2345-2349 Main St rezoning application

Thank you for your question. There are several opportunities for the public to provide feedback on a rezoning project:

1. During the Q&A period, staff and the applicant share information about the proposal, listen to concerns and get input from the public, while providing clarifications on the proposal or enabling policy. At any time during the rezoning review, members of the public are also welcome to forward additional questions to the rezoning planner via email. The comments tab stays also open beyond the Q&A period. The feedback, input and concerns will inform the review of the rezoning application. A summary of all comments, questions, phone calls and emails received will be provided in the referral report for Council to consider. 
2. Prior to and during the Public Hearing the public will be able to provide written and in-person feedback to Council. If you leave a comment on Shape your City, you can let us know if you’d like to stay informed about the project, in which case you will be notified about the public hearing. 

About a week before the Public Hearing the agenda, including a link to the referral report, is published on this website: https://covapp.vancouver.ca/councilMeetingPublic/CouncilMeetings.aspx

If correspondence is received by the rezoning planner after the project went to referral, the member of the public is informed that the application is on the agenda for a specific public hearing date, that the comments received  will not been shared with the Mayor and Councillors as Vancouver City Council has referred this item to Public Hearing and all Public Hearing correspondence must be made public. The person is advised that they should at this point submit their comments via the online form (https://vancouver.ca/your-government/contact-council-public-hearing.aspx) to be put on the public record. 

Public Hearing correspondence received through the Public Hearing online form is circulated to Mayor and Council, and made publicly available online on the Public Hearing agenda page. The name of the commenter will be made public; but the contact information will not be posted online. Agendas are available on the City of Vancouver website approximately one week before the meeting and can be access via https://covapp.vancouver.ca/councilMeetingPublic/CouncilMeetings.aspx.

To learn more about Public Hearings, please visit the website at https://vancouver.ca/your-government/what-happens-at-a-public-hearing.aspx, https://vancouver.ca/your-government/city-council-meetings-and-decisions.aspx and https://vancouver.ca/your-government/contact-council-public-hearing.aspx

Thank you for your comment. Please submit general comments through the “send your comments tab". Staff will include a summary of comments provided from the public in a Council report if the project proceeds for Council consideration."

Thank you for your question.  Please note that Staff are compelled to process all rezoning applications, regardless of the initial compliance with City policy and posts them “as is” on Shape your City. That does not imply staff support. Staff review of this project is currently underway. As part of the process, the City seeks the input of the public on applications to contribute to the staff review process. As part of our review process, we work with applicants to refine their application with the objective of aligning with applicable plans and the intent of Council adopted policy. 

In this regard, we consider a number of factors based on current policy directions, i.e., the Broadway Plan and other provincial policies, such as Transit Orientated Area development objectives. You are correct, the Broadway Plan as originally approved by Council in June 2022 did not enable rezonings for additional height and density in the Main Street Village area and maintained the existing 6-storey C-3A zoning. Building heights stepped up to the east and west of the Village area, and north of 7th Ave. The only exception was a small increase in height and density in mid-rise form could be considered for rezonings with heritage retention and cultural uses under the original policy 10.6.5. The Province’s TOA legislation (Bill 47) requires the City to consider a minimum of 20-storeys within 200m of rapid transit stations, which encompasses the site at 2345-2349 Main St. The Broadway Plan was amended by Council in December 2024 to comply with the TOA legislative requirements. The Plan’s built form and site design policies for mixed-use residential towers still apply, and those will be important considerations in staff’s review of this rezoning application. As you note, the proposed height in this rezoning application exceeds what the policy anticipates for this location. 

As part of this review, we also consider matters such as contextual fit, appropriate mix of land uses, appropriate heights and densities, public realm implications, availability of transportation and infrastructure capacity, land speculation, tenant displacement as well as school capacity and access to community centres and public amenities, among other things.  These factors are weighed against good planning principles and Council priorities.  We consider these range of factors, including the public’s input, before coming to final recommendations for Council’s consideration. Following review, Staff makes a recommendation to Council to approve or refuse the proposal, and ultimately it is up to Council to make the final decision. Input from the public, neighbourhood stakeholders, and civic agencies like UDP all helps to inform future staff recommendations to Council. We welcome your input in this regard, and participation in a future public hearing when this project is presented to Council for decision.

If the project is approved as a secured rental project, the rental tenure would be secured on title through a Housing Agreement, which would outline the approved affordability and rental requirements. If the project is approved as a secured student housing project, a post-secondary institution is required to own the units or lease the units for 60 years or the life of the building. The student housing would be secured on title through a student housing covenant and Housing Agreement, which would outline the approved rental model and requirements.

Thank you for your question. Minimum parking requirements are set by the City and approved by Council. Currently in Vancouver, there are no parking minimums for general purpose vehicle parking, however, accessible parking, visitor parking, and bicycle parking spaces are still required on this site as per the Parking By-law. The developer may wish to provide general purpose parking for future occupants based on market expectations, site constraints, and economic implications.

Thank you for your question. The proposed development is required to comply with the Parking By-law with respect to off-street vehicle parking spaces. A Transportation Demand Management Plan will also be required. As part of the rezoning process, Engineering staff review the application with respect to transportation impacts and may include development conditions for off-site requirements to improve transportation operations and safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists adjacent to the site.

We also sent the question to the applicant, and this is their response: “There are no minimum requirements for regular parking stalls. Due to site constraints and the site’s close proximity to current and upcoming major public transit, no parking spaces are proposed on the site.”

Thank you for your question which we shared with the applicant. This is their response: “At this point, the housing units are considered for students, including students at the Goh Ballet school and other higher education institutions such as UBC, SFU, BCIT, VCC, and others.”

From a City perspective, the applicant will need an agreement with a post-secondary institutions as the operator to secure the units as student housing. If such an agreement cannot be achieved, the applicant will need to provide the housing as secured rental, fulfilling all policy and regulatory requirements, e.g. minimum unit size, self-contained units and family-unit requirements, although they can still cooperate with an educational institution and offer the units mainly to students.