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| 1250 Salsbury Drive (also referred to as 1298 and 1240 Salsbury Drive): Proposed Heritage Revitalization Agreement |
Monday 19 September 2011: Public Hearing The Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) for what is now known as 1250 Salsbury — The Jeffs Residence — was heard at a Public Hearing that starts at 6pm Monday 19 September at City Hall. The HRA for 1250 Salsbury was agenda item #4 — here is the meeting agenda. Staff recommended approval of the HRA in their staff report. Passed unanimously by Council.
Sunday 18 September 2011: GWAC Letter to Mayor and Council GWAC sent a fourth letter about the proposed development to Mayor and Council, cc'd to Brent Toderian (Director of Planning) and James Boldt (Heritage Planner). The letter contains the following sections: 1. Correction and clarification of a few points in the staff report 2. Appreciation of the efforts by the applicant and City staff to consult with the community 3. Extent to which GWAC's concerns have been addressed 4. Conclusion The "Conclusion" section in full is as follows: "Other than lamenting the loss of rental housing and seeking clarification as to why the proposed laneway access is not in violation of current applicable guidelines, GWAC supports the Heritage Revitalization Agreement for 1250 Salsbury Drive (Development Application No. DE414450)."
Monday 6 June 2011: Open House An open house about 1298 Salsbury Drive will be held at 1827 Charles Street (Jeff's Residence, Main Floor), northeast corner of Charles Street and Salsbury Drive, from 4pm to 8pm on Monday 6 June. The City's notification letter for the Open House reports the following proposed changes:
Thursday 24 February 2011: GWAC Letter to Ms Au (Project Facilitator) GWAC sent a third letter to Michelle Au, Project Facilitator at the City for Development Application No. DE414450: 1298 Salsbury Drive (1240 Salsbury Drive and 1841 Charles Street). The letter asked that, when considering the development application: (1) City staff review GWAC's past two letters and web page about 1298 Salsbury Drive. (2) Real Estate Services, when compiling the City's pro forma for the unencumbered (vacant) site, bear in mind what GWAC learned from the City's own staff in 2010 about the unencumbered site. (3) Address GWAC's questions about lane access to the site for parking, garbage pickup, and recycling pickup in staff's report about the development application. (GWAC's first letter was sent to City of Vancouver Development Planner Bob Adair and various others on 17 October 2010. GWAC's second letter was sent to project architect Timothy Ankenman on 28 October 2010.)
Saturday 5 February 2011: Development Application Signs Posted Development application signs were posted in front of the Jeffs Residence and 1841 Charles. The signs say: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION NO. DE414450 1298 Salsbury Drive (intersection Charles Street) 0877671 B.C. Ltd (C/O James Evans) has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to relocate and rehabilitate the existing 3 storey and basement multiple dwelling (Jeff's Residence) to create 7 multiple conversion dwelling units and to develop three new 2 ½ storey multiple dwelling buildings consisting of 15 row house units. The application includes:
FURTHER INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT: PROJECT FACILITATOR'S OFFICE 3RD FLOOR, EAST WING, CITY HALL, PHONE 604.871.6702 vancouver.ca/devapps A few comments on the application: (1) The proposal for 22 units (7 in the Jeffs Residence, 15 row houses) is the same number as that presented at the 15 September 2010 Open House, according to the architect Timothy Ankenman in his 18 October letter to GWAC. (2) The development application is for 12 units more than what would be allowed if the site was vacant. (Ten units (five duplexes) would be allowed on the site if vacant — see 28 October letter to Mr Ankenman.) (3) The development application signs state that the site's proposed 22 underground parking spaces will be accessed from the lane. The width of a standard City of Vancouver lane is 20 feet. The north-south lane to William Street is 12 feet wide (see 28 October letter to Mr Ankenman). Note: The application became available online on Monday 7 February.
