance Properties (https://relianceproperties.ca/about/, CEO Jon Stovell).
[Inset - Reliance Properties CEO John Stovell is leaves no room for doubt about what he beliefs is the best way to make housing more affordable (see "How an industry-spawned Vancouver-centric 'YIMBY' narrative has severely twisted B.C. NDP housing ideology and massive legislation changes (Bills 44, 46 and 47)")]

For the record, according to BC Assessment, the property was assessed as of July 1, 2023, at $8,483,700 (of which, $8,482,000 for was land, down from $8,483,600 in 2022; the Broadway Plan was approved June 22, 2022) and there was no sales history in the previous three full calendar years. Bookmark this page and check back in a year or two to see how, if approved, this rezoning affects land value. According to our research, the property appears to be owned by Reliance Properties, with the beneficial owners being identified as five Chechiks, two Cohens, two Goldsteins, and four Leshgolds.

Always interested in systems thinking, we are trying to figure out the business models of the entities behind the massive rezonings in the Broadway Plan area and also make the connections between the lobbyists/proponents/advocates of the Broadway Plan prior to its adoption in 2022, and those to benefit the most from it. Also, YIMBY activists need to know -- when they are rallying their troops via Reddit, Discord, letter generators and social media to lobby City Council to approve rezonings that produce massive land lifts -- who are the landowners they actually serving and helping to enrich? When tenants are paying rent in a new rental tower for decades to come, whose wealth is increased? Is there any connection between political donations and government policy and decisions? And to what extent does this all benefit society as a whole?

Now, let's look at the work of the City planners. Here, yet again, despite clear policies written in the Broadway Plan, those in charge appear to have ignored their own Broadway Plan Solar Protection rules. In the City's hierarchy, one could say the buck stops with the newly hired chief planner, Josh White, who started in this role on May 1, 2024. We hope he will investigate the performance levels of the relevant departments, take responsibility, and boost the integrity level. Above him is City Manager Paul Mochrie. And above him, Mayor Ken Sim and City Council. This is all the more crucial now that, as of June 12, 2024, the City of Vancouver will be working to turn the Vancouver Plan into the Official Development Plan for the city, eventually eliminating the checks and balances otherwise provided by public hearings. Public trust in the quality and honesty of work of the municipal government needs to be earned.

Here's an enlarged and annotated section of the solar access map ; it's clear that the VSB greenspace is designated as protected.

Above: Solar access diagram from Broadway Plan (enlarged and annotated) shows that proposed 21-storey tower site falls within park and public school yards solar priority area.

We've included several renderings of the proposed building (and shadows) in our Broadway Plan 3D model in the following slideshow:

March 20, 10am
August 31, 10am
August 31, 10:15am shadow extends over protected greenspace
September 22, 4pm shades east side of Granville Street
Aug 31, 4pm shades Granville Street
August 31, 10am View from Fir Street over greenspace
August 31, 10am
View up from sidewalk
Context (Fir St. & West 11th Ave in foreground)
March 20, 10am
March 20, 11am
March 20, 11am
March 20, 12:15pm Shadow still cast onto designated greenspace
March 20th 10am
March 20th 11am
March 20th 12pm
March 20th 4pm
Context (Granville Street and West 10th Avenue in foreground, looking southwest)

One might wonder why planners create a section in the Broadway Plan to protect solar access to greenspace, sell this provision to Council, and then subsequently ignore it once the plan is approved. The public assumes the relevant departments will apply critical thought and intellectual honesty. Who is protecting the public interest? What motivates these departments to violate the Broadway Plan?

During the public consultation that ends June 18th, it should be possible to send comments directly to staff via an online form. There is also a Q&A tab on the ShapeYourCity page where questions can be posted publicly. Staff say that they will respond within two days. It could be a good practice for people who submit questions to keep track of what they submitted and also track if these questions are answered online, or if the questions are omitted and never made live.

The information on the rezoning was just posted on May 17, 2024, while staff had received the application on February 29, 2024 and kept this under wraps. We have more analysis about an earlier iteration of this design in a previous post: First proposal already violates the just-approved Broadway Plan on multiple counts (20-storey tower at 1540 West 10th Ave), Sept 12, 2022

Solar access to the Vancouver School Board greenspace is protected under the Broadway Plan. This rezoning would violate the solar protection rules by introducing new shadow between the spring and fall equinox (at any time between 10am to 4pm)

March 20, 10am tower shadow impact on park (left) vs. current solar access (right)

Constructing a 3D model requires taking measurements from posted drawings, such as the elevation (left) from the rezoning application booklet, and building the model up level by level from floor plans. Our final rendered elevation is on the right (without terrain). There's an overlay of the of the two elevations (from application booklet and our independently-created elevation) in the centre. Of course, the City could require applicants to submit a 3D computer file of their design, but this is not done at the moment (or at least it isn't posted for the public consultation phase).