Since Council has made a density bonus part of the OCP it's unlimited use is not part of the OCP limits on density. So you can a have a project density 2 or 3 times what is allowed by the OCP since most of it doesn't get officially counted. The developer can slide projects out the public view if they can stick to the height limits. We are lucky that Onni needed the extra profits so badly that the 18 story limit wasn't good enough for them or we'd be in Extra Foods situation.
This is like putting a tall building on a platform on a six story platform but only counting the floors above the platform as the height of the tall building. Next we will see a rule that every floor over 12 is not officially counted so every 50 floor building is actually only counted as 12.
This whole zone (Lonsdale downtown) should be limited to 12 floors which counts all floors.
During the current OCP review, rules on density bonusing and transfers have to put in place to prevent games like this. Councillors have every right to vote against or amend sections of the proposed new OCP and if a Councillor votes to ratify the new OCP, they should be held accountable for what they are approving. A former Council let this through and it could be amended with four votes.
Ron Polly has a letter in the North Shore which calls for rules to put in place which would increase the return the City gets for increased density. It's a good starting point for discussion but there has a be a line drawn that cannot be crossed.
The OCP allows for 2.6 FSR on that particular site and Onni was proposing at total gross density of 4.56 FSR, or 1.75 times. I do recognize that they originally proposed 5.675 FSR (2.18 times) but that was also rejected. Saying things like "2-3 times what is allowed" is disingenuous, unless you can point to a project that has been approved with such a large bonus.
ReplyDeleteAlso, nowhere was Onni proposing to discount the number of floors in their project, they were proposing an OCP amendment for height and whatever extra density that resulted in would have to be counted. With respect to your comments about the "whole zone" being limited to 12 floors, well the OCP that has been in place for over a decade has allowed 180' buildings between 13th and 17th (between the north/south lanes and St. Georges/Chesterfield), and they've always counted all the floors.
Councillor Keating said it "OCP amendment bylaw only for height" as any density that comes through density bonusing does part of the OCP and does not trigger the extra requirements of the OCP.
ReplyDeleteRE: 12 floors limit - the OCP review could do, just because developers and planning staff have pushed the limits and will continue to do so does not mean that the limits could not be set lower.
Fair enough, the limits could be pushed lower as part of the OCP review, though that is not something I would think would be good for the growth of the neighbourhood, nor the affordability.
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