New apartments, townhouses and multiplexes could soon be coming to a street near you.

With Cll. Colleen Hardwick the lone no vote, Vancouver City Council voted to refer the controversial Streamlining Rental Plan (SRP) to public hearing at its Oct. 5 meeting. The hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 6 pm, and will be held via electronic means, with in-person attendance at City Hall also available. Registration to speak at the Public Hearing will begin at 8:30 am on October 22, 2021. (see links below).

The Council meeting garnered very little debate.  Melissa De Genova and Adrienne Carr asked staff whether affected homeowners had been notified or told how the SRP would affect them. City Housing Planner Edna Cho said that while notification cards had not been sent to individual households, consultation with property owners and renters via surveys and online workshops have been “significant”(keep in mind residents have to reach out to the city to be included). The results, said Cho, showed broad support for complete neighbourhoods (those with most amenities within a 15-minute walk) and missing middle housing for families that the City hopes Quick-Start SRP plans will achieve. The question remains, will the new rental development be affordable?

Cllr. Hardwick asked staff why both the commercial and residential rezoning amendment plans (both lengthy reports) were lumped into the same report, when they began as individual reports. Assistant director of planning, Dan Garrison, said it “made sense” to combine the reports because both address the need for complete neighbourhoods, including increasing rental housing around shopping districts as proposed under the Vancouver Plan.

The Oct. 5 meeting was not open to speakers. The public hearing will be your last chance to speak out about the SRP. We need as many people as possible to speak and write to Council to stop the SRP from going ahead.

You can sign up to speak at the hearing here.

Letters must go through the public hearing form.