October 22, 2007

City Regulations

Buildings in Vancouver reach new heights

Warren Frey

correspondent

Vancouver has long treasured its mountain views, and with good reason.

But while the downtown area’s proximity to visually stunning mountain ranges and ocean views has proven to be a draw for tourism and real estate, Vancouver’s rapidly accelerating growth and limited building space is forcing planners, builders and community groups to reexamine current height restrictions.

Vancouver’s old height restrictions capped downtown buildings at 450 feet, but under new regulations those guidelines have been relaxed up to 650 feet.

But as towers push further into the sky, they have to now deal with more concerns on the ground, according to Michael Gordon, City of Vancouver senior central area planner.

“In 1997, the city engaged in a comprehensive review of the downtown core and crafted various theoretical skylines such as domes and landmarks. We came to the conclusion that the tallest buildings should be on the widest streets, and must provide public open space, as well as retaining surrounding heritage density, so building cannot involve the demolition of a Class A heritage site,” Gordon said, citing the restoration of the Coastal Church next to the Shangri-La development as an example of the policy.

Taller buildings are also restricted to the centre of downtown, and must not restrict view corridors or produce excess shadowing on thoroughfares.

Warren Frey

The Living Shangri-La hotel/residential complex is a $250 million tower under construction at Thurlow and Georgia in Vancouver. It will reach more than 61 storeys when complete.

The increased cost of taller buildings has also meant more lucrative residential properties have taken priority over office space.

Shangri-La, the upcoming 60 storey Vancouver’s Turn and the Melville are all mixed-use buildings, but Gordon said that a new Metro Core Jobs and Land Use Review is currently examining concerns with a lack of commercial capacity downtown.

“There’s a limited number of sites that can be used for buildings of this height, and that means higher-end sites,” Gordon said.

Suburban municipalities are also examining high-rises as a way to avoid urban sprawl and maximize use of space.

The Municipality of Langley recently voted to ease restrictions that kept buildings at four storeys and below, and White Rock mayor Judy Forster has gone on record in support of building higher structures to work around limited available land.

But building up isn’t always the best solution, according to Cheeying Ho, Smart Growth B.C. executive director.

“Smart Growth B.C. has no policy around exact heights. We promote higher density and judge each project whether or not it fits in with a community plan amongst other factors,” she said.

The appropriate height of a building is determined by its surrounding community, Ho added.

“What might fit in downtown Vancouver we couldn’t recommend in White Rock, for example,” she said.

Ho also echoed the same concern that building higher should not impact negatively on ground level amenities.

“If a building does build higher, it should be done in return for some other amenities, such as daycare or green space,” Ho said.

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