Since its nascent days in ancient Greece, democracy has been the most inefficient, boisterous, and angry system of government. Why? Because it’s defining feature has been the constant debate of citizens with wildly different interests. Voters didn’t wait four or five years to make their priorities known only on election day. They engaged in the market and in the halls of power—routinely. Those citizens in early Athens who didn’t partake in the politics of the day were called idiotes, yes, idiots. 

Today, very few are actively involved in governing, and those in power want the public at large to keep their mouths shut. Don’t like what’s going on? Wait until the next election. Want a say in what’s being built in your own neighbourhood? Too bad. Take our online survey. Public engagement in Vancouver and all across BC is on the verge of being shut down.

On Wednesday, Vancouver City Council heard a report by staff and unanimously approved plans to create the City’s first comprehensive official development plan (ODP). The Vancouver Plan (VP) will soon be morphed along with new provincial legislation —Bills, 45, 46, and 47 — into the ODP.

These new requirements were demanded by Premier David Eby, who recently amended the Vancouver Charter under Bill 18. The legislation requires Council to adopt an interim city-wide ODP by June 30, 2026. The Vancouver Plan itself took three years (2019-2022) to complete at a cost of $10 million; it will morph into the ODP along with the new provincial “must-haves” mentioned above.

Doug Smith, Deputy General Manager, Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability for the City, said an ODP will help Vancouver become an “affordable city,” and emphasized that there will be many opportunities for the public to get involved (with the process).” But not directly involved, because the provincial legislation actually removes public consultation by denying public hearings for developments that conform to an ODP. Yet, City Staff continue to assure residents that Vancouver will have neighbourhood planning. “The intention is not to erode democracy.” (While paving everything else in sight, they may as well pave the road of good intentions.)

However, that was not the opinion of the first speaker or any of the handful of speakers who attended Wednesday’s meeting. Retired architect Brian Palmquist, an outspoken critic of the Vancouver Plan, spoke first. We have included an excerpt from his speech below:

I only have three minutes to explain why I am opposed to this report and the use of the Vancouver Plan as the basis for Vancouver’s Official Development Plan—our ODP. Given the three-minute time limit, I will not be able to address the integration of the Vancouver Plan with Provincial Bills 44, 46 and 47, except to say that the undemocratic spirit of that legislation, which is being resisted by other Mayors and Councils around the province, is echoed in this report’s turning its back on Vancouver’s electors.

There are currently 22 official Neighbourhoods in Vancouver. The Vancouver Plan recognizes none of them — zero.They show up on no Vancouver Plan mapping—they, their character, history, and vibrancy are all simply gone. Erased. They are to be replaced with just seven “Neighbourhood types…five of our existing 22 neighbourhoods appear nowhere at all in the Plan’s 168 pages, not even in the Acknowledgements, which is the only place most of the other 17 neighbourhoods appear—that’s more than one fifth of the city that’s been completely ignored in the Plan, with the other four fifths given very short shrift.

Read Palmquist’s entire speech.

 This just in:

The City of Vancouver has just released the Broadway Plan Review, which can also be viewed in person at any of the open house locations listed below. One glaring change is the removal of the tower limit policy, explained on page 7 of the Broadway Plan Review (above). The proposal is to increase the number of towers currently allowed per block within 400 meters of a bus/subway station. Plus, there are massive height/density increases, for example: Granville Slopes Area D, current policy is “up to 10 storeys and 4.5 FSR” is now proposed as “up to 25 storeys and 8.0 FSR.” 

Main Street Village: current policy “up to 6 storeys and 3.0-3.7 FSR” is now proposed as “up to 20 storeys and 5.0 FSR ,within 200 metres of SkyTrain station,” and “up to 12 storeys and 4.0 FSR within 400 meters of SkyTrain station.”

• Monday, June 17: Heritage Hall (3102 Main St.) from 4:30-7:30 pm
• Thursday, June 20 (Focus on City Hall Campus): Vancouver City Hall (453 W 12th Ave.) in the Joe Wai Meeting Room from 4:30-7:30 pm
• Wednesday, June 26: Kitsilano Neighbourhood House (2305 West 7th Ave.) from 4:30-7:30 pm

Greek Day!

Come join UKRA and members of KitsPlan at Greek Day on Sunday, June 23. We and members of other community groups will have a table set up on West Broadway. The annual festival opens at 11 am, and we will be there until 4 pm. Grab a cold drink and try some souvlakis Say “ti kanos and take the opa-tunity to review the Broadway and Vancouver Plans, which will guide growth in our city for the next 30 years. See you there!