A City plan that could have led to construction of 20-storey social housing towers in several residential areas across Vancouver failed to pass today, with the ABC councillors and Mayor Ken Sim voting against it in a 7-3 vote, with Cllrs. Pete Fry, Lucy Maloney and Sean Orr in favour of the motion. Cllr. Rebecca Bligh was absent.

The vote came after dramatic opposition from neighbourhoods, who viewed the initiative as a development plan on steroids that would open up almost half of the city’s residential parcels to tall towers. There was also opposition to the City’s troubling definition of social housing, in which 70% of a “social housing building” is actually set at market pricing. They also objected to the removal of public hearings.

“(It’s) frightening for people who suddenly realize that at any time somebody might get approval to put a tower next door to them without any public hearing, without any public process,” retired Vancouver architect Michael Geller told CTV News while giving a public information meeting on the plan yesterday at the Dunbar community Centre.

Cllr. Sarah Kirby-Yung said Council received overwhelming opposition to the Plan, in the 70-80% range, noting that it can do more to speed up housing approval. She proposed a series of amendments, two of which passed, despite all being rejected by Councillors Maloney, Orr, and Fry. The first amendment directs staff to focus on accelerating the approval timeline of eligible projects so that social housing sites are “shovel ready” when City, Provincial and Federal funding becomes available. The deadline for planning staff is March of 2026. The amendment further instructs staff to redirect funds from the Empty Homes Tax to support the work.

Calling the amendments to the motion “outrageous,” Cllr. Maloney pointed out that although the original motion would have allowed the areas to be zoned for social housing, it wouldn’t have meant a flurry of applications would suddenly appear, especially given the housing can only be built by governments and non-profit housing organizations. That sentiment was echoed by Cllr. Fry.

Cllr. Kirby-Yung disagreed with the dissenters and emphasized that the original social housing plan as written was like “boiling the ocean to get 10 glasses of desalinated water. We need a more thoughtful plan,” she noted.

Cllr. Klassen said City staff had told him that staff told him that “we” are letting economics rather than livability drive housing policy. To which Cllr. Maloney shot back: “Economics is exactly what is driving people out of Vancouver.”

Drawing above: affordable homes at Dogwood Gardens, located at 603 West 59th Ave, as part of the Cambie Gardens development.