SIZE MATTERS IN WEST VAN
District councillor calls monster house under construction ‘a poster child for what we don’t want to happen’
It may be a dinosaur before it is even completed.
A massive new home under construction in a West Vancouver neighbourhood is likely the last that will be allowed to dwarf older homes surrounding it.
The construction project has prompted councillors to order new bylaws to prevent another one.
“This is a poster child for what we don’t want to happen in our neighbourhoods,” West Vancouver District Coun. Mary-Ann Booth said.
“Sometimes it takes an egregious example to bring an issue to attention.”
The house, being built in the 1700-block of Mathers Avenue, doesn’t break any rules. The owner, Vancouver businessman Ge Chen, bought two adjoining lots that were offered for sale as a single listing.
The previous owner had intended to subdivide the two properties into three, and had approval from city hall, but the plan was abandoned and the properties put up for sale.
In November 2013, Chen paid $2.2 million for the two large lots and the two older homes on the sites, according to property records. Together, the lots are 4,548 square metres (48,954 square feet) in size — a little over half an acre.
Last March, Chen applied to the Land Title Office to consolidate the two parcels, and four months later West Vancouver issued a building permit for a new house — a 26,000-square-foot single family home that Chen hopes will be ready for his family in 2017.
Finished, the house will be roughly half the size of the high school across the street, and may be the largest in West Vancouver. It is 4,000 square feet smaller than Lululemon founder Chip Wilson’s mansion on Point Grey Road in Vancouver.
“We heard about it when the lots were cleared and the neighbours started looking at the big hole across from the school,” Booth said. “We couldn’t do anything.” Under West Vancouver’s existing bylaws, property owners who consolidate two or more lots are able to build homes that are equal to the size of the maximum allowed on each lot. So a house built on two lots can be double the size of a home on a single lot. Consolidating the two large properties on Mathers allowed for a house of 26,000 square feet.
“It is all in accordance with the bylaws,” said Jim Bailey, West Vancouver’s director of planning. “The municipality has no control over consolidations.
“Council recognizes it as an issue and the district is looking for ways to control the size of houses in future where there is a consolidation of lots.”
Chen, owner of Yigeda, a wholesaler of LED lighting for residential and commercial fixtures, said he has lived in B.C. for 15 years and is building the house for himself and his family. Ten family members will live in the home; his own children are still babies, he said.
In December, West Vancouver council directed staff to consult with the public about a proposed bylaw that would limit the size of houses in the district’s RS3 zone, which is designated as a single-family residential area.
Under the new bylaw, if it is passed, the maximum size of a single house on any consolidated property would be 6,300 square feet. Property owners could still apply for a variance to build larger homes, but they would have to go through a development process.
Council hopes to have the new bylaw completed in the next three months.
Bailey said the district has seen two property consolidations a year for the past four years, but they have occurred in more remote parts of West Vancouver.
“This one (on Mathers Avenue) really hit home — it’s in an older, established area and it has really changed the character.”
Booth said there are places in the district that are known for large, big houses, such as the British Properties.
“The problem is when there’s a great big house in a neighbourhood with small houses and smaller lots,” she said. “People can still build larger houses — we just want control over where it’s done.”
Vancouver architect and real estate consultant Michael Geller said West Vancouver has dozens of huge homes; the problem with the one under construction on Mathers Avenue is that it is out of scale with its surroundings.
“A lot of people think that if they want a 25,000-square-foot house, they should have it,” said Geller, who was involved in the development of one West Vancouver property recently.
“But it is good to discourage or prevent people from creating these houses that begin to destroy the neighbourhood.”
He said West Vancouver isn’t the only municipality wrestling with how to limit the size of new homes on large properties. Coquitlam and Port Moody are also seeing more lot consolidations and the construction of huge houses that are out of scale with adjacent homes.
“I can see both sides,” Geller said, “but I do think West Van should be applauded for trying to address the problem.”