The Broadway Plan’s proposed amendments are expected to metamorphize Kitsilano and other established neighbourhoods over the next 30 years.

Whether you’re a renter facing demoviction or a homeowner being priced out of the market, these are uncertain times for everyone living within the Broadway Corridor, which covers a large portion of Vancouver’s older, affordable rental stock, including Kitsilano. Up until now, UKRA has received no information about when the UBCX will become a reality for Upper Kitsilano.

During the last of a series of City-led open houses, residents came to Kitsilano Neighbourhood House to share their fears of losing their affordable rentals to new towers.

West Kitsilano Residents Association co-director Jan Pierce said that as the Broadway Plan gets underway, many Kits residents are now facing the reality that they could be looking at demoviction on any given day. The shock of losing one’s home and being uprooted from one’s long-time neighbourhood was a shared concern among residents who attended the meeting. In addition, noted Pierce, some residents are not aware of the Province’s and City’s plans for Kitsilano. For example, “Tower proposals are happening in mid-density RT areas farther south on quiet side streets such as West 14th near Arbutus.”

CityHallWatch editor Randal Helten recently wrote that “proposed changes by the City would include turbocharging redevelopment in much of the Broadway Plan by completely removing current limits on the number of towers permitted per block. The Broadway Plan currently places a limit of two towers per block for residential areas. Under pressure from Premier David Eby, the City of Vancouver is proposing these changes; however, planning staff are now recommending amendments that go far beyond the requirements of the most recently passed legislation.”

While concrete towers may provide more units than the older, affordable, low-rise apartment stock, living spaces in new apartments will be “very small and very expensive.” Some of the units in the proposed new towers are as small as 350-400 sq. ft. The City’s minimum allowable area for a studio apartment is 320 sq. ft.

City planners will finalize the Broadway Plan amendments in the coming months, and they will then be put forth for Council consideration in November.

KitsPlan

Volunteers from the community-led KitsPlan group came together earlier this year as a grassroots effort to offer an alternative to the Broadway Plan. They provided information to residents at Greek Day about the City’s plans for the future of Kitsilano and spoke to hundreds of people on July 7 under the broiling sun at the Khatsahlano Street Festival. .

Local urban designers have told KitsPlan members that there is a way to increase residential density without relying on massive towers. Governments could choose a form of development that prioritizes integrating new density into existing housing, intensifying land use, making more homes for more people, all while retaining heritage houses, family housing, mature trees, and affordable ground oriented rental units. In short, Vancouver could greatly increase its density and retain the beauty of its neighbourhoods.

So far, both levels of government have ignored any alternatives to towers. As Vancouver journalist Doug Todd wrote in a July 3 Vancouver Sun article, “the City of Vancouver and the Province of B.C. are going increasingly authoritarian in regard to the way they do urban planning. They’re forcing through high-density across most of the province’s neighbourhoods, and tower clusters near transit stations.” All of this without meaningful public input.

Sign the Petition!

KitsPlan has created an online petition called, “Rethink the Broadway Plan— Save Kitsilano“ addressed to Mayor Ken Sim and Council members.

            We, the undersigned, request that the Broadway Plan be reconsidered to avoid evictions and to respect the quality and character that make Kitsilano such a desirable place to live for people of all income levels, ages and backgrounds.

We ask that the City return to the community for meaningful engagement with residents about the future of Kits and how it can evolve, welcome new residents and new housing, while avoiding the demolition of existing affordable housing.