Provincial Housing Targets Order – 6 Month Interim Report: October 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024 (Special Council meeting 3 pm Tues, May 14)

(To be updated) Late on Friday afternoon last week, a Special Council meeting agenda and report was posted on the City of Vancouver website, for Council at 3 pm on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.

On May 14, 2024, at 3pm, a staff report goes to a Special Council meeting. This appears to be the first major report under Vancouver’s new chief planner, Josh White (officially, the General Manager of Planning, Urban Design & Sustainability), who started on May 1.

Report: Provincial Housing Targets Order – 6 Month Interim Report: October 1, 2023 – March 31, 2024
Meeting link: https://council.vancouver.ca/20240514spec/spec20240514ag.htm
Report Link (PDF, 39 pages): https://council.vancouver.ca/20240514spec/documents/spec1.pdf

Several cities are scrambling to comply with provincial legislation imposed by the BC NDP, based on province-wide housing legislation that was prepared secretly, with selected municipalities included in “consultation” but forced to sign non-disclosure agreements, and under the veil of many months intensive lobbying by UDI/industry and associated activists. Even the supposed “empirical basis” for the naughty list was entirely redacted in an FOI response.

This report going to Council May 14 was foretold by then acting chief planner Doug Smith in his report to Council on April 23 in “Response to New Provincial Legislation: Bills 44, 46 and 47” (https://council.vancouver.ca/20240423/regu20240423ag.htm). 

Some takeaways from the report

1) The volume of projects currently in the development pipeline (31,300 units) is more than enough to meet the Provincial 5 year housing targets (28,900).

2) Actual construction of housing has slowed due to the capacity of the construction industry – high financing costs, rising construction costs, and the availability of labour.

3) The City has woefully failed to meet provincial housing affordability targets (35% below market housing) for the first 6 months since October 2023 – achieving only 1% below market affordable housing.

4) The City will use a variety of financial enabling tools to “leverage affordable housing” with senior governments, private and non-profit housing providers to meet provincial affordable housing targets, claiming that only with significant funding by senior governments can affordability targets be met. The report does not mention the leveraging of the city’s “inclusionary housing” tool to achieve more affordability with the private sector.  A Refresh Report on Affordability is coming before Council in June 2024. 

5) The report claims that 426 units have been demolished in the first 6 months without any reference to demolitions of existing affordable rental stock.

The report also comments on the “Broadway Plan: Adopted in June 2022, the 30-year Plan enables more housing opportunities around future SkyTrain stations, and incentivizes delivery of market and non-profit rental housing. There are currently 39 rezoning applications under review, two already approved and one building currently under construction, with a total potential for over 8,400 units.” (CityHallWatch is actually tracking around 100 projects that appear to be in the works.)

Here are some more in-depth observations and comments about the report.

• The City is surpassing the provincial targets on housing approvals. There already is enough development in the pipeline to meet the general provincial targets. However, completions will depend on the economy in general.
• Currently there are almost no new large strata multifamily projects going ahead, because presales are dead, so developers cannot get financing for them. Even strata projects that were approved long ago and coming to completion are having a hard time with presales not closing. Most strata projects going ahead are smaller projects that don’t require presales.
• Most large housing projects now are rentals, but it is not clear if current subsidies for rental housing are deep enough even for them to make the numbers work anymore.
• Very few “affordable” below market units are being completed and this is directly related to the lack of provincial and federal subsidies.
• Another crucial and underlying factor, perhaps the most important one, is that land values have become so expensive after years of low interest rates, global financial flows, speculation, and money laundering. We recommend people refer to the work of David Ley (recent book Housing Booms in Gateway Cities (2023, 315 pages), and Patrick Condon, Broken City: Land Speculation, Inequality, and Urban Crisis, https://www.ubcpress.ca/broken-city to be published this month). See also their statements in recent meetings. For example, “Does local democracy hinder socially sustainable cities? Who/what is to blame?” and “Rethinking the Housing Crisis: Beyond the Supply-Demand Dogma.”
• As a result of the above, the provincially-imposed “needs” assessments will not be met in Vancouver due to lack of affordability. The City will never be able to do this on its own.
• It is likely that the development industry is currently demolishing more affordable rental units than it is building.

