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APPELLANT’S SUBMISSION:
Ms. Anna Prints, Permit Masters, on
behalf of the property owner, submitted an application to allow for the
construction of a new single family dwelling with secondary suite.
Ms. Prints appeared before members
of the Board of Variance.
BURNABY
PLANNING AND BUILDING DEPARTMENT COMMENTS:
The
subject site, which is zoned R2 Residential District, is located in the
Sussex-Nelson neighbourhood in which the majority of single family dwellings
were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. This interior through lot,
approximately 58.67 ft. wide and 115.00 ft. long, fronts Boxer Street to the
south and Carson Street to the north. The property observes a significant
16.70 ft. slope in the north-south direction. Single family dwellings abut
the subject site to the east and to the west. Vehicular access to the subject
site is provided from Carson Street. The site is improved with an existing
single family dwelling (1964) and an existing detached single car garage. The
proposed new detached two car garage and bike storage, which is to replace
the existing garage, is the subject of two appeals which are co-related.
The
first appeal is to allow a distance of 3.25 ft. from accessory detached
garage to principal building, where a minimum distance of 14.76 ft. is
required.
The
second appeal is to allow construction of accessory detached garage in a
required front yard, 4.75 ft. from the north property line abutting Carson
Street and from 3.92 ft. to 4.42 ft. from the west property line, where
siting of an accessory building in the required front, or side yard, is
prohibited by the Zoning Bylaw.
This
Department notes that in 2003, the Board of Variance granted the dwelling at
4183 Boxer Street (fourth dwelling west of the subject lot) permission to
construct their garage 2.04 ft. from the north property line (Carson Street)
and observing a distance of 11.43 ft. from the principal building (Reference
# BV 5166) and in 2011, the Board of Variance granted the dwelling at 4243
Boxer Street (the neighbouring dwelling to the east) permission to construct
their garage 2.00 ft. from the north property line (Carson Street) and
observing a distance of 13.00 ft. from the principal building (Reference # BV
5911).
With
respect to the second appeal, the intent of the Bylaw in prohibiting
accessory buildings in the front yard is to ensure a unified street frontage
appearance and to limit impacts on the neighbouring properties' front yards.
The
existing house observes the required front yard setback from Boxer Street. In
fact, a consistent building edge is maintained throughout the block, and all
the houses exceed the required front yard setback by more than 13.00 ft. The
front yard setback from Carson Street is the yard for which the setback
relaxation is requested. Carson Street appears and functions as a lane rather
than a street. Its width is approximately 32.00 ft., one half of the typical
street width, which is 66.00 ft., but the road allowance is wider than a
typical lane, which is 20.00 ft. wide. The width of the paved portion of the
Carson Street is similar to the typical 20.00 ft. lane width. City records
indicate Carson Street was built in 1950 and amended to its current
configuration in 1959 and 1960. The Engineering Department has no intentions
to enlarge this street in the future. With the exception of two sites, Carson
Street functions as a lane; the majority of lots (north and south side of the
block) in the subject block have their garages located on the Carson Street
side, some of which observe a reduced setback. The proposed garage is within
same distance to Carson Street as is existing garage on the property. The new
double car garage is wider and it is proposed to be built closer to the
western neighbour. The setback is reduced from 6.92 ft. to 3.92 ft. It is
also longer due to the bike storage extension to the south, which will
increase overshadowing of the western neighbour’s outdoor space in the
morning. However, the amount of the bike storage extension towards south is
not the subject of this variance, only its distance from the side and Carson
Street property lines.
With
respect to the first appeal, the Bylaw requires a separation between a
principal building and an accessory building (garage) so that building
massing does not have a negative impact on the neighbouring properties, as
well as to provide for sufficient outdoor living space.
In this case, the proposed L-shaped detached garage, positioned
approximately over the existing garage location, is increased in size and
wrapped around the corner of the main dwelling. The 3.17 ft. distance between
the south garage wall and the north dwelling wall, where minimum required is
14.8 ft., is the subject of this variance. Additionally, the distance between
overlapping 10.33 ft. portion of west dwelling wall and east garage/bike
storage wall is 7.58 ft. where minimum required is 14.8 ft. It should be
noted that the west wall of the dwelling has no window facing the bike
storage portion of the garage.
The
additional massing created by the garage and bike storage will have some
negative impact on the adjacent property to the west, as discussed in the
second appeal above.
The
available green space on the subject site would remain mostly unchanged.
Further, the siting of the proposed garage would be consistent with the
neighbouring properties.
As
Carson Street functions as a lane, with no future intent to establish it as a
street frontage for the properties on either side of it, and since there is
only limited impacts on the neighbouring properties and green space is still
available on the subject site, allowing the garage to be built will not
defeat the intent of the Bylaw. In view of the above, this Department does
not object to the granting of these two variances.
ADJACENT OWNER’S COMMENTS:
No submissions were
received regarding this appeal.
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