[7:31] Your pleasure, you can call the meeting to order. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Welcome, everyone, to the September 15th, 2026 APC meeting. I'm calling this meeting to order at 7.01 p.m. For land acknowledgement, we wish to recognize and acknowledge the song he's in casaps and nations on whose territory we live, we learn, and we do our work on. Item two of the agenda is late items. I'll look to staff to introduce if there are any. There are no late items. Okay. Thank you. We'll move on to item three.

[8:00] Can we get a motion to approve the agenda as circulated?

[8:04] Sean, thank you, seconder, TJ, thank you.

[8:07] All those in favor?

[8:08] Motion carries.

[8:11] Next is item four, adoption of the minutes from the August 18th, 2026 APC meeting.

[8:17] Turning to the commission to identify if there are any changes or corrections needed.

[8:23] Seeing none.

[8:25] Okay.

[8:26] So can I get a motion to adopt the minutes?

[8:28] Zach, thank you, seconder.

[8:30] thank you all those in favour? Motion carries.

[8:34] Okay, we'll move to item five which is an opportunity for our staff liaison to provide an update to the commission.

[8:41] Thank you, Chair. It's brief tonight. We only have had one meeting of council, special meeting of council since last meeting.

[8:50] That was last night. On the agenda was 899. It's Guamalt Road. There was a variance to accommodate the use of a unit in the building for a temporary leasing office.

[8:59] for building down the street. That was deferred and understand to a future council meeting

[9:07] because there were only four members there last time.

[9:19] The annual Climate Action Report

[9:22] was received by Council and staff was given a job well done by Council, which was great.

[9:28] And the report for the APC structure establishing by-law bill brought forward that question to Council whether they wanted to change anything council elected to make no changes to the existing APC by-law at this time.

[9:45] Thank you, staff. Are there any questions from our commission at this time?

[9:53] Oh yeah, go ahead.

[9:56] You said the climate which report was received by Council last night?

[10:01] It was the climate action report.

[10:03] And that will go once council's seen it goes up online or?

[10:07] I imagine it does, yes.

[10:10] Oh, it's on the web.

[10:11] Okay.

[10:11] I'll look at it.

[10:11] It would be on the agenda.

[10:13] Yeah, be great to have a look.

[10:14] Okay.

[10:25] Okay.

[10:26] Great.

[10:27] So we'll move on to item six staff reports.

[10:31] The first staff report is item 6.1 development permit application at 846 view fields road.

[10:37] I'll turn it over to staff for an introduction.

[10:39] Thank you, Chair.

[10:40] So this is an application for a prefabricated bottle and can recycling station, a 46-fueled road.

[10:49] It addresses four development permit areas, one natural environment, five business, seven energy conservation and greenhouse gas reduction, and eight water conservation, and if approved by council, it would head directly to a building permit application.

[11:09] The applicant is here online, thank you.

[11:13] Thank you.

[11:14] Does the applicant have a presentation, or are you just here for any questions?

[11:19] Thank you.

[11:20] I believe the previous council meeting reviewed it, but I'm happy to go through it again.

[11:29] Sure.

[11:29] Please go ahead.

[11:30] I'm wishing them a screen.

[11:32] Yeah.

[11:39] So just for these recycled collection points or containers, we've been

[11:47] browsing them out across BC. They've been a huge success. They're clean, they're

[11:53] safe, they're really well-organized, and they serve a great purpose. I live right

[11:59] by the one hearing Vancouver on our computers, and I can tell you there's a

[12:03] constant stream of people using it, which is great. It's exactly what we want to

[12:07] courage. The whole process is really quick. You have your app, you print out your label,

[12:16] you put it on your thing, you get a code that opens the door, it goes in literally a matter of

[12:21] seconds, and then collections are done based on need. So just a little bit about the actual containers

[12:30] and where it's going. So yes, it's convenient, it's accessible, it's controlled, and it's constantly

[12:36] service. The proposed location is kind of tucked away, so it's not really

[12:43] including on anything. It's a really well positioned and easy to find. Yes, it's

[12:50] out of the mainstream of the parking, the regular parking. Our design is super

[12:56] recognizable. It's a small container. It's they're all painted in the in the

[13:01] We turn it colors, with signage, ample signage,

[13:05] it's really, really clear to identify.

[13:09] And again, the access of our city super simple,

[13:12] the process is really fast.

