Getting (Back) to the Basics

Our architect Mark A and I had our heads down for a while fiddling with house placement, window placement and property line locations to somehow wrestle our two houses (new + old) into existing R1-G2 small lot zoning allowances. We were doing weird things like removing all windows from the new house’s north face and sliding the property line to the very edge of the new house. The existing house simply doesn’t fit and I knew that, but even still, I started to despair that we were wanting to do too much with our lot and it was never going to fly.

So I lifted my head and sought an infusion of fresh perspective from our planing guru Ian Scott.

We met for coffee and went through the current plans. Ian offered some reassuring words that restored my confidence in our project; a key one being that window placement variances are commonly sought and granted for small lot properties, especially on the two facing walls of the subject homes. Mark A and I were fretting about the zoning requirement of 8’ (2.4 m) minimum setback to the property line to have windows in main living spaces like bedrooms. To meet this and keep a few windows on the south face of the existing house, we shifted the property line between the houses so far south that the new house’s lot became too small to meet the R1-G2 lot size requirement.

So, here are my key lessons from Ian:

• Changes to lot size trigger rezoning
• Window placement that varies from zoning requirements is a variance (i.e. not triggering rezoning, which is preferred wherever possible)
• Setbacks that vary from zoning requirements are variances
• Lot frontage that varies from zoning requirements is a variance
• Site coverage that varies from zoning requirements is a variance

Ian’s suggestions made everything simple again:

• Place windows strategically to protect privacy and apply for variances
• Move the property line between the houses back to the middle of the shared driveway so that the lot sizes for both properties meet R1-G2 requirements.
• The new house will apply for R1-G2 zoning with variances
• The existing house will apply for a custom zone on the basis that we are adding a suite
• Lot coverage for the existing house will also be a variance, on the basis that we are dealing with an existing building form.

Ian also helped me return to the key elements that define the project and that will communicate our intent and the project’s benefits to the neighbourhood, the community association, and ultimately, city staff and council.

Here’s how they’re shaping up:

1. The lot is large enough to support two small lot homes, per the R1-G2 Zone Gonzales Small Lot District. This zoning was developed based on the Gonzales Neighbourhood Community Plan established in 2002.
2. The proposed development supports several goals of the City’s Official Community Plan (OCP) by:
   • adding “gentle” density while respecting the single family character of the neighbhourhood
   • reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions through the creation of high performing but modestly sized housing options in a popular, walkable location for families
   • modifying the existing home to facilitate multi-generational living and aging in place
3. The addition of the new ultra low energy home will finance extensive energy upgrades to the existing air leaky home and as a package, therefore, provide multiple benefits to the community in a way that retains and restores existing neighbourhood character.
4. The shared driveway allows retention of the existing street tree and power pole, and will preserve the current level of available street parking.
5. Retaining and improving the existing house conserves materials and preserves the basic shape and character of the home while significantly improving its comfort, energy performance, and useful life.

See this post for a more detailed rundown of key elements of the City’s OCP as it relates to our project.