This time, the Pabla family and Stuart Howard Architects Inc. will go before council at a public hearing Thursday with a proposal that modifies the original design from two townhouse buildings to a single four-storey structure with a total of 24 market rental units.
The property is located at 4575 Granville St., adjacent to the Vancouver Hospice Society, which opposed the original proposal in 2019 over concerns related to noise and loss of view residents had of the sky and trees.
“In terms of the effect it will have on the hospice, really it’s quite substantial in terms of the environment that we are trying to create,” then-executive director Simrin Tabrizi told the Vancouver Courier a year prior to council’s vote.
“You have no idea how concerned we are. This completely undermines everything we have done to date to build this hospice and to care for people who are dying at the end of life.”
Council voted 7-4 against the project, with some concerned about its proximity to the hospice, which opened in 2014 and has served as many as 175 patients annually.
A city staff report that details the new proposal says the hospice and property owners have since tentatively reached a “good neighbour agreement,” which they will conclude following the public hearing, if council approves the project.
That agreement, however, should not be viewed as the hospice welcoming the project without any concerns, as the hospice’s new executive director Sarah Cobb told Glacier Media Wednesday.
“Fundamentally, the hospice would still prefer there be no development that goes in next door,” said Cobb, who plans to speak to council at the hearing.
“Any kind of construction is going to disrupt the operations of the hospice. That being said, this time around the proponents have engaged with us and worked with us. And we believe that cooperation has created a situation that, if this is approved, it's something that we can live with and work with.”
Cobb said the new design has improved the yard setbacks on the property and created more privacy via landscaping and style of balconies. There will also be significantly less excavation to accommodate parking, she said.
“That would have been a very disruptive part of the construction process,” she said, noting the reduced parking allows the developer to “really ameliorate the property line between the two buildings with plants, mature landscaping and create a better outlook for us.”
Gurveer Pabla, speaking on behalf of his family, said in an email that he believes the new design is a better fit for the neighbourhood.
“We’ve spent a lot of time working with city staff, the community and the neighbouring hospice over the past one-and-a-half-plus years, so we’re excited to hear council’s comments,” Pabla said Wednesday.
Back in 2019, after the initial proposal was rejected, the family revisited the option of developing a large single-family home on the property to eventually sell it.
“However, in the end, we decided to have another go at a rental housing proposal on the site, which is more in keeping with our family’s vision and aspirations for the property, as well as the greater community’s need for housing,” he said.
“Our proposal has been designed with families in mind, so we still hope many Vancouverite families [including members of my own family] will end up being able to call this site their home in the future.”
The proposal goes before council under the affordable housing choices interim rezoning policy, or AHC policy, and will feature 12 one-bedroom units and 12 three-bedrooms, which exceeds council policy that dictates 35 per cent of rezoning projects require family-sized units.
All 24 units will be secured as market rental housing for 60 years or life of the building. Covenants will also be registered on title to prohibit stratification or separate sale of individual units.
The AHC policy does not require below-market rental rates.
“Starting rents are at the discretion of the owner, but yearly increases would be subject to the Residential Tenancy Act,” the staff report said. “The rental units will contribute towards the rental targets of the Housing Vancouver Strategy and assist in establishing a balanced rental market for the city.”
A table included in the staff report showed average market rents for newer buildings on the West Side ranged from $1,975 a month for a one-bedroom and $3,349 for a three-bedroom.
As of Wednesday, the council agenda showed 47 letters of support from the public and nine opposed.
Supporter Aden Antle wrote: “I’m excited to see this one back on the table for discussion and I really hope council recognize and appreciate the lengths that have been taken to ensure this project can bring more to the neighbourhood, without adversely impacting existing residents and, of course, the neighbouring hospice.”
Some of those opposed cited an increase in traffic, an expected drop in property values and said the building wouldn’t keep with the character of the single-family neighbourhoods in Shaughnessy.
Shaughnessy resident Gary Lewis wrote: “These projects along Granville Street are piecemeal and random. City politicians seem to consider them to try to increase the number of rental units being built in the city. But following this political agenda is leading to compromises that are leading to bad urban planning. Either rezone all of Granville Street for this type of project, or rezone none of it.”
The hearing at city hall begins at 6 p.m. and can be viewed via the city’s website.
@Howellings
