Pointe Claire residents lose fight to stop Flatiron
Keith Fraser
Province
CREDIT: Wayne Leidenfrost, The Province The new tower will go in the open space between the buildings above, blocking the park views of neighbours.
B.C.’s highest court has given the green light to a tony, 28-storey residential tower in Vancouver‘s Coal Harbour that will block the precious views of some owners in a nearby tower.
The project on West Pender Street by property owner Cathedral Ventures Ltd. — to be called The Flatiron because of the property’s triangular shape — was given conditional approval by Vancouver city’s development-permit board last year.
But some owners in Pointe Claire, a 34-storey highrise across the street, feared the loss of their views of Stanley Park and appealed to the city’s board of variance for a review.
In January, the board of variance overturned the permit board’s approval. Cathedral then took the case to the B.C. Supreme Court, seeking to have the approval reinstated through a judicial review.
The developer argued that the board of variance lacked jurisdiction under the Vancouver Charter and that the owners of the other building lacked standing to initiate an appeal.
A judge found that the board did indeed have the jurisdiction, but Cathedral appealed that decision and won: The Supreme Court ruling now has been reversed by a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal.
“The case was originally about a development-permit board decision being overturned based upon complaints by neighbours that views were blocked,” said Peter Busby, the architect for the new project. “Given the shape and form of Vancouver, that’s a frightening prospect because you can’t build anything without blocking somebody’s views.”
He said the appeal court has made it clear the powers of the board of variance do not include reviewing and rejecting projects related to third-party complaints.
Busby said he expects the project will be reviewed by the city’s urban design panel within four weeks and then will be in a position to be given the go-ahead.
Tetsuya Kotogi, a resident in Pointe Claire, said the project initially was going to be built closer to the western edge of the property, but is now planned to be built closer to the eastern side — good for him personally, but bad for others in his building because their views will be blocked.
“We are happy, but some people on the northeastern side, they are going to block their views.”
In approving the project, the development-permit board posted a number of observations on its website, including the comment that “the city has set a tone for the sea of towers in this area, so one more from a view standpoint is really not an issue at all; it’s more an issue of getting some dramatic architecture.”
Cathedral could not be reached. Rick Scobie, chairman of the development-permit board, said the city’s law department is reviewing the appeal court ruling to determine what it means. The board of variance, which was meeting yesterday, could not be reached.
© The Vancouver Province 2005
