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LiveSmart BC Green Cities Awards > 2008 Awards > Partnership Award

Partnership Award   $100,000 Award

This year, there are co-winners for this new category. The City of Victoria and Dockside Green Ltd., along with the District of Sechelt and the Sunshine Coast Association for Community Liviing, will share the category’s $100,000 award.

CITY OF VICTORIA AND DOCKSIDE GREEN LTD - CO-WINNER ($50,000)

The City of Victoria has worked very hard with Dockside Green Ltd. leading to construction of phase 1 and 2 of the Dockside Green development (complete build out scheduled for 2015). 

Key characteristics of this partnership/collaboration include:

• development concept was created by the city through a participatory process with the community, especially the Victoria West Community Association.  A triple bottom line RFP was developed for the project;  
• dedicated city staff team was selected to work on the project, meeting weekly with the proponent to create a master development agreement and negotiate the sales contract;
• due to level of site contamination, the city and developer agreed to share risk/responsibility of remediation.  The city undertook work and cost to obtain initial Approval in Principle (AIP) with the Ministry of Environment.  The developer agreed to remediate and/or risk manage the environmental contamination in accordance with the AIP and to obtain certificates of compliance;
• city required Dockside Green to provide an annual sustainability report on its triple bottom line achievements and commitments made under the master development agreement; and.   
• city and Dockside Green developed a strategy that contributed $3 million towards a housing affordability fund.

Notable highlights of the resulting development include:

• rehabilitation of a contaminated 15-acre brownfield that was vacant for 37 years.  The outcome will be a LEED certified 1.3 million ft² mixed-use infill development with public amenities;
• development will install a Nexterra biomass gasification system which will provide heat and hot water to facilities on site.  This is the first residential use of this technology In North America.  Excess heat will be sold to off-site customers to displace natural gas and will result in GHG credits that exceed GHG produced from their onsite electrical use;
• first large scale development in Canada to create urban ecology and water features to treat and filter stormwater and 100 per cent of their sewage.   The latter will be used to flush toilets, for irrigation, and for topping up ponds rather than using potable water; and
• developed to meet adaptable housing guidelines which were not in place at the time in the city, but were included in the master development agreement.  These allow aging in place.

 

DISTRICT OF SECHELT AND THE SUNSHINE COAST ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY LIVING - CO-WINNER ($50,000)

The District of Sechelt has worked effectively with the Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living (SCACL) leading to construction of the 24-unit Midtown development, scheduled for completion in fall 2008.

Key characteristics of this partnership/collaboration include:

• first project to agree to a housing agreement in exchange for higher density.  This agreement guaranteed four units for people with developmental disabilities and seven for first home buyers on a limited income.  The provision of 13 additional market housing was needed to make the project financially viable;
• SCACL also guaranteed use of a car share coop in order to get the district to relax the on-site parking requirements so that the site could accommodate the density;  and
• Sechelt provided financial support in the way of a $10,000 grant and a $34,488 discount on development cost charges.  They also were supportive of zoning and OCP amendments for this site allowing higher density which was needed for the project to be viable.  

Notable highlights of the resulting development include:

• incorporated a number of ‘green’ design features such as permeable surfaces, rain water cisterns, high efficiency insulation, low water consumption fixtures, bike/scooter storage and charging;
• building was also designed for modular construction allowing use of prefabricated parts assembled on site which results in efficient use of materials;
• all units are wheelchair accessible; and
• high density, centrally located, infill development

 

CITY OF BURNABY AND SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY TRUST

The City of Burnaby has worked effectively with the SFU Community Trust leading to construction of the first two phases of UniverCity (full build-out expected in 15-20 years). 

Key characteristics of this partnership/collaboration include:

• began from a joint planning process between SFU Community Trust and the city (who in turn adopted the OCP (in 1996).  This included a new P11 and P11e SFU Neighborhood Zoning District specifically designed to accommodate the UniverCity project and applied to the east neighborhoods).  It involved multi-family, residential neighborhoods with parks, schools and commercial support facilities; 
• new zoning included reduced parking standards based on the transportation demand management  initiatives adopted such as community transit pass, provision of co-op cars, and creation of a compact/complete walkable community. It also allowed secondary suites within apartments and townhouse units;
• innovative green design standards were developed for public roads; and 
• led to transfer of 332 ha of university owned green space to the city for inclusion in the larger Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area.  This was in return for the city granting the development approval. 

Notable highlights of the resulting development include:

• compact, complete, mixed-use design brings residences close to services, amenities and transit options; and
• community has traffic calming and other features that make it more pedestrian and biking friendly.