Some further commentary….

We need to keep in context that the housing targets imposed top-down by the BC NDP/Provincial Government are being mostly development industry driven. See our post “How an industry-spawned Vancouver-centric ‘YIMBY’ narrative has severely twisted B.C. NDP housing ideology and massive legislation changes.”

This is also political, as the Province is trying to blame municipalities and download responsibility for producing affordable housing onto municipalities. Affordable housing is something the provincial and federal governments need to fund.

While the City of Vancouver under mayor Ken Sim and the ABC majority is entire complicit with the provincial housing bills and orders, it is clear that the City is concerned that the metrics for net new units are based on completions rather than approvals.

‘Is that all there is?'(CC#129: An unusual Jane’s Walk features a new rental building that signals a new and disturbing definition of ‘affordable’) by Brian Palmquist

City Conversation #129 was first published 13-May-2024. (For a list of City Conversations by Brian Palmquist on CityHallWatch, please visit this page.) Note that in this building, studios are 393 square feet, one-bedroom units 579 sq ft, and two-bedroom units 741 sq ft.

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$2,650 to $4,200 per month—affordable?

“Dad, that is literally twice the rent I am paying now!” My 30-something son was looking over my shoulder at the website advertising one of the first “affordable rental housing” (note 1) projects nearing completion in Vancouver. It was announced with great fanfare 2-1/2 years ago, a partnership between the city of Vancouver, BC Housing, the province and a private developer. 

My son rents a studio in an older, walk up three storey building that is great for his bachelor lifestyle except for the fact it is at ground zero for the Broadway Plan, a couple blocks from the Broadway/Granville SkyTrain Station. We’ve talked about the disruption that plan might mean for his block, which is currently comprised of a mix of older rental and strata buildings and one 14-storey strata high-rise, which the Broadway Plan now ironically calls “mid-rise.”

I recently attended a Jane’s Walk (note 2) event sponsored by Abundant Housing Vancouver (AHV), called Kitsilano Missing Midrise Walking Tour. The guided walk through Kits north of Broadway somehow missed all of the ten current high-rise proposals in Kits under the Broadway Plan that mostly start by demolishing existing affordable rentals. I can’t say how many rentals will be demo’d—the city has closed its renter support office and does not keep data about rental demolitions—at least not in a place accessible to ordinary citizens.

A suitable City Conversation about this walk eluded me until reality gifted me, in the form of this new rental website for the project at Larch and 2^nd Avenue pictured above, which featured prominently in the AHV guided walk as a soon-to-be-completed “affordable” rental housing project.

Let’s examine what AHV’s “affordable” means in the context of this project’s rental website:

• Rents for the smallest studio starting at $2599 per month. That’s the one that’s twice what my son currently pays, and his is a nicer floor plan;
• One bedroom rents starting at $2,999;
• Two bedroom rental starting at $3,999;
• The three bedroom units touted in the project’s original BC Housing announcement are a no-show on the rental website—no idea where they went.

This project was announced in December 2021 by BC Housing as a partnership between them, the developer and the City of Vancouver. At that time, according to the announcement:

Rethinking the Housing Crisis: Beyond the Supply-Demand Dogma (City Club of New York) with Vishaan Chakrabarti, Patrick Condon, Cameron Murray (May 7, 2024) video

This online discussion entitled “Rethinking the Housing Crisis: Beyond the Supply-Demand Dogma,” organized by the City Club of New York on May 7, 2024. The issues they address are common across many jurisdictions, including Metro Vancouver. The implications of the presentations seriously challenge some of the underlying supply-side theory underpinning British Columbia’s latest housing legislation, “naughty lists” imposing quotas on cities and undermining local democracy. Recommended viewing for all concerned about housing affordability and urban planning.

Rethinking the Housing Crisis: Beyond the Supply-Demand Dogma.

INTRODUCTIONS:
Layla Law-Gisiko (President, City Club of New York)
MODERATOR:
Aaron Elstein (senior reporter with Crain’s New York Business)
PANELISTS:
Vishaan Chakrabarti
Patrick Condon
Cameron Murray

The ongoing debate on how to address the housing crisis is the central focus of discussion. While some argue that the solution lies in increasing housing supply, including market-rate, others believe that the supply-demand paradigm is not the answer to this complex issue.