[13:19] We don't anticipate it should take more than,

[13:22] more than a couple of seconds.

[13:24] The support systems that they have in place,

[13:27] obviously there's cameras, internal and external.

[13:30] They're security monitoring for 24-7.

[13:33] You get a one-time pin access

[13:35] So there's less vulnerability.

[13:38] After you use your code, the door will close.

[13:40] If you haven't closed automatically for you.

[13:45] If it's left open and the long will go off

[13:47] and somebody will be notified, the cleanup response

[13:53] is pretty big.

[13:55] Return to a great job.

[13:57] They will be transporting and emptying the contain

[13:59] on a regular basis and cleaning the site.

[14:04] And again, their whole goal is to discourage

[14:05] loadering and unwanted dumping and again to change our perception of recycle.

[14:14] So the frequency of the collections will be based on the need and on the volume. So they have

[14:20] sites that they do daily and they have some sites that they do twice a week or weeky. So the

[14:26] premier one doesn't get as much activity, so that's kind of once a week. The collection is easy,

[14:33] a truck pulls up. It empties a container into the truck. It's pretty non-invasive. It's a 20-30 minute

[14:45] production and they're and they're off to the next to be able to collect more.

[14:54] The whole idea

[14:55] of return. It is to be the good neighbor, so the design committee.

[15:00] The review committee will see that we have the standard containers that are really well self-contained.

[15:09] And we hope that you will experiment with it because it's a great service.

[15:17] Thank you for your presentation. Appreciate it. I'll turn to the commission for any questions for the applicant or for staff. Maybe I'll start with Zach if you have any questions. No questions.

[15:30] Just a quick question about the pin access. Is it like it says one time pin access?

[15:35] as you have to sign up for something to be able to use the box, or is it?

[15:41] Yeah, so it's app-based. You will have an app within the account, and that's how you get

[15:46] reimbursed as well. So when you arrive, you'll punch in your account number, and it'll give you a

[15:53] one-time pen. And then, of course, when you drop off your bags, you will get credited to your account,

[15:59] once they've counted them.

[16:04] Yeah, I just have noted that it looks like the Vic PD's recommendation

[16:09] is that the unit is visibly and evenly lit with enough illumination to identify faces from approximately 10 meters away.

[16:17] Looks like there's one small light proposed under the awning.

[16:21] Is this single light fixture sufficient to meet Wikipedia's recommendations?

[16:25] Or can you comment on that?

[16:29] We've never had anybody ask for more, because typically the surrounding areas also have light.

[16:34] It's a pretty strong light that illuminates the openings, and it's pretty clear where

[16:41] you need to go and to deliver your bags.

[16:46] Okay, that's helpful context.

[16:48] Thank you.

[16:49] I'll pass it to Sean if you have any questions.

[16:51] Nope.

[16:53] Does anyone want to put a motion forward?

[16:56] Zach, go ahead.

[16:57] Before the motion that the advisory planning commission recommend the council approve the development

[17:01] permanent application for the installation of a pre-fabricated recycling station at 846 view field road to improve access to recycling and continue to reduce waste in a squimalt.

[17:11] Great. Thank you. Seconder, Sean.

[17:15] Okay. I'll call the question all those in favor. Motion carries. Thank you.

[17:21] The next item is 6.2, development variance permit application for 1340 Sussex Street and 1337 Saunders Street.

[17:30] I'll turn it to staff to introduce file.

[17:33] Thank you, Chair.

[17:33] This is a development variance permit for the sighting of the parking structure at the site below the first story of principal building.

[17:43] So, it's the parking structure below ground, so variance from 1.3 meter, sorry, at 1.3 meter

[17:52] decrease in distance to the law line. So, from the allowed 1.8 meters to 0.5 meters, the applicant

[18:04] is here to make the presentation, if you wish. Yes, we welcome the applicant to present.

[18:21] Hi, good evening. My name is Matt Koelik, Director and Development at Intercorp.

[18:25] We're the development partner to Belmont Properties, who is the owner of the site.

[18:30] I have with me tonight Lauren from Arcadia Sarkiteccher and Chris from LADR Landscape Architecture.

[18:40] So I'll just do a brief refresher on the site itself. So,

[18:44] So, 327 unit purpose developmental project, I was rezoned in 2025 that the development permit

[18:51] was issued in April of this year in 2026, if we could just put peers at this thing here.

