Nov 11, 2024: NDP wins tight provincial race; Villages coming to a neighbourhood near you
Election Update: The Slimmest of Victories
Following judicial hand recounts in three provincial riding contests, David Eby and the NDP have retained their miniscule one-seat majority. The final riding count of Surrey-Guildford was won by a hair’s breadth of 22 votes.
The recounting of thousands of ballots cast in Surrey-Guildford, (won by the NDP (Gary Begg, 8,947 votes), and Kelowna Centre, (won by the BC Conservatives 8,925) was important because, had the recounts overturned the initial NDP win and the Conservatives gained the lead, the incumbent New Democrats would have been reduced to a minority government. (The third recount in Prince George-Mackenzie found an uncounted ballot box of 861 votes that did nothing to alter the Conservative win of Kiel Giddens.)
A meeting of a transition team, co-chaired by Eby’s special counsel on Indigenous reconciliation Doug White and Shannon Salter, deputy minister and head of the public service, will recommend ministerial selections and the formation of new ministries. The new cabinet will be sworn in on Monday, Nov. 18 in Victoria.
Ready to work with all—except those he considers beyond the pale
Back in power as the leader of the BC NDP Party for a four-year term, Eby and his party now face a politically fractured province. When asked about his diminished majority, Eby said that BC voters sent a message: they want immediate action on affordability and housing, health care, and building a strong economy. This is the same mantra Eby has preached since first becoming premier in 2022. Critics wonder if he will change tactics as BC faces a housing affordability crisis, and a health care system teetering towards collapse.
Eby has promised to work harder with BC’s rural communities, particularly on health care and doctor shortages. And he says he’s willing to work with all MLAs so long as they meet his “bright-line” test.
“We’re open to working with other MLAs, including from the Conservatives,” said Eby, “as long as they meet our ‘bright-line test’ around the kind of province that we want.” The NDP leader said that racism and hate will not be tolerated. There has been talk of the NDP putting together a list of Conservatives whose past and present comments have relegated them to the “dark side” of the line.
Local news
Public hearing Report– 2156-2174 14th Ave West (Broadway Plan, Vancouver Plan)
The Proposal: A 17-Storey Tower on a Residential Side Street
Along a quiet residential street on West 14th Ave in in Kitsilano, big trees line frontages of spacious older homes from a bygone era. On the south side of the street, at 2156-2174 West 14th, plans are afoot to replace one single detached home and two heritage duplexes (three lots or parcels) with a 17-storey, mix-used tower. The fate of these structures, currently inhabited by tenants, will be decided at a public hearing held on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
The applicant, HAVN Developments Ltd, represents owners David Milan Jakovac (2156 West 14th Ave), Donald McLeod Anderson and Barbel Lieselotte Henning (2166 and 2168 West 14th Ave), and Mei Zhen Li (2172 and 2174 West 14th Ave). HAVN is seeking to rezone the site between Yew and Arbutus Streets from RT-7 (Residential) District to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development).
If approved, the 184-foot structure with 170 rental units will tower over most of the homes in the area. Twenty percent of the residential floor area will be secured as below-market rental units (34 units). There will also be a ground-floor commercial space.
The floor space ratio (FSR) is 5.8. A rooftop amenity space is also being proposed. The City report says the building must not exceed 190.3 ft.
The rezoning was submitted to the City in October of 2023 under the Broadway Plan (approved June 22, 2022) as a 12-18-storey, mixed-use residential and commercial building. Public consultation was limited to the Shape Your City website, where you can read the concerns of residents who completed the survey.
At the time of application, three of the five units were occupied by residential tenants. Most schools in the area were near or over capacity.
An Argument Against the Tower
Kits resident Karen Finnan, who plans to speak to City Council on Tuesday, says that new towers should not be “scoop loaded” into mature residential neighbourhoods before seeing what impact the Broadway Plan will have on housing supply and affordability. “I doubt many people strongly object to towers on major corridors, Finnan said, “so why not build out all of that capacity first, and then reassess the need for towers in the middle of single-family homes?”