Thursday 28 October 2010: GWAC Letter to Mr Ankenman (Project Architect) GWAC sent a second letter to architect Timothy Ankenman, cc'd to the same people as were copied in his letter. The letter explained that the number of units proposed for the site under an HRA (section 1) and that the vacant site could take five duplexes/ten units (section 3), reported in the first GWAC letter, were correct. The letter also added more information to the discussion about the problems with using the north-south lane to William Street for access to underground parking and garbage pickup for the site (sections 2 and 4). Monday 18 October 2010: Letter to GWAC from Mr Ankenman (Project Architect) The project architect Timothy Ankenman sent a letter to GWAC, in response to its letter sent the previous day. The letter was cc'd to City of Vancouver Development Planner Bob Adair, Director of Planning Brent Toderian, and three others. The letter challenged the number of units proposed for the site under an HRA in the GWAC letter. The letter also challenged the number of units that could be built on the site if it was a "vacant" site (with all buildings demolished). Sunday 17 October 2010: GWAC Letter to Mr Adair (Development Planner) GWAC sent a letter to City of Vancouver Development Planner Bob Adair, with copies sent to Development Manager James Evans, architect Timothy Ankenman, and various others. The letter is about the proposal to develop the 1240 Salsbury Drive/1841 Charles Street site, including plans to retain the Jeffs Residence heritage building. There are currently 17 rental units on the site. The letter provides some background information not supplied at the 15 September 2010 Open House about 1240 Salsbury/1841 Charles, and raises some concerns about the proposal. The letter describes the RT-5 zoning for the site, which was not mentioned at all at the Open House. On the topic of the zoning, the letter notes that "the 1240 Salsbury Drive/1841 Charles Street site consists of six legal lots because RT-5 zoning allows two units per legal lot. In theory, that would allow the building on the site to comprise twelve 2½ storey units with a maximum height of 10.7 metres (35.1 feet). However, in practice the eleven-foot wide lot is too narrow to build on, thereby reducing the number of units to ten 2½ storey units" (bolding added) In other words, if you knocked down all the buildings on the site, then the maximum number of townhouses you could build on the site is twelve, and more likely ten. The developer is proposing 23-26 units for the site under a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA), which would allow special zoning of the site. In summary,
The letter raises concerns about using the north-south lane to William Street for access to parking and garbage at the north-east corner of the site. The letter notes that the lane is narrow and a dead-end, making it problematic for two vehicles to pass in the lane. This is especially true if one of the vehicles is a truck — for example, a garbage truck. Providing alternative access directly onto Salsbury and Charles is also problematic because a ramp to underground parking is out of character with the immediate neighbourhood. The letter makes two sets of recommendations. One set of recommendations is "Put Aside the Developer's Proposal and Find a Buyer Willing to Keep the Site as 17 Rentals." The second is "Suggestions about the Process Should Some Version of the Current Proposal Proceed" — notably a second Open House with more background information provided, showing a design that offers less problematic access to the site's parking and garbage. Thursday 14 October 2010: Georgia Straight Article An article appeared in The Georgia Straight about 1240 Salsbury Drive and 1841 Charles Street (published online on the 13th). The article was also about the loss of eight rental units only a block away, on two legal lots known as 1857 and 1871 Kitchener, which are on the north side of Victoria Park, close to Victoria Drive. These two lots have two buildings on them. The two buildings have the following postal addresses:
The tenants received eviction notices on 30 September from the developer. The developer is seeking to subdivide the two lots, which combined are 99 feet wide (one lot is 52 feet wide, the other is 47 feet), into three 33-foot lots. Because subdivision is being sought, it is almost certain that the developer is wanting to demolish the two existing buildings. Friday 17 September 2010: Vancouver Media Co-Op Article Joseph Jones published an article titled "17 rental units on the Drive under threat from commercial developer: Ankenman Marchand International takes a "grass-route approach" to gentrifying the Drive." Wednesday 15 September 2010: Open House At an Open House at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre ("The Cultch"), a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) was proposed for a 155 by 132 foot site at 1240 Salsbury Drive and 1841 Charles Street, to add 16 townhouses to the site in return for preserving the 1907-1908 Jeffs Residence on the site, which was assessed for its historical significance in June. There are plans to stratify Jeffs Residence, turning the building into 7-10 units. There are currently 17 rental units on the site. The developer has been looking into turning some portion of the developed site into rental housing or a co-op, but without success so far. Monday 12 July 2010: Vancouver Heritage Commission meeting The Vancouver Heritage Commission unanimously supported the addition of the Jeffs Residence to the Vancouver Heritage Register as a "B" evaluation at its 12 July 2010 meeting. June 2010: Jeffs Residence Statement of Significance Report Donald Luxton & Associates published a Statement of Significance and Vancouver Heritage Register Evaluation called "The Jeffs Residence: 1240 Salsbury Drive." The statement and evaluation is available as a PDF (11.1 MB). The statement and evaluation rated the Jeffs Residence as belonging to Evaluation Group "B" (see page 4). According to the Vancouver Heritage Register (July 2010), "B - Significant" "Represents good examples of a particular style or type, either individually or collectively; may have some documented historical or cultural significance in a neighbourhood."
[ Mon 19 Sep 2011: Public Hearing ] [ Sun 18 Sep 2011: GWAC Letter to Mayor and Council ] [ Mon 6 Jun 2011: Open House ] [ Thu 24 Feb 2011: GWAC Letter to Ms Au (Project Facilitator) ] [ Sat 5 Feb 2011: Development Application Signs Posted ] [ Thu 28 Oct 2010: GWAC Letter to Mr Ankenman (Project Architect) ] [ Mon 18 Oct 2010: Letter to GWAC from Mr Ankenman (Project Architect) ] [ Sun 17 Oct 2010: GWAC Letter to Mr Adair (Development Planner) ] [ Thu 14 Oct 2010: Georgia Straight Article ] [ Fri 17 Sep 2010: Vancouver Media Co-Op Article ] [ Wed 15 Sep 2010: Open House ] [ Mon 12 Jul 2010: Vancouver Heritage Commission meeting ] [ June 2010: Jeffs Residence Statement of Significance Report ]
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