Date

May 4, 2020

Department

Planning

Application No.

Z19-0012

Subject

Bylaw No. 1904, Omnibus No. 51, an omnibus to create new zones for the City Centre and City Centre Core

PURPOSE

Bylaw No. 1904 proposes to amend Zoning Bylaw No. 300 by adding two new zones to Section 6 of the Zoning Bylaw. The purpose of the new zones is to create regulations specific to the downtown core and outlying city centre areas that will ensure future redevelopment aligns with the vision and design objectives captured within the Design Guidelines for Langford’s City Centre contained in the Zoning Bylaw.

BACKGROUND

Three zones, the C8 and C8A, Community Town Centre Pedestrian, Zones and the C9, Community Town Centre Pedestrian 9, Zone were drafted specifically for properties in downtown Langford that were being redeveloped for primarily commercial uses. These zones permit uses that encourage pedestrian activity, such as retail, restaurant and personal services establishments; however, uses that do not promote as much patron traffic, such as offices for dentists, lawyers and real-estate sales, are also permitted on the ground floor in these zones. Furthermore, with a maximum allowable floor area ratio (FAR) of 2.5, the C8 and C8A zones limit the development potential to less than what is considered indicative of a downtown core, where high-density development should be concentrated and encouraged.

The Mixed-Use Zones within Langford’s Zoning Bylaw were tailored to allow for high density mixed-use commercial and residential redevelopment within a wider area of Langford. While the MU1, Mixed Use Commercial Residential, Zone offers the same density provisions and uses as the C8 and C8A Zones, the MU1A and MU2, Mixed Use Commercial Residential, Zones allow for higher densities and more uses to be developed. Due to the higher allowable FAR of 4.0, and higher allowable height, 12 storeys in the MU2 Zone, developments within downtown Langford are typically redeveloped using either the MU1A or MU2 zone to allow for greater densities; however, the range of permitted uses are not necessarily appropriate to a downtown setting.

COMMENTS

In October 2019, Council adopted new design guidelines for the City Centre that were developed in consultation with Dr. Avi Friedman. Concurrently, the Commercial Revitalization Development Permit Area was expanded from the downtown core to include the entire City Centre OCP designation area. The new design guidelines categorized the City Centre into six separate areas, each with their own density, development type and design considerations.

Staff has drafted two new zones for the City Centre that allow for increased density and encourage the types of uses that will create a vibrant, walkable downtown core to align with the new City Centre design guidelines. These Zones will ultimately combine the aspects of the six Zones mentioned above that have been found to work well to achieve the objectives for redevelopment in the City Centre, while removing those aspect that have not. Ultimately, these six existing Zones can be phased out in favour of these new Zones.

CCP, City Centre Pedestrian, Zone

The CCP, City Centre Pedestrian, Zone is intended to apply to new buildings along the major corridors of the downtown, specifically along Goldstream Avenue, Jacklin Road, Peatt Road, and within the City Hall, Matson, Strathmore, Claude, and Fountain Districts of the City Centre Design Guidelines (Appendix J of the Zoning Bylaw No. 300). The purpose of the zone is to attain redevelopment of the remaining properties within these areas of Langford’s downtown core as high density commercial or mixed-use buildings with a focus on promoting pedestrian activity and connectivity. The goal of the CCP zone is also to discourage inconsistent development patterns by restricting the allowable density of smaller properties thus encouraging the assembly of several properties to undergo redevelopment together to maximize development potential.

Regulations for the CCP zone include:

• On the ground floor of new buildings some of the allowable uses include: fitness centre, library, licensed premises, liquor store, personal service establishment, public assembly and entertainment facility, restaurant, retail store, training and education facilities. These uses may only occupy a maximum frontage of 10 m (32.8 ft) and cannot exceed a gross floor area of 70 m (753.50 ft2) for the portion of the use accessible at ground floor.
• Including uses allowed on the ground floor, some of the uses allowed above the second storey of a new building include: apartments (including for senior citizens and assisted living), group day cares, offices, hotels, medical clinics and schools. These uses may not share access or any space with residential uses.
• A maximum FAR of 0.3, which can be increased to 3.0 when amenity contributions are provided in accordance with Council policy. The FAR may be further increased to a maximum of 6.5 depending on the amount of parking provided underground or otherwise enclosed within a structure.
• No lot less than 2,000 m2 (0.49 acres), or with a street frontage of less than 40 m (131.20 ft) may exceed a FAR larger than 1.0.
• Minimum setbacks of 2 m (6 ft) from the front lot line at grade, 5 m (16.40 ft) for any portion of a building above the 5th storey, and 9 m (29.52 ft) for any portion of the building above the 12th storey.
• 70 % of parking is required to be underground or otherwise contained within a parking structure.

