The UBC Board of Governors approved a plan to complete the long-delayed Marine Drive Student Residences project at its regular meeting Jan. 26.
After a comprehensive review, the Board considered a wide range of interests and decided to approve the second and final phase of the project based on one 18-storey building and one 17-storey building. Board Chair Brad Bennett noted that although UBC would meet its regional commitments by approving two 18-storey buildings, it is equally important to recognize its commitment to good relations with its neighbours.
“The Board’s decision clearly balances the needs of our students with the concerns raised by the community throughout the consultation process,” said President Martha Piper.
The Board’s decision will minimize view impacts from the beach in neighbouring Pacific Spirit Park and is consistent with the university’s Official Community Plan and the greater Vancouver Regional District Park Management Plan.
“This is great news for students,” said Brian Sullivan, Vice President, Students. “Each fall 3,000 students are on waiting lists for on-campus housing. It allows us to create a better on-campus experience for more undergraduates while building a more sustainable community with reduced reliance on cars.”
Sullivan added, “We’ve have done three major redesigns after consulting our neighbours. We’ve removed one building, we’ve reduced heights from originally proposed 20-storey buildings, and we’ve relocated buildings as far away from the park as possible.”
The project was originally planned in 2003 to create 2,000 residences spaces. This has now been scaled back by nearly 400 beds. The construction delays have resulted in $20 million in additional costs. The first phase, with 567 beds, opened in the fall of 2005. The second is planned for the fall of 2007.
For more information on the Marine Drive Student Residences, see the report in PDF format. For the full text of the Jan. 26 UBC Board of Governors resolution, see below.
Full Text of UBC Board of Governors Resolution on the Marine Drive Student Residences, Jan. 26, 2006
WHEREAS the University of British Columbia is responsible for providing student housing on campus, and the fall waiting list has been at least 3,000 individuals for the past two years, AND
WHEREAS the Board of Governors approved in January 2004 a proposal to add 2,000 new student beds in the Marine Drive Student Residence Project, AND
WHEREAS, due to its commitment to being a good neighbour, the Board of Governors reduced the height of the high-rise component from twenty to eighteen storeys and also reduced the number of beds in the first phase of the project due to concerns expressed by the GVRD and others regarding impacts of the project on views from the intertidal zone adjacent to Wreck Beach, AND
WHEREAS the second phase has also been reduced in scope and number of beds to address this concern, AND
WHEREAS the second phase has been delayed for over a year as a wide range of issues were assessed and at least three re-designs of the project completed, which have included reducing the number of high-rises in the project from three to two, and relocating the high-rises to be adjacent to Lower Mall, AND
WHEREAS the public input on the second phase highlighted both the view issue and the need for more student housing, AND
WHEREAS the reduced scope of Phase 2 is in compliance with the Official Community Plan and with the UBC-GVRD Memorandum of Understanding, AND
WHEREAS the views from Wreck Beach above high tide will be unaffected by the project, and 36 of the 37 acres of the intertidal zone contained within zones A and B will also be substantially unaffected, and the 1 acre that will be affected is only accessible 8% of daylight hours during bathing season (about 35 hours per month), and the visibility of the project from this area is generally of the project’s top floor or less, AND
WHEREAS notwithstanding this technical determination of substantial compliance, UBC wishes to be resolute in its undertaking to minimise view impact, AND
WHEREAS the delays, redesigns and loss of nearly 400 beds have added $20 million to the project’s cost, causing significant student hardship through increased rents, and imperil the project’s revised completion date of September 2007;
THEREFORE:
The Board of Governors grants Board 2 approval to Phase 2 of the Marine Drive Student Residence Project with the proposed first high-rise at eighteen storeys and the proposed second high-rise at 17 storeys.
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