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Douglas Todd: Vancouver's small apartment blocks don't need to look so unattractive

Small apartment buildings would be better if they respected neighbourhoods, included basements and had adequate on-site parking, say experts

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Does new housing density need to look so unattractive?

Judging by the rhetoric of many housing developers, the road to affordability is paved with larger, taller, blockier housing, which can overwhelm its neighbours.

Small apartment buildings — sometimes called multiplexes — are sparking fiery discussions across Metro Vancouver, Canada and the U.S. as governments of the right, centre and left seize on them as a prime route to “missing-middle housing.”

This month, the New York Times ran a feature on whether it was “neighbourly” for a suburban property owner in Virginia to erect a skinny, three-storey tower-like structure next door to a bungalow, creating a blank wall and shadows.

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Drone footage of the anomalous dwelling went viral. Experts weighed in on the “national debate” over how far cities should go to increase housing density in an ostensible push to improve affordability. In the Virginia case, a stop-work order was issued.

In Metro Vancouver, Bryn Davidson, co-owner of Lanefab Design/Build, is the poster boy for politicians’ new push to pepper side streets with four- to eight-unit apartment buildings.

My last column quoted Davidson explaining how it’s OK by him that some apartment buildings are boxy and unattractive.

“My favourite blocks have a mix of styles and some houses that are weird and ugly.”

Other housing specialists offer different perspectives.

They talk about the value of respecting existing neighbourhoods, the importance of basements, the downside of demolishing existing homes, the cutting down of trees and the need for on-site parking. There is also the threat posed by artificial intelligence, which is now being used in some Metro Vancouver municipalities to both design and approve plans.

Even though Davidson said existing residents should strive to get over their “angst” and “grief” when a small apartment building goes up in their neighbourhood, Christina DeMarco, a former senior planner for Metro Vancouver regional district, said it’s natural for neighbours to be angry about disproportionate buildings.

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“Nobody wants the value of their property to fall. Seeing walls and shade where you once saw hedges, trees and sunshine is upsetting and diminishes the enjoyment of their home. The regulations do not need to provide so much bulk and height.”

She also suggested small apartment buildings be restricted to certain areas.

Veteran developer Michael Geller, like Davidson, said he’s “been a vocal advocate for ‘missing middle’ or ‘gentle density’ alternatives to the single-family house” since the 1970s.

Unlike Davidson, however, Geller said, “I do not think it is appropriate to applaud ugly multiplex structures. For one thing, they harm the look and character of a neighbourhood.”

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The retired architect and planner believes many “ugly buildings are the result of unintended consequences of zoning changes that were not fully understood at the time of approval. Also, many projects are being undertaken by inexperienced builders and designers getting on the multiplex bandwagon.”

Thousands of the small apartment buildings have recently been given the go-ahead across Metro Vancouver and the province, after the NDP more than two years ago forced virtually all cities to automatically approve them. That means municipalities must OK fourplexes and simplexes on single lots, or eightplexes if all units are rentals.

In the city of Vancouver alone, more than 540 such buildings have been given the go-ahead, especially on larger lots.

Thus, a second worry of Geller is that, if too many outsized buildings are built, “politicians supporting these large and characterless structures could be voted out of office on Oct. 17 (B.C.’s municipal election day) and replaced by politicians opposed to any densification.”

This is what happened in Calgary, Geller said, “where Vancouver’s current planning director (Josh White) oversaw an overhaul of the city’s single-family zoning.” Last fall, voters tossed out the Calgary mayor and councillors who had mandated citywide upzoning.

Although it may not immediately be apparent to the typical resident, Geller said one reason small apartment blocks end up towering above even mansions is few have basements.

“All the density (of the multiplex) can be above grade.” As a result, Geller said “they can be 35 to 50 per cent larger than houses and laneway houses developed under the previous zoning.”.

In contrast Davidson argues it’s “actually good” to build three-storey buildings without basements. He said basements “pushed people underground” and “increased the carbon footprint, drainage problems and, worst of all, created real chronic accessibility problems.”

Such design conflicts aren’t unique to Metro Vancouver. There are battles over small apartment buildings across the country, including in Edmonton, where eight units are allowed per housing lot, with 10 units on corner sites.

Athabasca University lecturer Barry Johns, an advocate for in-fill and laneway housing that enhances neighbourhoods, says there is “little wonder that communities are fearful about zoning reform,” which often compromises the social makeup and streetscapes of neighbourhoods.

Johns, who has spoken in Vancouver, says too many small apartment building are “oversized,” “rude” and “disrespectful” of neighbours — including environmentally. zoning, he said, often destroys decent homes with secondary suites, plus trees and shrubs and, what’s worse, often fails to improve housing affordability.

Many housing experts, in addition, warn that problems arise when cities fail to require parking on the sites of the small apartment buildings. Experts say, once three or four such buildings are built close to one another, with few or no parking spots, it becomes difficult to park on the street.

Finally, Geller has concerns about how AI is now being used by both private developers and the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and elsewhere to create and review plans for new homes, particularly small apartments.

“These projects are being designed by an AI software program called Archistar, which automatically generates 3D massing models and designs that maximize the allowable density,” Geller said. He worries the esthetic sensibilities of humans are being bypassed in the approval process.

“Instead of celebrating ugliness, I would urge municipalities to revisit the zoning changes and design guidelines that allow new multiplexes to be so out of scale and character with their neighbours,” Geller said.

“Density increases should be introduced more gradually, so that new structures better fit in with the existing streetscapes.”

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