• Pr. Patrick Condon’s forthcoming book, Broken City investigates the notion that the intertwining of global wealth with housing exacerbates the crisis, fueled by soaring land prices.
• Conversely, Dr. Cameron Murray’s latest work, The Great Hijack exposes how calls for increased supply often cater to vested interests rather than genuinely addressing affordability.
• Amidst these debates, NYC-based architect and author Vishaan Chakrabarti has been a tempered advocate for a supply-side solution, as he argued in a recent article published in The New York Times.

The discussion, moderated by Aaron Elstein, senior reporter with Crain’s New York Business, offers diverse perspectives rarely heard along the banks of the Hudson River.

Paid parking trial at Spanish Banks summer 2024

The following is reprinted from a Park Board info bulletin. https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/paid-parking-to-be-trialled-at-spanish-banks-beach-this-summer-may-2024.aspx

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Paid parking to be trialled at Spanish Banks this summer

May 7 2024 – 

Visitors driving to Spanish Banks Beach this summer will pay a $1/hour parking fee, as part of plans to alleviate traffic and parking concerns at one of Vancouver’s busiest destination beaches.

At last night’s Board meeting, commissioners approved a recommendation from staff PDF file (1.3 KB) to implement the new fee at parking lots within Spanish Banks Beach Park for a 12-month pilot period beginning this July. The $1/hour fee will be in effect during peak season (May-September), with staff working with the City’s Engineering Services to determine a reduced charge for the off-season.

As the only destination beach or park in the Park Board network currently without paid parking, Spanish Banks experiences a number of issues during peak season both in the beach parking lots and surrounding road network.

Staff advised that paid parking at this location would help alleviate traffic and parking concerns and minimize unnecessary searching for parking that contributes to congestion, traffic safety risks and air pollution.

The recommendation was also informed by transit accessibility and affordability. Analysis of other destination sites shows that paid parking helps increase parking turn-over and encourages efficient transportation decisions such as carpooling. Recognizing the limited transit options within the area, implementing parking at an affordable rate in peak season with reduced off-season parking charges maintains affordability and accessibility.

In addition, the implementation of paid parking aligns with the Park Board’s ‘Think Big’ Revenue Strategy PDF file (2.7 MB), approved in July 2023. Revenue generated through the pilot will provide funding for the safety, security, and cleanliness of our parks and facilities, including at Spanish Banks Beach.

In conjunction with the Park Board, the City plans to install paid parking along NW Marine Drive from Blanca Street to W 4th Avenue. New on-street paid parking would be charged at a rate of $1/ hour and would be in effect between 9am and 10pm from May 1 to Labour Day in September. To manage potential impacts to parking within the neighbourhood, the City will survey households on the local streets to gauge support for the implementation of residential permit parking. This will help to reserve space for residents while also accommodating their visitors and service providers.

The enforcement of paid parking at Spanish Banks Beach Park will run from 9am to 10pm to enable free parking and improved access for early morning visitors.

For more information on parking in Vancouver, visit vancouver.ca/streets-transportation/parking

Open letter asks Mayor and Council to carefully examine sale of public land to Wesgroup (7-May-2024)

Above: Sketch plan of the subject lane (hashed lines) and adjacent lots, between Oak and Laurel Streets.

[Update – It appears this item remained on the “consent agenda” as the City Clerk posted on X (Twitter) that it had been approved on consent. If true, this means Mayor/Council/City Manager either had a secret meeting to work out some deal or details, or they consciously decided to ignore our letter of concern. CityHallWatch did not receive any response from any of them, not even the courtesy of an acknowledgement of receipt. Any readers who are concerned about the City losing more than a million dollars in the sale of one single laneway, feel free to contact your favourite member of Council, and do let us know what they tell you. This seems to be a systemic problem, amounting to potentially hundreds of million dollars over several years. Another of many examples is one we covered at 5025 Arbutus Street, 2126 West 34th Avenue and 2109-2129 West 35th Avenue. Members of our civil society have good reason to be very concerned about this pattern. Municipal decisions are being further shrouded in secrecy under BC NDP legislation that will eliminate public hearings for the majority of land use decisions across the province. These are serious matters.]