[19:04] Okay, so yeah, I just wanted to briefly touch on the park itself, there's some minor adjustments

[19:10] to the park.

[19:10] So, I just wanted to do a quick refresher on some of the benefits that we're providing as part

[19:16] of the park area.

[19:17] So, 1,500 public park space is maintained by development properties and access to VIA and SRW.

[19:31] Some of the features of the park are the pirate ship, play structure, the sports core,

[19:35] open lawn, learning garden, the water fountain, picnic tables, and the water mister.

[19:43] So essentially what we're requesting today is a developing variance to the setback along

[19:50] Nelson Street, which is on the East PL there, so we previously intended to construct the

[19:57] parkade underground with a 1.8 meter setback off of that East property line.

[20:04] We approached the neighboring base, the West PL, to get an easement agreement for some of

[20:12] the tieback anchors to essentially construct that West parkade wall in order to do so you need

[20:20] an easement because the length of the anchors is basically encroaching past the property line.

[20:27] So we were in the communications early with the base at the early stages of the project.

[20:33] Following the rezoning, we approached the conversation of the easement.

[20:38] Unfortunately, due to national defense purposes, they didn't want to approve the easement underground.

[20:43] So, how we looked at a revision to the parking and how we could come up with a design strategy to

[20:53] not encroach in the west property. So what we did is we basically shifted the parking

[20:59] essentially as far to the east as possible to not require those easement or the anchors to

[21:09] to pass the property line and require the easement.

[21:13] So the parking is essentially the same.

[21:15] It's just shifted towards the east by 1.3 meters.

[21:20] So that's facilitating the reduction

[21:23] in the parking setback.

[21:25] The lock-overage is the same.

[21:27] The parking slot count is the same.

[21:28] The bicycle stall counts for the same.

[21:31] So just basically a shift to the east.

[21:37] Just going to explain some of the revisions to the park here.

[21:47] Hi, everyone.

[21:47] Thanks, Matt.

[21:48] So, you guys are probably familiar, relatively familiar with the park.

[21:53] The change for the parkade really is affecting the two sides of the Ontario and Nelson Street

[22:00] frontages.

[22:02] Because when we have the outer parkade wall, over top of that where we have structure, we

[22:07] we can't really overlap and have weird differential settlement and things like that, particularly with the sport court on the Ontario side and then with the seating wall structure on the Nelson side.

[22:20] So shifting the parcade over has required some adjustment to those things, which you'll see on the next slide.

[22:26] So just to go through the original design for the park, 44 trees, 53 large shrubs, a couple

[22:35] hundred medium and small shrubs, and then like five or six hundred perennials and ground

[22:40] covers.

[22:41] So a fairly well-planted out space with a large lawn in the center and then a significant

[22:47] playground with multi-generational play structures in it for a variety of age groups.

[22:54] and then we've got the garden or more intensive educational garden on the right hand side.

[23:01] And then if we go to the next slide you'll see this is the revised park design.

[23:05] So you'll see the most significant change happening on the Ontario side where we actually have an increase in planting area

[23:12] because that is now where you see that green rectangle of planting that eastern most edge of that

[23:19] is the new parkade wall location. So all of that is actually located off slab. That has

[23:25] necessitated the rotation and shift of the sport court in order to align it with that wall so

[23:34] that again we don't have a differential settlement issue with it sitting on top of the slab. So it

[23:39] ends right at the edge of the slab and the fence is actually right at that parkade slab edge line.

[23:43] And the playground is generally the same size.

[23:47] It's just been shifted to the east, and some of the play structures have been rotated

[23:52] just to allow that to work generally.

[23:54] So also the diagonal path that runs from the building to Sussex has been shifted to the

[24:03] east as well.

[24:04] So everything's just kind of moved over.

[24:06] And then on the east side, so on the Nelson Street side, there's been an adjustment of the

[24:11] design in general of the seating stair, which I'll go back.

[24:16] You can see everything is a little bit more diagonal and there are no railings and then

[24:21] on the new one to make it code compliant and to make it work with the new parkade wall

[24:26] location.

[24:27] We now have a railing and a couple of sets or sort of two sets of stairs divided by a single

[24:33] railing and then the seating on there as well.

[24:35] The one significant elimination, I guess, in the revised park design is a single tree, and that is actually on the Ontario Drive side.

[24:48] We had three trees in, if you look here, three trees in what was fairly narrow strip running up Ontario Drive.

