Vancouver City Council passed the Broadway Plan two years ago with the intention of densifying the area near and along the Broadway Subway. The idea was to provide 30,000 housing units over the course of 30 years. But under pressure from the provincial government, Council rejected its own staff’s recommendations to pace the amount of development. Many residents now worry that change is coming too fast. “The plan was supposed to be a measured way of densifying. But what we are seeing is a frenzy of activity,” resident activist David Fine told CityNews. “So, I think Council has to look at what’s happening, and say ‘hold on, this is not going as planned, we need to step back.’”

Last week, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved a residential zoned tower project under the Broadway Plan. The 19-storey rental high-rise is to be located along East 10th Ave between Main and Fraser. According to the City, there are many more towers in the pipeline awaiting approval.  

Another public hearing for a Broadway Plan development at 2156-2174 West 14th Ave, for a 17-storey mixed-use residential tower containing 170 units, has been referred to Nov. 26. Council heard from many speakers last Thursday, some of whom were opposed to the hi-rise for a variety of reasons — the main one being the sheer size of the building, as well as tiny units, and a lack of laundry facilities — and others who welcomed the additional housing.

Then, in an unexpected turn of events, the final speaker told Council that the developer, HAVN, had never planned to build anything on the site because it doesn’t have the money to do so. “This is pure speculation — that’s what (HAVN) is doing here,” the speaker said. (If true, HAVN would be able to flip the rezoned properties for a large profit.) “They never planned to build this, so there’s no point in us being here.” The speaker then questioned why Planning staff would have recommended the project to Council in the first place. Council did not discuss the project further and referred the back to Planning.

UKRA will follow up on this development and report back when we learn more.

Join the Rally!

This Saturday, Nov. 23 at 1 pm, UKRA and other community groups are holding a rally at City Hall to request that Council pause the Broadway Plan and work with residents to come up with a better strategy for the area . Hope to see you there!

Photo credit: City of Vancouver