CC1, City Centre, Zone

The CC1, City Centre, Zone is intended to apply to new buildings in the areas of the City Centre that are not within the downtown core. These include properties that do not share a frontage with Goldstream Avenue, Jacklin Road or Peatt Road but are within the City Hall, Matson, Strathmore, Claude, and Fountain Districts. The CC1 zone will also be applied to applications to rezone properties in any of the other Districts within the Langford City Centre Design Guidelines (Appendix J of the Zoning Bylaw No. 300). The purpose of the zone will be to redevelop the properties within these areas of Langford’s downtown core into either high density residential, commercial or mixed-use residential developments where good access to established businesses, services and transportation invites high density development. The regulations of the CC1 Zone mirror those of the CCP Zone with noted differences in how the regulations tied to use are applied.

Regulations within the CC1 Zone include:

• Some of the following allowable uses: apartments (including for senior citizens and assisted living), community garden, financial institution, financial institution - drive through, fitness centre, group day care library, licensed premises, liquor store, medical clinic, office, parking facility, personal service establishment, pet day care, place of worship, public assembly and entertainment, restaurant, retail store, training and education facilities. Ground floor uses may only occupy a maximum frontage of 16 m (52.50 ft).
• A maximum FAR of 0.3, which can be increased to 3.0 when amenity contributions are provided in accordance with Council policy. The FAR may be further increased to a maximum of 6.5 depending on the amount of parking provided underground or otherwise enclosed within a structure.
• No lots less than 2,000 m2 (0.49 acres), or with a street frontage of less than 40 m (131.20 ft) may exceed a FAR larger than 1.0.
• Minimum setbacks of 2 m (6 ft) from the front lot at grade, 5 m (16.40 ft) for any portion of a building above the 5th storey, and 9 m (29.52 ft) for any portion of the building above the 12th storey.
• 70 % of parking is required to be underground or otherwise contained within a parking structure.

The permitted density and structure of the two Zones are very similar; however, the permitted uses differ somewhat. In the CCP Zone, which is intended for the downtown core and major roads, ground floor uses are limited to those commercial uses that generate a high level of patron activity and pedestrian interaction, such as retail stores and restaurants. Additional commercial uses desirable for a downtown setting and residential uses are permitted above the ground floor. This strategy will greatly help to implement key objectives of the OCP and City Centre Design Guidelines to create a vibrant, attractive and engaged streetscape. By contrast, this is not quite as essential in the neighbourhood areas of the City Centre. As such, the CC1 permits, but doesn’t require, ground floor commercial uses, and allows a wider range of commercial uses to occur at the ground floor level.

Engagement

As formal engagement with the business and the West Shore development community is difficult at this time, Council may wish to direct staff send out referrals in the form of an email regarding the new downtown zones contained within this Bylaw prior to 2nd reading.

Legal and Financial

Staff see no legal or financial implications with respect to Bylaw No. 1904.

OPTIONS

That Council:

Option 1

1. Proceed with consideration of Bylaw No. 1904 as drafted;

AND

2. Direct staff to engage with select members of the West Shore Economic Development and West Shore Developers Association by way of electronic correspondence on the regulations of the new downtown zones that make up Bylaw No.1904, prior to consideration of 2nd reading;

Or Option 2

3. Take no action at this time with respect to Bylaw No. 1904

Submitted by

Lauren Mattiussi, MCIP, RPP, Planner 2-email approval

Concurrence

• Adriana Proton, Manager of Legislative Services-email approval
• Chris Aubrey, Fire Chief-email approval
• Lorne Fletcher, Manager of Community Safety and Municipal Enforcement-email approval
• Cory Manton, Manager of Parks and Recreation-email approval
• Michelle Mahovlich, P.Eng, P.Geo, Director of Engineering-email approval
• Leah Stohmann, MCIP, RPP, Deputy Director of Planning-email approval
• Michael Dillabaugh, CPA, CA, Director of Finance-email approval
• Darren Kiedyk, Chief Administrative Officer-Email approval

:lhm