Public Hearing May 9, 2023. Six items: Zoning changes for town/rowhouses (Cambie Corridor), density bonus contribs, rezonings at 855-865 W10th, 208 E54th/7018-7078 Main/211 E55th, 1040-1080 Barclay (60 storeys, West End), more

Above: Two more towers at 57 and 60 storeys proposed for the West End, at the corner of Barclay and Thurlow, enabled under the West End Community Plan.

There are six items on the Public Hearing agenda for May 9, 2023, starting at 6 p.m. (Note that the May 11 public hearing has been cancelled.)

1. City-Initiated Zoning Changes for Townhouses and Rowhouses in the Cambie Corridor
2. Recalibration of Density Bonus Contributions
3. CD-1 Rezoning: 855-865 West 10th Avenue
4. CD-1 Rezoning: 208 East 54th Avenue, 7018-7078 Main Street, and 211 East 55th Avenue
5. CD-1 Rezoning: 1040-1080 Barclay Street
6. Heritage Designation: 852 Seymour Street
7. Heritage Revitalization Agreement Amendment: 6161 MacDonald Street – WITHDRAWN

As of noon on the day, there were 30 items of correspondence in total for all six items.

Here is the agenda with links to related documents, correspondence, and instructions on how to write or speak to Council: https://council.vancouver.ca/20230509/phea20230509ag.htm

Below is a screen grab of a notice in the Vancouver Sun from May 2. Further below are some concise summaries, with links to the Shape Your City public input pages.

Below, click links for the relevant Shape Your City pages.

Item #1 – City-Initiated Zoning Changes for Townhouses and Rowhouses in the Cambie Corridor:

The staff proposal is for a City-initiated rezoning of 220 parcels from RS-1 and RT-1 to the RM-8A or RM-8AN zones for specified sites in the Cambie Corridor Plan area. It proposes a bulk rezoning of many parcels in the Cambie corridor, from RS and RT to a newly-updated RM8. This sets a new precedent. The RM8 zoning schedule has been recently updated. Here is the recently updated RM8: https://council.vancouver.ca/20230425/documents/a4a_000.pdf. [This para has been revised.]

A pertinent public comment expressed concern about how this might trigger more land assembly: “We already have numerous properties sitting dormant for years due to speculation purposes in this area. Must be hundreds of units vacant or bulldozed with no development occurring. This includes existing multi-family and apartment buildings. In addition, infrastructure has failed to be developed for the anticipated area growth. Council needs to take action on the existing land assemblies before creating more damage to existing housing stock.” A good point for Council to discuss in the Public Hearing.

Item #2 – Recalibration of Density Bonus Contributions.

The staff proposal is to adopt the recalibration of four density bonus contribution rates (“affordable housing shares” and “amenity shares” in the Zoning and Development By-law) with new rates Sept 30, 2023. Also to adopt density bonus exemption for secured market rental development in the Joyce-Collingwood RM-10N district schedule and an expanded definition of Amenity and Affordable Housing shares across all density bonus zones effective upon enactment.

Item #3 – 855-865 West 10th Avenue. 12 storey office building.

See image below.

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Item #4 – 208 East 54th Ave, 7018-7078 Main St, and 211 East 55th Ave 

This is for a six-storey mixed use building with 131 secured market rental units, commercial retail space at grade, and floor space ratio (FSR) of 3.62. There was at one point a petition against this development, but opposition has apparently dissipated.

See image below.

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Item #5 – 1040-1080 Barclay Street 

Two residential towers (57 storey West, 60 storey East) over ten levels of underground parking. 506 secured market rental units, 130 below market units (East), 365 market strata-titled units and 99 social housing units (West). Retail space at grade in both towers. 37-space childcare facility. Current FSR is 2.75. Proposal is overall floor space ratio (FSR) of 21.87 (consisting of 20.7 FSR West and 25.0 East). A building height of 174.5 m (572 ft in East) and 173m (567 ft in West). 832 vehicle and 2,256 bicycle parking spaces. Proposed by

An amendment (Criteria for 100% Secured Rental and Below-Market Housing as an Alternative to Inclusionary Social Housing in the Burrard Corridor of the West End Community Plan) to the West End Community Plan allowed the original proposal at this site to change from two strata towers proposed in 2018 to the current proposal.

See image below.

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Item #6 is about preserving the Great War Veterans’ Association Hall at 852 Seymour. The proposal is to add the existing building at this address to the Vancouver Heritage Register “B” and bring forward a by-law to designate the facade as protected heritage property.