Meeting link: https://council.vancouver.ca/20240507/regu20240507ag.htm

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Re: Closure and Sale of a Portion of Lane Adjacent to 906-982 West 18th Avenue and 907-969 West 19th Avenue (in Council 7-May-2024) (Link: https://council.vancouver.ca/20240507/documents/r7.pdf)

Dear Mayor Ken Sim, Councillors and City Manager Paul Mochrie, City of Vancouver,

City staff are recommending that you approve the sale of public land at your Regular Council meeting on May 7.

CityHallWatch is requesting that Mayor and Council carefully examine the valuation of the public land in question, and to have this done in public at the meeting.

Any time public land is being sold, the public should be able to count on the municipal government to get the best deal, in the public interest, especially in an era of tight city finances. We recommend you have this item pulled from the consent agenda, to allow for proper discussion.

From the report, “Engineering Services has conducted a comprehensive review and determined that the Lane Portion is surplus to civic needs and is available for sale to the Balfour Lands owner, subject to
the conditions detailed in Appendix B of this report. An independent third party appraisal of market value has been conducted on the Lane Portion. The Director of Real Estate Services advises that the negotiated sale price of $3,161,156 represents fair market value for the Lane Portion to be conveyed to the Balfour Lands owner…. The General Manager of Real Estate, Environment and Facilities Management recommends a purchase price for the Road Portion of $3,161,156.”

The staff recommendation is to sell the 7,923 sq. ft. lane for $3,161,156, which works out to $399 per sq. ft. of land.

Developer Wesgroup bought the rest of the site, 101,890 sq. ft. for $46,200,000 from Balfour Properties in 2015, nine years ago. That works out to $453 per sq. ft. of land.
References https://vancouvermarket.ca/2021/02/08/wesgroup-envisions-241-units-for-balfour-block/ and – https://www.cwilson.com/app/uploads/2016/03/Full-list-of-Top-100-biggest-real-estate-deals-of-2015-_-Business-in-Vancouver.pdf

It is generally acknowledged that Vancouver land values have increased in the last nine years. The 2024 BC Assessment land valuation for the rest of the site is $55,843,000 which equals $548 per sq. ft. of land. If sold at that same land value, the price of the lane would be $4,341,804, more than a million dollars more than city staff are recommending. Also note that it’s generally considered that assessed values often tend to be on the low side compared to market value.

Why are 40 trolley buses parked despite a shortage on routes in Vancouver and Burnaby? Open letter to BC MLAs by Nathan Davidowicz offers questions and solutions.

Above: A TransLink electric trolley bus, like the 40 that are currently sitting idle.

CityHallWatch is sharing this letter by long-time transit advocate Nathan Davidowicz.

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Dear Members of Legislative Assembly representing Vancouver and Burnaby:

In case you are not aware, TransLink has parked 40 trolley buses.

During rush hours there used to be 190 to 200 trolley buses operating, but now the number has dropped to only 150 to 160. On some days as few as 120 trolley buses are on the road during the morning rush hours. Using GPS we can track the number of trolley buses deployed.

While Honourable Minister Rob Fleming (Transportation and Infrastructure) is promising $300 million for TransLink to buy more buses, no conditions were attached or disclosed with his announcement.

To confirm, please see:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024MOTI0051-000581
https://x.com/Rob_Fleming/status/1780735045873119414
https://x.com/Rob_Fleming/status/1780735050470101146
https://x.com/Rob_Fleming/status/1780671708082356237

We need to put back these 40 trolley buses to work on Vancouver and Burnaby trolley bus routes. Ridership is almost back to the pre-COVID levels on many trolley bus routes (see “TransLink ridership rebounds…”).

Overall system-wide boardings in February 2024 were reportedly at 31.9 million vs February 2019 at 32.5 million. But for some unexplained reason, TransLink does not provide the monthly trolley bus boardings,
in contrast to other cities that use trolley buses (e.g., Seattle, San Francisco,, Philadelphia, Dayton).

Trolley buses are the workhorse of our transit system, carrying around 25% of total regional ridership prior to COVID.

