The company that took court action against the City of Vancouver for not approving its highly contentious 111-unit condo project five years ago in Chinatown has been given another chance to have its application heard.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge said in a written decision released Monday that Beedie (Keefer Street) Holdings Ltd. can return before the city’s development permit board to seek approval of its proposal at 105 Keefer St.
Justice Jan Brongers agreed with Beedie’s argument that the development permit board did not provide adequate reasons for rejecting the application in a 2-1 vote in November 2017.
“I therefore find that that the board’s Nov. 6, 2017 decision to reject the [development permit] application without indicating what conditions Beedie would need to satisfy in order for it to be approved is a departure from past practice that violated Beedie’s legitimate expectations,” Brongers said.
“In these circumstances, the board had a burden to explain and justify this departure in its reasons. However, I have searched in vain for such a justificatory explanation in the transcript of the board members’ remarks made at the Nov. 6, 2017 meeting, and in the Nov. 16, 2017 letter to Beedie that confirmed the denial of the [development permit] application. In the absence of such an explanation, I find that the board’s decision was unreasonable.”
Brongers ordered the development permit board to reconsider Beedie’s application “as soon as is reasonably practicable.”
Whether the company will pursue its legal right for another round with the board is unclear, with a representative for Beedie saying in an email Tuesday that the decision was being reviewed with lawyers.
The city said in an email Tuesday that it was also reviewing the decision.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden
The ruling effectively continues a long battle between Beedie and the city over the prized property on Keefer Street, which is adjacent to the Chinatown Memorial Plaza and across the street from the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
Originally, Beedie proposed a 12-storey condo building at 118 feet tall for the site, but it was rejected in June 2017 in an 8-3 city council vote. That proposal went before council because its proposed height required a rezoning and public hearing.
The building would have included 106 market condos, 25 apartments for seniors, a recreational and cultural space, and room for business on the ground floor.
At the time, the proposal deeply divided the community, with hundreds of citizens voicing their concerns over more high-priced condos planned for Chinatown, which they argued had a need for more social and seniors’ housing.
The council of the day, which was led by Gregor Robertson and Vision Vancouver, said the building’s design was too bulky and would block views and cast shadows on Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden.
They also said the building wouldn’t preserve the heritage and cultural character of Chinatown, and that there wasn’t enough social housing in the plan.
Beedie revised its application and reduced the project to nine storeys and 90 feet tall, erasing the need for a rezoning or public hearing. That was the version of the proposal rejected by the development permit board in 2017.
111 development permit applications
At the time, the board was comprised of then-planning director Gil Kelley, then-chief city engineer Jerry Dobrovolny and then-deputy city manager Paul Mochrie.
Kelley and Dobrovolny, who no longer work for the city, rejected the project primarily based on design and massing of the building.
Mochrie, who is now city manager, said the application met the requirements of existing zoning regulations. Mochrie also noted it met the test of city planners, the urban design panel and the board’s advisory panel.
In providing reasons for their decisions, Dobrovolny and Kelley referred to the widespread opposition to Beedie's project from hundreds of people who spoke at the public hearings in May and June, and more than 100 who spoke to the board.
Both before and after the decision, city officials met with Beedie to consider a possible land swap for another property with more favourable zoning requirements. The city also said it considered buying the property, which at the time was worth at least $22 million.
During court proceedings, Beedie managing partner Rob Fiorvento pointed out in an affidavit that the company’s application was the only one rejected out of 111 development permit applications considered by the board between 2012 and 2017.
“The other applications were all approved, albeit generally with conditions that had to be satisfied prior to the issuance of the development permit,” Brongers noted in his ruling.
Since the 2017 decision, city council approved new guidelines for development in Chinatown, which further reduced allowable height and density of new buildings.
How that policy would factor into another hearing before the development permit board is unclear, considering Beedie's proposal from 2017 wouldn't be allowed under current zoning.
The property at 105 Keefer St. was once a gas station and now serves as a parking lot and storage area for sand and gravel.
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