What is the difference between a Standard Zone and a Direct Control Provision?

    A Standard Zone is one that already exists within the Zoning Bylaw and applies to various pieces of land throughout the City.  This type of zoning is meant to provide a range of potential uses and a building envelope, but does not guarantee a specific building design. 

    A Direct Control Provision is a type of zoning that is unique to a specific site or small area and has special regulations that are necessary based on the context of the site or area.  Usually with this kind of rezoning, a more exact building design is proposed and, if approved by Council, that is the only building that can be built.

    What is FAR or Floor Area Ratio?

    Floor Area Ratio is the amount of floor area of the building relative to the site size.  For example, if a site is 1000 square metres in area and the total floor area of the building is 2000 square metres, the FAR is 2.0.  

    Floor Area Ratio is a good overall measure of the development intensity of a site.

    The proposed 10.0 FAR of this rezoning is considered indicative of a very high intensity development.

    Are impacts on view corridors for existing high rise buildings something that the City considers when analyzing proposed new towers nearby?

    There is no City Policy or Council direction specifically regarding protecting views from existing high rise towers.  Compatibility between existing and proposed towers is generally evaluated in three main ways:

    • Tower Separation - Ensuring that towers are at least 20 metres apart, preferably 25 to 30 metres.  The further a new tower is away from an existing one, the less impact it has on the view in the direction towards it.  This space also helps reduce cumulative wind impacts and reduce loss of privacy.  This tower proposal maintains a separation distance from the Strathcona House tower to the north of at least 20 metres.  Due to the shapes and orientations of both the existing and proposed towers, there are many instances of the separation distance being between 25 and 30 metres, depending on which parts of the buildings are compared and from which direction the measurement is taken.
    • Tower Floor Plate - Ensuring towers are slim in design with the floor area of each storey approximately 850 m2 or less.  The narrower a tower is, the less impact it has on the view in the direction towards it.  It also reduces the shadow impacts with shadows passing more quickly.  The proposed tower has a floor plate of 855 m2.
    • Location of windows, balconies and amenity areas - Ensuring windows, balconies and amenity areas do not directly face each other and are offset or angled away from each other, especially when Tower Separation is more limited.  This helps still give people a sense of privacy in these spaces, even with another tower nearby.  The proposed tower has a “sawtooth” design to the facades creating variation in the direction windows face.

    Where will the parking be for this development?

    Any vehicular parking provided will be underground or enclosed by the building at ground level and accessed from the lane to the west of the site.

    Can the water and drainage network here accommodate this proposed scale of development?

    EPCOR Water has reviewed the application and advised that upgrades will be required to the water network to support this proposal.  These upgrades would be paid for by the developer.

    A Drainage Servicing Study is currently under review by the City to determine the impact of this proposal and whether any upgrades to the system will be required.  When the review is complete, the study can be downloaded for viewing from the Application Webpage.  Any required upgrades would be paid for by the developer.

    What will be the impacts on traffic and parking in the area?

    A Transportation Impact Assessment is currently under review by the City to determine the impact of this proposal on parking and traffic in the area and whether anything needs to be adjusted/upgraded as a result.  When the review is complete, the study can be downloaded for viewing from the Application Webpage.

    What Community Amenity Contributions is the developer proposing with this application?

    To satisfy the Public Amenity Contributions of City Policy C599, the applicant is proposing 11, three bedroom family-oriented dwellings in the building as well as a contribution of approximately $178,000 towards to the creation of, or improvement to, an off-Site Public Amenity such as the Rail Trail (identified in Building Great Neighbourhoods – Garneau) or to parks, gardens or open spaces within the boundaries of the Garneau neighbourhood.