A public hearing on a large-scale development plan that could change the silhouette of Vancouver began on Wednesday, with more than 200 people registering to comment on the proposed Broadway plan.
The plan aims to drive development along the city’s Broadway corridor over the next 30 years and benefit from the completion of the $ 2.8 billion new Broadway subway.
Read more: Vancouver Tenants’ Union fears Broadway plan will lead to evictions, massive rent increases
“The plan is an opportunity to build generations for positive change on Vancouver’s most pressing issues,” said Theresa O’Donnell, the city’s director of planning, as staff presented the plan to the council.
“It will provide new homes and jobs close to transit, provide market rentals and rental opportunities and social housing in all neighborhoods.”
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1:58 The Vancouver City Council begins to hear from the public about the controversial redevelopment plan
The proposal will allow the redevelopment of nearly 500 city blocks in an area already considered the second largest employment corridor in the province and home to about a quarter of the city’s existing purpose-built rents.
This would allow towers up to 40 storeys near transit stations and between 20 to 30 storeys in many so-called center / shoulder areas.
The city wants 65% of the construction to be rented out, a quarter of which is below market prices.
The plan sparked a heated public debate, some of which was outlined in the council on Wednesday.
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“People desperate for affordable housing are deluded into thinking that all these towers will provide what they need,” spokesman Gareth Sirotnik told the council.
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“Towers do the exact opposite, raising rents everywhere and for smaller, less accessible spaces, which already exist in very large numbers in all shoulder areas of the Broadway corridor.”
Architect Brian Palmquist opposed the “climate catastrophe and resilience that is a concrete tall building”, arguing that his own modeling shows that “the density of the Broadway plan can be achieved without very tall buildings”.
2:16 Vancouver Tenants Union hosts a rally before the council vote Vancouver Tenants Union hosts a rally before the council vote
The Council also heard many speakers in support of the plan. Some, like Mount Pleasant resident Zoe Mabri, said she didn’t get far enough.
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“I am really happy to see the city grow as it copes with our housing crisis and expands public and active transport. “I am very concerned about the lack of action on climate change, so the addition of housing around the new metro is really exciting,” Marby said.
“We can be much more ambitious about where we build what type of housing. I have many friends who have moved from Vancouver to start families and as a tenant with a baby in a way that I myself am concerned about. “
Read more: Vancouver mayor promises protection for tenants potentially displaced by the Broadway plan
Spokesman Keith Sauder, co-chair of the city’s tenant advisory committee, told Global News that he was convinced that the proposed protections would ensure that current tenants would not be hurt by the plan.
“The context that everyone needs to remember is that when this plan is over, I will be 64 years old and my two-year-old child, who is still in diapers, will be my age,” he said.
“It’s not happening today, in fact I would say it’s not happening fast enough.”
For his part, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart promised that the plan would come with “Canada’s strongest tenant protection.”
5:28 Should Broadway Corridor Become a High-Density Zone? Should the Broadway corridor become a high-density area?
Anyone who has been displaced due to renovations, the mayor promised, will receive help in finding another home with the right to return to a new building at its original rent or better.
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“We have to protect the tenants who are already here. I think this plan does that, “Stewart told Global News on Wednesday.
“We also need to build tens of thousands of new units for those looking for homes. This is the second largest employment corridor in the province, it is so important and we need a place for workers to live. ”
Wednesday’s meeting could mark the first of several meetings to review the plan. By 8 pm, the council had heard less than a quarter of registered speakers. With only one day a week set aside to deal with the plan, it means that discussions could potentially continue until June, before the council votes on approving it.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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