APPELLANT’S SUBMISSION:
Mr. Peter Smith, on behalf of the
property owner, submitted an application to allow for the construction of a
new single family dwelling with secondary suite.
Mr. Paul Aitken and Ms. Kitty Kit-Yu
Cho, property owner, appeared before members of the Board of Variance.
BURNABY
PLANNING AND BUILDING DEPARTMENT COMMENTS:
The subject site, zoned R5
Residential District, is located in the Second Street neighbourhood in which
the age and condition of single and two-family dwellings vary. This interior
lot, approximately 51.28 ft. wide by 146.17 ft. deep, fronts onto Thirteenth
Avenue to the northwest and abuts a lane to the southeast. Immediately across
Thirteenth Avenue (to the northwest) and across the lane (to the southeast) are two family dwellings and
immediately southwest and northeast of the subject site are single family dwellings.
Vehicular
access to the subject site is provided from the rear lane. The site observes a
downward slope of approximately 12.6 ft. in the north-south direction.
The subject site is
proposed to be redeveloped with a new single family dwelling, including a
secondary suite, for which a variance has been requested. The existing
detached garage is proposed to remain.
The appeal proposes the relaxation
of Section 105.9 “Front Yard” of the Burnaby Zoning Bylaw from 39.60 ft.
(based on front yard averaging) to 20.67 ft. The purpose of this variance is
to allow the construction of a single family dwelling encroaching into the
required front yard abutting Thirteenth Avenue, as
measured to the front porch post of the proposed single family dwelling. Section
6.12 “Yards” of the Zoning Bylaw which allows specific projections into the
front yard will also be applicable.
In 1991,
Council responded to the public concerns with respect to the bulk and massing
of the newer and larger homes that were built in the established
neighbourhoods. Several text amendments to the Zoning Bylaw were made to
address these concerns, including requirement of a larger front yard where
the average front yard depth of the two dwellings on either side of the
subject site exceeds the required front yard applicable to the zone. The
larger front yard requirement should be calculated through the “front yard
averaging”. The intent of the amendment was to improve the consistency and
harmony of the new construction with the existing neighbourhood.
In this case, the front
yard averaging calculations are based on the front yard setbacks of the
dwelling immediately southwest of the subject site at 8002 Thirteenth Avenue
and the two
dwellings immediately northeast of the subject site at 8012 and 8018 Thirteenth Avenue. The front yard setbacks for these properties are 24.57 ft., 67.89 ft. and 26.34 ft. respectively. The
property at 8012 Thirteenth Avenue, immediately
northeast of the subject site, affects these calculations.
As mentioned above, the front yard
setback is measured to the front porch post located
in the middle of the front elevation, which is one storey; there is no
upper floor proposed. In relation to the front porch
post, the main face of the building would be set back an additional
4.29 ft. at the central/eastern portion and 9.29 ft. at the western portion.
With respect to the
existing streetscape, the proposed siting would place the subject dwelling
3.9 ft. in front of the neighbouring dwelling to the southwest and 47.22 ft.
in front of the neighbouring dwelling to the northeast. If the “corner to
corner” relation is considered, based on the submitted survey it is estimated
that the proposed dwelling would be approximately 2.0 ft. behind the
neighbouring dwelling to the southwest and approximately 43.0 ft. in front of
the neighbouring dwelling to the northeast, but approximately 2.0 ft. in
front of the second neighbouring dwelling to the northeast.
The proposed siting of
the main body of the subject dwelling would be approximately 3.0 ft. closer
to the front property line in comparison to the siting of the existing
dwelling on the subject site; the existing dwelling observes a front yard
setback of approximately 28.0 ft. Therefore, this variance would not create a
substantial change in the massing relationship between the proposed dwelling
on the subject site and neighbouring dwellings.
Further, with the exception to the
property immediately northeast of the subject site, the varied setbacks proposed
on the front elevation alleviate the massing impacts of the reduced front
yard setback on the properties immediately to the southwest and northeast of
the subject site. With respect to the property directly northeast of the
subject site, considering the distant placement of the residence to the rear
of this property (there is no direct overlap between this residence and the
portion of the subject dwelling encroaching into the required front yard),
any relevance of front yard averaging in this particular case could be
questioned.
With reference to the
broader neighbourhood context, the front yard vary on the subject block, from
approximately 15.0 ft. at 8024 Thirteenth Avenue (third lot to the northeast
of the subject site) to 67.89 ft. at 8012 Thirteenth Avenue (immediately
adjacent lot to the northeast) and the average setback is approximately 26.0 ft. As such, the siting of
the proposed dwelling would not be out of ordinary within the existing
neighbourhood context.
With respect to hardship, the
requested variance is partly the result of a design choice: with the proposed
generous rear yard (over 65 ft. deep), there is room to relocate the proposed
dwelling farther to the rear of the property in order to comply with the
front yard averaging requirement. However, there are grounds for hardship
considering the existing development pattern in the subject block, which
affects front yard averaging calculations.
In view of the above, and since the
proposed development would create low impacts on neighbouring properties and
the existing streetscape, this Department does not object the granting of
this variance.
ADJACENT OWNER’S COMMENTS:
No submissions were
received regarding this appeal.
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