[24:58] because that space got bigger and is all off-slab, we're actually able to

[25:03] sub too much larger canopy trees in for those three trees, so it's a reduction in

[25:08] a single count of one tree but an increase in tree canopy size. It seems like a

[25:14] good opportunity given that we now have the space to get root zones that big to

[25:19] increase the tree size because we can. So again we could shift that back to three

[25:26] smaller trees, but at the moment I think it makes more sense to go with the two bigger ones.

[25:30] With time, they'll grow over, hang over the park more, hang over the street more, provide more

[25:35] habitat, and it'll just generally be better for the landscape. You can also see in the revised,

[25:42] not so much the park, but the productive gardening aspect of the project has moved from the one

[25:51] of the upper floor patios or the amenity patio I guess to the west side of the building in that

[25:59] ground floor amenity patio space.

[26:05] Same precedent reference images to give you an example or an idea

[26:09] of what's going in. Again, just to reiterate, there's no loss in any of the design elements themselves.

[26:17] So we have the same play structures. We have the same retaining walls. We have the same, you know,

[26:22] stuff all through the landscape, in the same quantities, everything's just kind of moved over

[26:26] and we've gone for two bigger trees instead of three smaller ones in one location.

[26:32] Thanks.

[26:36] The project team for that. I'll open it up to the commission for questions of the applicant

[26:42] or for staff.

[26:45] Anyone like to start?

[26:54] I guess I have one question for staff. Would the expanded or the

[26:58] shift in the park aid affect any future public realm improvements on Nelson Street? Doesn't look

[27:03] look like it, but just hoping to get you to confirm.

[27:06] Thank you, Chair.

[27:06] I don't believe so, no.

[27:10] Okay.

[27:11] Seeing no more questions.

[27:13] Anyone want to put forward a motion?

[27:16] Zach?

[27:17] Yep.

[27:18] This one's long.

[27:22] That, the advisory, the advisory planning commission recommends that council approves the development

[27:26] variance permit, consistent with the architectural plan provided by our, by our

[27:30] Cateus Architects, including the following variance for the property located at 1340 Sussex

[27:34] Street and 1337 Saunders Street as it has little impact on public interface and no above

[27:39] ground design impacts or I should say sorry limited above ground design impacts and then

[27:45] Victoria do I need to read the entire of the zoning bylaw okay you'll add that part in after

[27:50] thank you. Okay thank you for the motion seconder TJ I'll open up to a discussion on the motion

[27:57] if anyone wants to add anything.

[28:01] I did a little research and I this one reminded me of one we had

[28:04] earlier this year as well. We removed a lot line to reduce the setback basically to zero or something

[28:10] negligible. And I saw the council that I think approved that in June as well. And so just for me,

[28:17] I guess this is more of a comment for staff. I guess if this is coming up more and as there's more

[28:22] development, maybe some consideration around a more specific policy for below grade setbacks,

[28:27] maybe something for the township to consider, but that just reminded me of what we saw earlier this

[28:31] here, which we did approve kind of for the same reasons?

[28:40] I just wanted to say, I really appreciated that the amenities that were extensively

[28:46] discussed in the first round are sustained and kept through the process, and a lesser

[28:54] developer could have easily eliminated things to make it work.

[28:59] And so I appreciate for my seat here at the commission that these are things were maintained

[29:05] and there was good explanation on how things were adjusted, thank you.

[29:12] Yeah, I think just in regards to this item, an excavation plan most times requires or is in need of a subsurface kind of encroachment agreement, so understanding that that was something that was difficult to obtain with the neighboring property owner, I support this variance and it's just the reality of development and construction, so thank you.

[29:35] Yeah.

[29:41] Thank you for the presentation.

[29:43] Yeah.

[29:44] I'll echo what TJ says in that it was a very robust set of amenities for the public, which

[29:53] has been maintained.

[29:54] I'm a little excited to see what kind of larger trees we can put in place there to improve

[29:59] We're going to remove our...

[30:00] Municipal canopy, so I also support this.

[30:05] Great. I will now call the question all those in favor of the motion. Kate motion carries.

[30:13] I believe that's everything on our agenda. It concludes today's business. I'll be looking for a motion to adjourn the meeting. TJ, thank you, seconder, Sean. Okay. All those in favor? Motion carries. Thank you.

[30:27] Thank you.

Advisory Planning Commission on 2026-09-15 7:00 PM

Agenda

Transcript