The case
998 E 19th Ave.
Six storeys on church land.
Approved by Council on 25 July 2024. The inputs come from the City's public referral report and the Shape Your City page; the placeholders say they are placeholders. The tool reproduces the City's numbers: FSR 2.95 over 1.20, 36% family units over 35%, 20 trees required against 17.
01Page one
What a board member reads first.
The title block, the three answers with the rules that decide them, then the open items with the person who resolves each. This is the memo's first revision on the site, under the rules in force on 23 October 2026.
e51e3a0350b877181 · Is it allowed?
Not outright. By rezoning: yes, with conditions.
RM-1 outright FSR 1.20 and 10.7 m against the proposed 2.95 and 22.3 m. Eligible as 100% social housing under the Interim Rezoning Policy; the height is above the staff benchmark of 19.9 to 21.3 m and is negotiated.
2 · Does it fit the funders?
Not yet confirmed.
BC Builds needs the share of units at least 20% below market. The Community Housing Fund needs the rent-tier split, the accessible unit count and the land tenure. Its 2025 call was cancelled in February 2026.
3 · What is still unsure?
Four open items, each with a named person.
Two conditions attach to the rezoning and two figures are missing for the funders. Nothing fails; nothing is guessed.
| Open item | Status | Who resolves it |
|---|---|---|
| Height 22.3 m is above the staff benchmark of 19.9 to 21.3 m; the policy sets no maximum.cov.irp.social_housing_rezoning · A3 | Conditional | Manager and architect: expect staff to test the scheme against the RM-4 benchmark; prepare the shadow and daylight case. |
| Schedule C requires 20 trees on 2,811 m²; the option keeps 1 of 9 and plants 16, leaving 17, a shortfall of 3.cov.trees.replacement · C4 | Conditional | Architect: find room for the missing trees (1 m from side lines, 1.5 m from the building, 2.5 m apart) or budget $3,000 cash in lieu. |
| BC Builds: fit cannot be confirmed without the share of units at least 20% below market.bc.bcbuilds.eligibility · E2 | Uncertain | Manager: state the below-market share and discount; check the current Property Opportunity Notices. |
| Community Housing Fund: fit cannot be confirmed without the rent-tier split, the accessible unit count (5% minimum) and the land tenure.bch.chf.eligibility · E1 | Uncertain | Manager: supply the missing figures; the indicative grant at 2025-26 rates would be $17,977,155 for 105 units. |
02One row of the memo
Every finding shows its working.
The clause and its version, the status in a word, what the option proposes against what the clause permits, the ask between them, and the person who resolves it.
- Clause
- Protection of Trees By-law 9958
minimum trees, protection distances, cash in lieucov.trees.replacement · v 2023-01-01 - Status
- Conditional
- Proposed
- 9 existing, 1 kept, 16 planted: 17 trees after
- Permitted
- Schedule C: at least 20 trees on 2,811 m²
- The ask
- 3 trees short: plant 3 more, or $3,000 cash in lieu
Who resolves it · Architect: find room for the missing trees, 1 m from side lines, 1.5 m from the building, 2.5 m apart, or budget the cash in lieu.
03Revisions
Three memos on one site. Each numbered, each dated.
Change the option and the answers move. Change the date and a rule's version moves, and the memo says so. Two memos compared always carry two numbers, the way two issues of a drawing do.
-
R1 · 23 Oct 2026As approved
Six storeys, as Council approved it.
Not outright By rezoning: with conditions Funders: not yet confirmed
Four open items. The option leaves the funders' figures blank, so the memo says so rather than guess.
Open R1 ↗ -
R2 · 23 Oct 2026What-if, funder-ready
Five storeys inside the benchmark, every funder question answered.
Not outright By rezoning: yes Funders: yes
Hypothetical and labelled as such: rent tiers 30 / 50 / 20, five accessible units, a 60-year agreement, 19 replacement trees. Nothing outstanding.
Compare R2 with R1 ↗ -
R3 · 27 Oct 2026As approved, new rules
The same option, four days later.
Not outright By rezoning: with conditions Funders: not yet confirmed
The City's family-unit rule changed on 27 October. Same verdicts, one rule at a new version, a new fingerprint: the memo marks the revision and nothing else.
Compare R3 with R1 ↗
04A second case
1010 Expo Blvd. A tower on a CD-1 site.
A triangular parking lot between Expo Blvd, Pacific Blvd and the Cambie Bridge, inside the False Creek North plan area. A 29-storey social housing tower with its development permit issued in February 2025, under construction for 2029. From public City pages.
-
R1 · 23 Oct 2026As permitted
29 storeys, 23,215 m² at FSR 5.94.
By rezoning: not yet confirmed Funders: not yet confirmed
Six open items. The rule stack has no CD-1 outright schedule, so the memo's "outright: yes" means no coded limit was tested, not that a tower is permitted outright: the site file says so, and the memo repeats it.
Open R1 ↗ -
R2 · 23 Oct 2026What-if, 12 storeys
Twelve storeys with the full funder data.
By rezoning: not yet confirmed Funders: not yet confirmed
Hypothetical. Three open items remain, because what a CD-1 rezoning is negotiated to and which transit-oriented tier the parcel is in stay with a person.
Compare R2 with R1 ↗
Known placeholders, declared: the red pine's diameter at 998 E 19th Ave, the setbacks in the option files, the null rent tiers and accessible units in the as-approved option. The what-if options are hypothetical and say so.
Run it yourself.
The walkthrough takes two minutes and runs the rules for you. Working on a site of your own? It runs on your machine with one command, and nothing leaves it.
Run the real case with a walkthrough python -m ffm ui, from the README