THREE modest West Vancouver homes are slated to be built on Fulton Avenue, but how much the district will make from their rezoning was a sore spot during discussion on the issue July 8.
Council voted 6-1 in favour of allowing three, two-storey infill homes at 2074 Fulton Ave., almost doubling the floor space allowed on the property. Two homes would likely sit side by side with a third unit adjacent to the lane. Previous zoning for the area allowed for a maximum floor space of 244 square metres. The newly approved homes can have a total floor space of 426 square metres, excluding basements.
The rezoning increases the value of the land by $60,000, according to a district staff report. That boost is directly tied to the amount of money the developer pays the district. In this case, the developer is on the hook for a community amenity contribution of $45,000.
But the district's estimate of increased property value - or "uplift" - leaves much to be desired, according to frequent council spectator George Pajari.
Pajari said the issue was reminiscent of the debate surrounding council's approval of the nearby Hollyburn Mews development.
In that case, appraisers estimated an increased value of approximately $155,000 on the nine-unit, three-lot Hollyburn Mews development.
Now the units are selling, Pajari said its clear the appraiser underestimated the increased value by more than $2 million.
Uplift refers solely to land value, said Coun. Mary-Ann Booth, adding many people are confused by that. "It is not the profit factor," she said.
Developers take a substantial risk when embarking on a deal of this magnitude, Booth said.
Pajari said the district should have provided the public with a breakdown of how they arrived at an uplift figure of $60,000.
"We need, you on council need, to see all of the information necessary to arrive at the (community amenity contribution figure)," he said. "But for some strange reason however, staff have decided to withhold this information, releasing only an executive summary."
Generally speaking, conservative lenders estimate uplift while exaggerating costs and underestimating revenue, said Pajari. That approach has not allowed the district to maximize its profit, he said.
Despite offering his reluctant support for the project, Mayor Michael Smith agreed with Pajari on the matter of Hollyburn Mews. "I was also opposed, quite vehemently, to the way the community amenity calculation was done on Hollyburn Mews," he said. "There's a huge disconnect of hundreds of thousands of dollars on each unit."
Council's past decisions on Fulton Avenue have painted the current council into a corner, according to Smith.
"The blunt reality is the horse has left the barn. We have rezoned that lot," he said.
Coun. Trish Panz was enthusiastic about adding more variety to the district's housing market.
"These are the kinds of alternative housing that we were pushed to explore in the community and I would actually like to see (fewer) financial barriers," she said.
The homes could be sold for somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1.45 million, substantially lower than the district's average home price of $1.7 million, Panz said.
The development gives an unwelcome spot of "intense density" to Fulton Avenue, according to Coun. Bill Soprovich, who decried the lack of lawn and the small backyard.
"That block, everybody's going to stand up to the plate and expect the same thing," he said. "Why didn't they just put up an apartment block?"
Laneway traffic was a major concern for neighbourhood resident Heather Mersey, who called for "homes that fit us and fit in."
Couns. Michael Lewis, Nora Gambioli, and Craig Cameron all called for a future discussion on community amenity contributions.