Finnan envisions a traffic nightmare near and around the site due to the limited indoor parking provided. “Our road and transit capacity will be completely inadequate,” she said.
There is still time to either sign up to speak to Council (this is one of the very few instances of a rezoning public hearing to take place in City Hall’s new era of public shushing) or send in your concerns online. If you plan to write, it is best to contact each Councillor individually. If you wish to speak to Council, note that requests to speak opened at 8:30 am on Friday, November 1, but you can still register in-person at City Hall between 5:30 and 6:00 pm on the day of the public hearing.
Urban Villages–Vancouver Plan
Last week, Council approved a plan to build a string of pre-zoned urban villages across the city. Under the Vancouver Plan (approved in 2022), 17 areas have been identified for rezoning within 400 metres of existing small retail areas. According to the City, the idea is to create low-rise (three to six storeys) residential buildings for Middle Missing Housing, including retail apartments, townhouses, and multiplex residential buildings in addition to commercial shops. Because the plan concurs with the Vancouver Plan (soon to become Vancouver’s Official Development Plan), the areas will be exempt from public hearings.
When is a Village Not a Village?
A portion of Upper Kitsilano has been designated as a future village, with added development around Macdonald St. and 16th Ave, where Starbucks, Choices Market and a number of shops and restaurants now stand. Across the street to the West is a mini-mall that could be upgraded and expanded. Note that the City says development is allowed within 400 metres, or a four to eight minute walk, from existing shops. Therefore, the exact area has been left open to interpretation.
As the news starts to reach business owners, developers, and neighbours, we will have a clearer picture of public reaction to the plan. Understandably, residents and business owners in older heritage neighbourhoods are worried about the changes.
One big concern is that City planners will not be open to community feedback or the wishes of neighbourhoods. Some businesses, that are in favour of the concept, welcome an increase in population to boost sales, but say they would only be in favour if the look and feel of the high street(s) is retained.
City planners say the Villages can be added quickly because the plan concurs with strategies already outlined in the Vancouver Plan, meaning drawn-out public hearings can be avoided. Former City senior planner and designer Scot Hein however, believes that public input is crucial. Hein told writer Kerry Gold in the Nov. 1 issue of the Globe and Mail that one problem with citywide plans is classic features (he points to the former Ridge Theatre at Arbutus and 16th as an example) are often lost to generic redevelopment. Hein said a standard, responsible design approach would be to map out the significant cultural assets and to protect them, but in this case, he doubts that work will be done. He refers to the current mixed-use designs favoured by City Planning as “generica,” meaning big concrete boxes of multi-storey condominiums set above street-level chain stores.
And, as Hein told Gold, when the plan refers to a maximum of six storeys, it could mean land assemblies. He said he thinks the City is trying to release more assemblies into the housing market. “They do it under the guise of affordability, meaning market rental. But, of course, it’s not truly affordable.”
One More thing…
Vancouver residents to gather at City Hall on Nov. 23 at 1 pm to protest the Broadway Plan
A major rally is being organized on Vancouver City Hall grounds to protest the Broadway Plan. Organizer Theodore Abbott of TEAM Vancouver said he has heard from scores of individuals and neighbourhoods who worry about the amount and form of densification— i.e., the proliferation of high-rise towers—approved for the plan. Nearly 500 city blocks from Clark Drive in the east to Arbutus St in the west, and from 1st to 16th Ave are under intense densification pressure.
And with amendments to the plan currently in the works, even greater densification is expected. Abbott says the objective of the rally is to “draw attention to how the Broadway Plan fails to provide the very thing it purports to deliver—affordable housing.”
“We want to send a powerful message to Council, have an impact on Council’s discussions, and achieve real changes to the plan.” Not only will the Broadway Plan erode various character neighbourhoods along the Broadway corridor, he added, but it will also continue to “displace existing tenants on a massive scale.” Stay tuned to our next post for more information).