Agenda Package - City of Vernon

January LZ,20t0
Mayor Wayne Lippert
Vernon City Council
City of Vernon
3400 30th Street Vernon BC
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Figure 5
RE: Develooment Variance Permit Application - 3705 24th Ave. Attainable Housing Proiect
Dear Mr. Lippert and City Council,
We have recently submitted an application for a Development Variance Permit to construct an
AttainaÞle Housing project on 24th Avenue in Vernon. This 12 unit community is located close to the
downtown core and will offer our city an innovative and much needed affordable solution for housing.
Our project vision and design focus is inspired by the facts that 690/o of Vernon households are one and
two person occupancy with a median income level of $55,000 per year. In addition to the attainable
selling price of these units, we have also included sustainable building design, and more than double
the required green space area which incorporates a playground and park area to encourage community
interaction. The compact and comfortable living spaces will see space saving storage systems and the
project's location will encourage the use of alternative means of transportation such as bicycles. (Please
refer to our enclosed information brochure).
While we have done our best to plan this exciting project to compliment the surrounding neighborhood
and to comply with existing zoning bylaws, there are two development variances we are seeking:
1. W¡dth of Units: The zoning requires that the minimum width for each Row Housing Unit be
6.5metres. Due to several contributing design factors (cost for affordability, maximizing
density, property size etc.) we have designed the units to be 5.5m wide, As mentioned above,
our innovative floor plans and use of space will provide very functional, comfortable living
spaces and offer flex space to accommodate different family needs. For these reasons we are
requesting a variance for the minimum width of the units to be 5.Smetres
2. Parking Requirements: Through the preliminary DP review process, it has been brought to our
attention that the City Engineering department would like to see 1.7metres of our propefty
along 24th Avenue be dedicated as a road right-of-way, Due to this road dedication two visitor
parking spaces will be lost at the front of the buildings. However, there will be six visitor spaces
at the rear of the bu¡¡dings and each unit will have one enclosed parking space within the
Ground Floor of each unit. The Zoning Bylaw requires 1.67 parking spaces (which includes the
visitor spaces) per unit while we are able to provide 1.5 parking spaces per unit. Subsequently,
there will be a total of 18 spaces provided for the 12 units being proposed, Our target market is
also for households that would typically have one vehicle per household, In summary, we are
requesting a relaxation for two visitor parking stalls due to the 1.7m road right of way
dedication required by the City.
We thank you for the opportunity to present this proposal and ask that you carefully consider these
variance requests while keeping in mind the importance of the purpose of this project. We look forward
to building a successful project and contributing in a small way towards a solution for Attainable and
Affordable housing in our community.
Rega
cc City of Vernon - Planning Department
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