Jane’s Walk Vancouver festival 2024 (May 2 to 5) features dozens of neighbourhood walks to inform, inspire, and enjoy

Above: The scene of a previous Jane’s Walk in Vancouver.

Jane’s Walks – Vancouver – 2024 are happening this weekend, from May 2 (Thursday) to May 5 (Sunday).

What is a Jane’s Walk?

“Jane’s Walk is a movement of free, citizen-led walking tours inspired by Jane Jacobs. The walks get people to tell stories about their communities, explore their cities, and connect with neighbours.” For more, see this slide show: https://janeswalkvancouver.wordpress.com/what-is-janes-walk/

What were Jane Jacob’s ten great ideas?

1. Eyes on the street
2. Social capital
3. The generators of diversity (mixed uses, aged buildings, small blocks, population density)
4. Form still follows function
5. Local economies
6. Innovation
7. Make many little plans
8. Gradual money
9. Cities as organized complexity
10. Citizen science

For more, see this slide: https://janeswalkvancouver.wordpress.com/jane-jacobs-10-big-ideas/

Recommended documentary: Citizen Jane: Battle for the City. Watch on Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3h9ou6at1s

Watch on Vimeo:

As of May 1, the calendar shows 40 events this year. Walks indicated as “OPEN” are still available for drop-ins. Further below, just for handy reference, we’ve compiled them into one list, but we encourage you to read the all the details on each one here. https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/janes-walk-vancouver-13387821306. We’ve copied over the descriptions of some selected walks covering housing and urban planning/design topics, and added our own comments in a few cases. The *OPEN* notation indicates that even if a walk is indicated as sold out on the Jane’s Walk website, you can still drop in at the meeting place.

Above: Just a partial list of the free neighbourhood walks being offered by volunteers this year. See the original website and below for details!

Jane’s Walk Vancouver  (May 2-5, 2024) – Annotated list by CityHallWatch

May Day events 2024: Vancouver and District Labour Council. Includes workshops on fighting for affordable housing, and how workers can drive change at City Hall

Vancouver and District Labour Council is holding many events today to mark International Workers Day, May 1, 2024. Open to the public.

Link here – https://vdlc.ca/events/may-day/

Full schedule here – https://vdlc.ca/may-day-2024-schedule/

CityHallWatch encourages people to check it out. Looks like a great event.

The event will feature a labour and community information fair, speakers, live music, food provided by Tamam: Fine Palestinian Cuisine, workshops, and more! May 1st from 5:30-9:30pm.

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Below we excerpt items related to civic affairs and housing. There is much, much more. Please visit the whole schedule.

Workshop: Fighting for Affordable Housing
Boardroom 1, 6:00 pm to 7:20 pm
presented by the Affordable BC Campaign (BCGEU)

The rising cost of living, driven mainly by increased cost for housing, is the number one issue facing workers in Vancouver (and across BC). In this workshop we will discuss the root causes of the housing affordability crisis and how workers and their unions can use collective power to protect existing affordable housing and increase the supply of public affordable housing.

Workshop: How Workers Can Drive Change at City Hall
Boardroom 1, 8:10 pm to 9:30 pm
presented by Women Transforming Cities
From transit, to housing, to wages, cities make decisions that profoundly impact workers. But local government systems can be challenging to navigate and working people experience barriers to having their voices heard. In this workshop, Women Transforming Cities (WTC) will break down the role of local government, who the key players are, how decisions are made, and how you can influence local leaders to create more affordable, resilient, and equitable communities.

… and more…

Full Event Schedule

Sponsors: BC General Employees’ Union, Canadian Union of Public Employees’ Local 15, Hospital Employees’ Union, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 400, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 963, Public Service Alliance of Canada – BC Region

S101S – Understanding shadow studies: Why they matter (Erick Villagomez)

We are republishing this article, with permission. It was first published on April 29, 2024 in Spacing Vancouver (https://spacing.ca/vancouver/2024/04/29/s101s-understanding-shadow-studies-why-they-matter/). Erick Villagomez is Editor-in-Chief at Spacing Vancouver and teaches at UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning

Above: Shadow study with full shadow lengths provided outside the initial frame chosen by Perkins & Will for the 1780 E. Broadway proposal.

