Bonuses denied to apartment developers

Developers will not get the bonuses for constructing apartment buildings to more environmentally-friendly standards that other residential developments in the new Arkell expansion and Stan McCowan subdivisions will be eligible for.

A special council meeting was held Monday night for a specific vote on the zoning for the two residential areas being developed.

Council members passed the comprehensive development zones that were proposed.

Along with more stringent design guidelines, developers receive bonuses on zoning requirements for meeting environmental standards.

The bonuses include things like a 10 per cent relaxation on required setbacks, building heights and so on that the developer can choose from.

The decision to leave multi-family developments out of the bonus equation came after Coun. Doug Graham argued a 10 per cent height increase a developer could be entitled to would make a substantial difference to apartment buildings, specifically in the multi-family zone proposed near Willow Crescent in Porter Creek.

“It would make a huge difference to those people on Willow,“ Graham said of both the impact of a 10 per cent setback reduction and a 10 per cent building height increase that would take an apartment structure up to 16.5 metres.

“The current lots on Willow Street are a lot smaller than other areas in Whitehorse because they were trailer lots originally.“

Over time, houses have been put in place where the trailers once were, though the lot sizes remain the same.

Graham went on to argue residents were presented with information showing building sizes would be limited to 15 metres, with no information given out at public meetings about the bonuses that could up the building size and reduce setbacks.

“If you’re going to give people information, make the information accurate,“ he said, arguing the public consultation was “under false pretenses.“

As city planner Zoe Morrison argued, however, the proposal on the bonus came out of residents’ suggestions that they want to see more sustainable development.

The proposal for the bonuses came from what the public said at those meetings.

“The sustainability is something we’re hearing from the public,“ Morrison said, noting it was nothing that was purposely kept hidden from the public.

Rather, the planning department will come to the public with the broadest plan for development, then make changes based on the input before bringing it to council.

Coun. Florence Roberts pointed out, however, that members of council had raised the issue of public input on the bonuses with city management during previous meetings.

As bonuses, developers may choose not to make use of them or meet the environmental standards, Morrison also said.

Roberts argued developers should be meeting the environmental standards without the need of bonuses and the city should require the standards.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt pointed out the city is in discussions with developers on making the standards a part of zoning requirements, as was council’s direction earlier.

The bonuses were put in place as part of the transition between now and when the environmental standards become part of the regulations.

Following the extensive, nearly half-hour discussion, Shewfelt suggested if council wanted to move ahead with approving the comprehensive development zones while keeping restrictions on apartments and the like, it could leave multi-family zones out of the bonus section.

If a developer wanted to take advantage of the bonuses in a multi-family zone, they could approach council at that point for approval, Shewfelt noted.

Roberts then made the motion for the amendment, with the rest of council approving it.

While council favoured that change, they didn’t agree with Coun. Jeanine Myhre’s amendment. That would have taken away the requirement for single-family homes to have porches under the Comprehensive Residential Single Family zone.

Myhre has disagreed with the regulation since it was proposed, arguing it infringes too much on home owners.

She was the only council member to vote in favour of her own amendment.

While Myhre’s motion was defeated, council voted unanimously to pass several other amendments on the zoning.

They included the regulations required for being eligible for the zoning bonuses in the Comprehensive Residential Single Family and the Comprehensive Residential Townhouse zones.

Under the single-family regulations to be eligible for the 10 per cent variance on setbacks, building height or lot coverage, the developer could install either a rainwater harvesting and storage system or a grey water reuse system for landscape irrigation, achieve green certification, and/or install three of a possible six systems, including:

- a high-efficiency, sealed combustion heating appliance;

- drain water heat recovery units;

- a Canadian Standards Association-certified high-energy wood stove or pellet stove with a minimum 85 per cent efficiency;

- Energy Star-rated windows for all the home’s windows;

- Energy Star rated appliances for all the buildings appliances; or

- a solar hot water heating system.

Each of the improvements would allow for a 10 per cent bonus.

Under the townhouse zoning, developers could choose to meet three of a possible five options to be eligible for three 10 per cent bonuses.

These include the first three outlined for single-family homes and incorporating the use of ground source energy technology and/or incorporating shared district heating into the homes.

All systems would have to be operational before the city would issue occupancy permits.

The last two amendments approved by council before third reading of the zoning for the two areas was passed, were definitions for grey water and green certified building.

Under the bylaw, grey water is defined as “non-industrial wastewater generated from domestic processes such as dish washing, laundry and bathing”.

Meanwhile, green-certified building is defined as “a building which meets Yukon Housing Corporation GreenHome Certification R2000 or C2000, BuiltGreen and LEED standards”.

The city will also consider other comparable green building standards, it was noted.

Last night’s special meeting was held in an effort to have the projects move ahead more quickly.