Dunbar Residents Association News and Events

Update: : Emaar’s proposal for this site was APPROVED by City Council on December 1, 2009

The minutes approving the development can be found at http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20091201/documents/regu20091201min.pdf.

There is an article about it  in the Courier: Residents accuse development of using seniors housing as cover.

The Chair of the Dunbar Vision Implementation Committee notes:

This development has been very controversial. It was opposed by the DRA, DVIC and the Dunbar Seniors Housing Trust, but our arguments did not prevail. Some of us are very concerned that the leadership of the Planning department has abandoned the City’s commitment to neighbourhood planning and that the Councillors are not correcting this direction.

Apr 13, 2009: Emaar’s New Development Proposal for 41st & Balaclava

Emaar has submitted a formal proposal to redevelop the area bounded by the Kerrisdale School playing fields on the east to Balaclava on the west, and from 41st Avenue extending north nearly 300′. The proposal is for a building 45′ high.

Here is a link to the REZONING APPLICATION posted on the City’s website.

Neighbours of the site have raised many concerns about the proposal which is going to a Public Information Open House on April 16 (details below). See the neighbours’ FLYER for information on their concerns.

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 5:00 – 8:00 pm: Public Information Open House re: re-zoning application and proposed development at W. 41st & Balaclava, Knox United Fellowship Centre, 5600 Balaclava

• Application by Emaar Canada for
  • 4-storey housing project for seniors
  • restoration & rehabilitation of the Heritage B Knox Church
  • replacement of the church annex building
• Applicant team & City staff available to answer questions & receive comments.

Read the Feb 22, 2008 Courier article about this issue.

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On November 26, 2007 several members of the DRA Board met with 8 neighbours representing about 50 residents living near West 41^st Avenue and Balaclava Street, the site of a multi-unit residential project proposed by Emaar Canada (an arm of Dubai-based Emaar Properties). The neighbours had requested this meeting to discuss the project with other groups in the neighbourhood.

The neighbours are considering organizing a broader community meeting – date and location to be announced.

The development history of the site is well documented in the Administrative Report prepared by Yolande Lambert, City Planning, and presented to Council on September 28, 2006. [Read Council's decisions regarding the report.]

Since that time Emaar has purchased the 4 lots along the north side of West 41^st, between Balaclava and Kerrisdale School playing field, and is the present owner today.

The lane to the north, between these lots and Knox United Church lands, is owned by the City as of now.

The Knox lands include the Church and adjacent Fellowship Centre which occupies the two 66′ lots south of the Church and north of the lane. The Knox lands are still owned by the Church as of now. However, Emaar has an option to acquire some part of the Knox lands, which appears to be the Fellowship Centre property. As this is a private transaction, the terms are not available to the public.

Details presented by Emaar to the neighbours on November 19^th, 2007 are as follows:

• project to extend from West 41^st to the north edge of the current Fellowship Centre property.
• 5 concrete buildings varying in height from 3 to 8 storeys in a stepped arrangement
• site coverage will be nearly 90%
• senior oriented complex (senior-friendly market housing)
• plus/minus 50 units
• average unit size 1,400 sq ft
• majority of units 2 bedroom/2 bathroom
• 120 underground parking spots for residents plus 20 for church (likely with mechanical car park system)
• traffic to be oriented northbound to West 39th
• green space on roofs
• pool at southwest corner (facing West 41st)
• EcoDensity friendly
• external elevators
• geothermal heating

Timeline of Events

• May 28, 2007: Emaar representative attended the Dunbar Vision Implementation Committee (DVIC) meeting to present their proposal for a multi-unit condo development at 41^st & Balaclava [see DVIC minutes item 10].
• July 30, 2007: Emaar met with DVIC reps and discussed some general ideas for the project (no plans presented), e.g.: 1 to 5 storey terraced “green” buildings, 40-50 units of 1400-1800 sf, seniors market housing.
• August 2007: DVIC advised Emaar to engage in a public consultation.
• September 27, 2007: Emaar held a public meeting at Knox United Church; no specific plans were presented.
• Late October or early November 2007: Emaar met with the adjacent neighbours group, and again no specific concept or plans were presented.
• November 19, 2007: Emaar again met with the neighbours group. At this time Emaar presented specific plans and a detailed model of the proposed project (photos above) and indicated that they would be presenting these plans to the City shortly.
• At the time of this writing: we understand that the City has not yet received a formal application from Emaar.

Rezoning Process
As part of the rezoning process it will first be necessary to rezone the Knox lands to include a new 4,000 sq ft Fellowship Centre behind the Church. A second rezoning would be required to convert the residual Knox lands, the city lane and the properties on West 41^st to CD1. NB: CD1 zoning essentially is a “holding” zoning whereby the owner and the City would negotiate what eventually would be allowed.