Where’s all the new Rental Housing? (CC#111: A Homes for Whom database refresh answers the question…well, better than from any other source) by Brian Palmquist

City Conversation #111 was first published 8-May-2023 – https://brianpalmquist.substack.com/p/wheres-all-the-new-rental-housing. (For a list of City Conversations by Brian Palmquist on CityHallWatch, please visit this page.)

If you feel this article is relevant for Vancouver’s mayor and city council, feel free to tell them so, perhaps raising a point you wish to emphasize, and link to the article. Info on how to contact them is here.

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Where’s all the new Rental Housing?

City Conversation #111: A Homes for Whom database refresh answers the question…well, better than from any other source.

Above: Excerpt from my Homes for Whom (HfW) database—9775 spot rezoned rental homes have building permits

Apologies for the delayed publication of this City Conversation. As I’ll explain below, I had to do a major refresh of my Homes for Whom (HfW) database in order to answer the question: “Where’s all the new Vancouver rental housing?” That’s the question I asked myself after reading about the Vancouver Planning Department’s proposal, on the May 9^th [2023] agenda, to prioritize rental housing projects because there’s just too many housing projects arising from all of the city’s initiatives to solve the housing affordability crisis by just building more.

The Council and staff trickle down approach goes something like this: approve enough housing, especially rental, and purchase prices of condos and rents at purpose built rentals will become more affordable. What could go wrong with this thesis?

Plenty, as it happens. Some of you will know that I developed the HfW database starting a couple years ago and tracking back to the previous Council’s 2018 start date. I did this because city staff would not tell Council or the public what housing was planned, what was in process, what had been approved and what had been built.

I decided it can’t be that hard. In developing and maintaining HfW I have relied on four sources:

1. The city’s Rezoning active and archived applications web page, which adds new projects sometime after rezoning applications are received and sometime before they are approved. The newest projects are added to the first of their (currently) 29 web pages, so I visit there once a week or so and add the latest greatest projects to HfW. Note that my database only considers rezonings, not projects that conform to existing zoning. Since existing zoning rental housing is pretty much limited to laneway homes and duplexes (in total, about 600/year), I think my numbers are a pretty accurate picture.
2. The city’s Shape Your City web pages, where the individual details of projects are published, also sometime after rezoning applications are received and sometime before they are approved. When those numbers change nobody much is advised, certainly not me, so I may have a few dated numbers in HfW.
3. The city’s Building Permits database, which is entirely separate from Shape Your City but includes details of building permits, their companions and precursors: demolition permits, trade permits, etc. This is the database I had to revisit and troll through 218 web pages to determine what’s actually approved for construction—the big item in my publication delay.
4. Vancouver citizens—I am developing a healthy relationship with an increasing number of residents, who regularly alert me to rezoning, development permit or building permit signage that’s somehow not findable on city web pages. Drop me an email mentioning the neighbourhood(s) where you live, work or play and I’ll alert you via email each time there’s a new project or an amendment to an existing one in your areas of interest.

I’ve written recently about the plight of renters by the HfW numbers but I knew my numbers were a bit dated so undertook an update by:

Among many Council items this week: Amendments to Vancouver’s Procedure By-law No. 12577 to be discussed May 9. Will the ABC majority under Sim reduce (or maintain) democracy?

Vancouver City Council (from left): Peter Meiszner, Brian Montague, Christine Boyle, Lisa Dominato, Adriane Carr, Ken Sim, Sarah Kirby-Yung, Rebecca Bligh, Pete Fry, Mike Klassen, Lenny Zhou

[Update – Final debate on “Prioritization Framework for Planning Policy and Processing Applications” was punted to Council May 30. ABC council member statements could be portrayed as being in favour of reducing public access and democracy, while opposition councillors took the opposite stance. The meeting still has unfinished business (Council member motions).]

Agendas are online for Vancouver City Council this week. Regular Council on May 9, 2023. Many major items are on it, including a report by planning staff overwhelmed with developer inquiries and applications, “Prioritization Framework for Planning Policy and Processing Applications.” The same day, Tuesday, May 9, the Public Hearing has seven items, some major, including an application for a 60-storey tower at 1040-1080 Barclay Street in the West End, seeking an increase for Bosa-Kingswood Properties (Barclay) Inc for a immodest increase in density from 2.75 up to 25.0 FSR. On Wednesday, May 10, Council Standing Committee will look at 2023 Property Taxation, among other things. Disappointingly, and for the record, as of Monday morning just three business days prior to the May 11 Public Hearing, no agenda has been posted online for it.