Shadow studies often get lost amid the seemingly more pressing issues related to current urban planning and design. However, the relevance of shadow studies has only grown, as cities face increasingly complex challenges related to density, sustainability, and livability. Ultimately, well-designed neighbourhoods strike a balance between built density and access to sunlight as a means of ensuring that residents enjoy comfortable, just, and healthy living conditions. Shadow studies play a crucial role in achieving this balance. So, let’s remind ourselves about where they came from and why their neglect by developers, architects, and planners should be questioned.

A genuine look at the history of shadow studies and cities would trace things back to the earliest human settlements and vernacular architecture, where people intuitively oriented their structures to maximize sunlight exposure for warmth and illumination. It is no surprise that humans need light, physiologically and psychologically. Ancient civilizations across every culture recognized the importance of sunlight in architecture and settlements, accordingly. This is evident in the orientation of sacred temples, amphitheatres, public squares, and other spaces designed to capture the sun’s rays during specific times of the day.

During these early days, the “regulation” of solar control varied across cultures. However, the birth of sun-shadow regulations—as with all regulations—is connected to religious and cultural values systems related to proper behaviour. That is, shadowing and access to the sun were an issue of ethics. For example, in Arabic-Islamic tradition, an initial building allowance in early settlements that allowed people to build as high as they wanted within their “air space” was overturned once it was found that people were using it to harm neighbours intentionally by taking away access to sun and air.

It’s worth noting, however, that solar control strategies were climate-dependent. For example, in many hot environments, shade and shadow were intentionally “designed” into cities—through elements such as courtyards and narrow streets—to provide relief from the powerful sun. As such, shadowing was seen as something positive. Conversely, as people and their settlements moved into colder climates, maximizing sun exposure for warmth and light became paramount for survival.

Equally important is that for the majority of urban history, solar access was somewhat self-regulating since building heights were limited by construction systems. So, in parts of the world where sun access was desirable, the “harm” done to individuals and the public through shadow creation was constrained by building technologies.

Serious problems with COV Real Estate Services record keeping: A mysterious spreadsheet, missing contract documents, and lease overcharges (Robert Renger)

This article is a detailed follow-up to two previous articles about seriously deficient record keeping by the City of Vancouver’s Real Estate Services department. Big bucks are involved, and the implications are significant. See bottom of this article for background/links to previous coverage.

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City Manager Paul Mochrie, in a September 26th 2023 email, committed to sending a “substantive response” after he had followed up with his team regarding the Real Estate department’s lack of any records whatsoever related to its very important spreadsheet of False Creek South development statistics, and its related $100,000 contract with Coriolis Consulting. After over 6 months, Mochrie has not sent that “substantive response” yet and it seems doubtful that he actually intends to do so, given his total lack of response to a follow-up enquiry of December 15th 2023. This is especially surprising since the Real Estate department is managed out of Mochrie’s own office, reporting directly to Deputy City Manager Armin Amrolia.

Nor has any member of Council responded, although they were all copied on the original complaint and follow-up.

The Mysterious Spreadsheet

Real Estate Services cannot locate any records at all related to its spreadsheet “FCS – Parcel Info Summary sheet.xlsx”. This is a table of statistics for False Creek South (FCS) leasehold properties, which is unattributed and undated. City staff apparently have no idea of the origin of the floor areas in this spreadsheet. And yet these floor areas were used in 2022 as the basis for the calculation of lease extension prices totaling $110 million for False Creek South leaseholders.

Above: The mysterious spreadsheet (FCS – Parcel Info Summary sheet.xlsx). Unattributed, undated. No one knows the source of the numbers.

The net floor areas (“Residential Units” column) for some of the stratas are incorrect, apparently including balcony and patio areas which should be excluded, and are not included in the floor areas for the other stratas. The spreadsheet also includes purported “Common Areas” for all the stratas which include apartments. These are all fictious floor area figures. Regardless of the proportion of apartments vs townhouses and the actual common floor area in a strata, these figures are simply 15% of the net area of the strata – but this is not disclosed. These were added to the “Residential Units” column to produce the “Total Residential” column. These were therefore also fictious floor areas, but City staff initially made an aggressive but unsuccessful attempt to use them (contrary to previous understanding) to calculate land values and lease extension prices.