Neighbours’ Concerns
Concerns expressed by neighbours include:

• increased traffic on the adjacent local residential streets
• crime that the parkade will draw
• significantly reduced sunlight to neighbouring properties (including Kerrisdale playing field) due to the height of the buildings

Most of all, the neighbours are concerned that the project, as proposed, clearly will not fit with the overall character of the neighbourhood. In particular:

• the project extends northward from West 41st some 300 feet – well into single family territory
• the excessively high buildings will tower over existing homes

Feedback is being received from residents as well as other affected/interested groups including Kerrisdale Elementary School, Kerrisdale Socce Association, the DRA Seniors Housing Committee and the Dunbar Vision Implementation Committee, and will be posted to this site as available.

The neighbours have indicated that the developer is being encouraged by City Planning to put forward a case for a seniors’ demonstration project which would also engage the ideals in the draft EcoDensity charter.

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The view of the DRA Board is that the project as described is objectionable and clearly does not comply with the Dunbar Community Vision. For example, both the significant extension of the project northward beyond the lane and the excessive height of some of the buildings are patently inconsistent with approved Vision directions.

The Board is further concerned with the guidance City Planning is reportedly providing the developer to encourage increased density and greater building height than is supported in the Vision.

The Board relies on the Dunbar Community Vision — which was developed as part of a City planning process engaging neighbourhood residents — when making its comments, and urges that any development submission respect the Vision and reflect the desires of the community.

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Developers Background:

• Emaar Canada is an arm of Emaar Properties. Emaar is considered “the biggest developer in the world.”
• The project’s architect is Chicago-based Adrian Smith.
• The project is being “stickhandled” by local consulting groups Holland Barrs Planning and Brook and Associates.

APRIL 7 UPDATE

On April 7, 2008, the DRA sent a letter to the City Housing Centre, BC Housing and Coast Mental Health Society requesting that they engage the community in the planning for the supportive housing site at 16th & Dunbar by inviting community participation in the drafting of an Operations Management Plan for the facility.

A word about listserv etiquette …

The DRA Interactive Mail List is provided as a service to the neighbourhood to facilitate exchange of information and ideas amongst Dunbar residents. It is an unmoderated list, therefore all messages from registered subscribers that meet addressing and size (100K limit) requirements are automatically posted.

It is expected that subscribers will be courteous and respectful in the messages they post to the list. While the vast majority of postings meet this expectation, the few that do not have caused concern.

In an effort to maintain the list as the positive, constructive neighbourhood communication tool it is intended to be, we request that subscribers keep their messages courteous and respectful. Specifically, please refrain from including content that is personally insulting, abusive, derisive, threatening, inflammatory, profane, invasive of privacy, illegal or otherwise injurious to, or disrespectful of, others.

The DRA Board reserves the right to remove from the list any subscriber who does not comply with these guidelines.

NB: The Dunbar Residents’ Association is not responsible for the content of any message posted on the Neighbours list.

In September 2006 a BC Supreme Court decision found that, under the existing Vancouver Charter, the Board of Variance does not have the authority to hear third party appeals. With this ruling, citizens lost the right to appeal to the Board of Variance if they object to a City Planning decision regarding development of neighbouring properties.

For 40+ years prior to this ruling, any citizen had the right to appeal to the Board of Variance a Planning decision regarding a development permit application. Now, only the property owner, whose application for exemption or discretionary permission has been rejected by the Director of Planning, has this right. Thus the opportunity is severely diminished for those citizens who are unhappy with or aggrieved by a pending development to have their concerns heard by a body with the authority to overturn an unfair decision. The only avenue now open for citizens to challenge a development is through the courts, an expensive and protracted process.

For more information on the history of this issue, please read the backgrounder prepared by Jonathan Baker.

Third party appeals could be reinstated by an amendment to the Vancouver Charter. In January 2008, the DRA sent a letter to City Council requesting that Council initiate the process to amend the Charter to allow third party appeals in certain circumstances.

Salmonberry Days events are taking place throughout the month of May. For details please review the online Salmonberry Days calendar.

*Saturday, May 3, 10 AM – 4 PM - St. George’s Annual School Fair

• St. George’s Junior School, 3851 W. 29th Ave
• “Circus Circus” theme
• For full details, visit www.saintsfair.ca

*Tuesday, May 27, 4 – 8 PM

• The City is hosting an Open House for the public to meet the applicant team and learn more about the 16th & Dunbar Supportive Housing Development:

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Time: 4:00 – 8:00 PM

Place: Lord Byng High School, 3939 West 16th Avenue

See our 16th & Dunbar webpage for more information.

*Tuesday, May 27, 7:30 PM - Dunbar Garden Club, Dunbar Community Centre

• Adam Gibb: Garden Photography
  • Adam is a professional photographer known for his many contributions to Gardens West magazine.
  • You don’t have to own a camera to enjoy this presentation!

*Saturday, May 31, 10 AM – 2 PM – Fifth Annual Blenheim Street Bazaar

• Blenheim Street from 16th Ave to Marine Drive
• 30 blocks of yard sales
• Look for the yellow balloons
• For more information, contact Blenheim Neighbourhood Group: blenheimgroup@shaw.ca