Proposed new Coal Harbour tower might block out older smaller tower, worry residents

Yvonne Adalian gets her hands dirty in her rooftop garden as often as she can.

“It’s just wonderful to get out of the building, and into the sun, when we have it,” she says.

But Adalian and 124 other residents of the Performing Arts Lodge – an eight-storey artists’ residence geared towards seniors – worry their 4,000 square foot garden might wither away because a large condo proposed across the street.

“All the things we love, lavender, spring bulbs, etc. All those things won’t grow well. It will be a terrible, terrible pity. It will change the way this garden is,” said Richard Cook, another resident of the Lodge.

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The land at the northeast corner of Cardero and West Georgia is currently zoned for 13 stories. But Henriquez Partners Architects and ARPEG Holdings Ltd. have applied for rezoning so they can build a 26-storey mixed-use development.

Residents of the lodge say the new building would block their sunlight up to six hours a day.

“There are several buildings in the immediate vicinity to this one, whereby the shadow casts from this tower could have the potential to leave these buildings in shadow through the entire course of the day,” said Neil Chalal, President of the Coal Harbour Residents’ Association, who says several buildings are at risk.

“Folks with outdoor gardens or vegetable gardens are concerned that their ability to use their home to their fullest extent may not be retained.”

The Coal Harbour Resident’s Association says people living in 12 other buildings have raised concerns about the proposal.

And while the city’s own development plan for the region calls for consideration of the impact of shadows from the south, a staff report on the proposal said “the shadow performance does not impose unreasonable impacts on adjacent
sites,” in spite of concerns by residents.

City council is set to vote on the rezoning Tuesday, but councillors couldn’t comment on the upcoming vote, and developers didn’t return our request for an interview.