With only seven members of Council present, Vancouver City Council approved the Official Development Plan (ODP) for the 90-acre Jericho Lands. The decision essentially bans public hearings on the site for the next 25-30 years or however long the massive development will take to complete.

Absent from the Apr. 22 public hearing were Mayor Ken Sim, newcomer Cllr. Sean Orr, as well as Cllrs. Rebecca Bligh, Brian Montague and Peter Meiszner.

The Councillors who did attend spoke in favour of the ODP. Newcomer Cllr. Lucy Maloney praised Council’s decision to move the Jericho Lands project forward. Cllr. Mike Klassen said he could see why people feel anxious about such a massive project. But after hearing clarifications from project head David Negrin of Aquilini Developments, he said he felt reassured of the development’s success.

Council heard about 70 speakers during a public hearing held the week prior to the vote and received approximately 256 letters. Public opinion was split —about half praised the development as an expression of reconciliation that would breathe new life into the West Point Grey neighbourhood; the other half criticized both the ultra-high density on the ecologically sensitive site and called the ODP approval an attack on democracy.

The MST’s Plan will see 66 high-rise towers built on the undeveloped Jericho Lands, formerly a military garrison. Tower height will range between two and 49 storeys, with13,000 to 14,000 new homes for up to 24,000 residents. It will be at least four times larger in size and population than the Oakridge Park project.

The ODP came at the request of the owners, the MST Development Corporation (the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations) and the federal Canada Lands Corporation (CLC) in order to secure funding for the enormous plan. Achieving ODP status gives the Jericho Lands project the certainty the MST Partnership needs to secure financing from outside lenders.

Unlike the Squamish Nation’s Senakw development, which is situated on reserve land, the Jericho Lands is unceded territory that was bought in two stages: The federal government first sold 52 acres on the eastern side of Jericho in October 2014 to the three First Nations and the CLC for $237 million, with MST and CLC splitting ownership 50-50. Then, in April 2016, the Province sold the remaining 38 acres to MST for $480 million.

During the public hearing on Apr. 22, both head planner Negrin and Matt Shillito, the City’s Acting Manager of Planning, tried to ease public fears, saying there will be future opportunities for public consultation through the City’s Shape Your City site.

The local neighbourhood-based Jericho Coalition, which has fought the Jericho Lands project since it first learned what the three First Nations envisioned for the site, went so far as to create its own low-to mid-rise alternative to the official plan. Shillito was asked whether he had looked at the Coalition’s plan. He told Council that the Planning department “had never been asked” to look at the group’s plan. The Coalition, meanwhile, said that while it had not formally brought forth its development plan to Council, the group insists that it publicly distributed its alternative and Shillito could not have missed it.

Jericho Coalition member Susan Fisher, who has been an outspoken critic of the current Plan, said, “People don’t realize that for the next 25 or 30 years the developers can build without ever having to justify their plan or accommodate the legitimate concerns of other residents. To me, this is undemocratic and reckless,” Fisher said of the ODP approval.

OneCity Cllr. Lucy Maloney, meanwhile, lauded the project for its promise of 20 per cent social housing and 10 per cent below market housing, which is a big reason she supported the ODP. However, Shillito cautioned that the percentages given are completely dependent on funding from senior levels of government, as is the UBCx subway.

BC is currently one of the most deeply indebted provinces in Canada, with a total debt of approximately $133.02 billion (updated 2024/25 forecast). The province is also facing record deficits and is on track to accumulate debt faster than any other time in its history.