Here below we look at staff-proposed amendments to the City of Vancouver’s Procedure By-law 12577, which governs how meetings are held. These observations are adapted from an analysis provided by Evelyn Jacob. Thank you, Evelyn.

The Vancouver Procedure By-law is important as it governs how meetings are held. A clearly-written bylaw can help promote efficiency and democratic access to public decision-making. But there can be trade-offs between efficiency and democracy. And what might be considered a good thing for City staff or elected officials could actually reduce the public’s ability to speak to elected officials about crucial matters. Changes in the rules deserve careful scrutiny. Anyone with concerns is encouraged to write or speak to Council. Instructions to do so are on the agenda page for May 9. You are also welcome to add your comments to this post for other readers to see.

Amendments to Procedure By-law No. 12577

Read the entire report by Rosemary Hagiwara (Acting City Clerk) here: https://council.vancouver.ca/20230509/documents/r4.pdf

Staff summary (in their own words): This report seeks Council’s approval of various administrative amendments, including additional speaking time for persons with disabilities if there are accessibility barriers or constraints to speaking as directed by Council. In addition, in response to various questions and comments from Council, staff are including optional administrative and substantive amendments to the Procedure By-law in this report for Council’s consideration to improve overall meeting efficiency. The last comprehensive review of the Procedure By-law was in 2019, with administrative amendments on December 10, 2019, May 26, 2020 and September 21, 2021.

Background: On July 19, 2022, Council directed staff to prepare amendments to the Procedure By-law to allow for additional speaking time for persons with disabilities if there are accessibility barriers or constraints to speaking. In addition, staff are including administrative and substantive amendments in this report for Council’s consideration to improve overall meeting efficiency. To inform these proposed amendments to the Procedure By-law, staff conducted a jurisdictional scan of Lower Mainland municipalities of similar or equivalent size on their meeting procedures around speaking time.

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OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS

Below are some of the changes proposed. The staff report classifies the proposals as either “administrative” (Table 1) or “substantive” (Table 2).

Prof *Patrick Condon* to speak at GWAC AGM today Saturday, May 6, 2023 (6 pm start, in person or online): ‘It’s all about the Dirt! – Why new density is a good thing, but unfortunately won’t lower prices’

The public is invited to this annual general meeting of the Grandview Woodland Area Council (GWAC), a non-partisan, non-profit group representing the Grandview-Woodland community, and probably Vancouver’s longest-serving neighbourhood association.

Here is an excerpt from their event notice.

Guest speaker: Professor Patrick Condon, the UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Liveable Environments

Join us in-person at the Britannia CFEC room or via zoom for our GWAC Annual General Meeting

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86540230936?pwd=QXIzQmJXdzlNdEM4QmZFUEVHelNEQT09
Meeting ID: 865 4023 0936, Passcode: 265386,

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kxzAL3Y7I

Our guest speaker will be Professor Patrick Condon, the UBC James Taylor Chair in Landscape and Liveable Environments, with his presentation:

It’s all about the Dirt! – Why new density is a good thing, but unfortunately won’t lower prices

Much of current city policy, as embodied in the Broadway plan and the city-wide Vancouver plan is based on the presumption that insufficient housing supply is the reason for high prices.

Solution? Upzone the whole city for massive potential population and housing unit increases. Sadly, if your objective is more affordable housing, there is little evidence that this will help.

Come discuss the way forward for Vancouver with Professor Condon and GWAC. 

If you’d like to get involved with GWAC or join the Board of Directors, please contact us for more info at: info@gwac.ca

Petition: Marpole deserves the promised 10-acre waterfront park (sign by Sunday, April 30). Ten years after the Marpole Community Plan, no park. Full details here.

Above: An artist’s concept of the promised park. In the Marpole Community Plan (2014) the City of Vancouver pledged to, within ten years, “Create a waterfront park of approximately 10 acres at the foot of Cambie Street.”

A petition on Change.org seeking signatures to tell the City of Vancouver that it needs to deliver on a promise for a 10-acre waterfront park. Here first is the petition text, followed by a letter to officials, and complete information pack on the topic.

Please click the link to sign: https://www.change.org/p/marpole-waterfront-park

PETITION

Marpole deserves the promised 10-acre waterfront park

The 2014 Marpole Community Plan outlined the plan for a new 10-acre waterfront park along the Fraser River waterfront.

But the identified location near Cambie Street is becoming another TransLink bus parking lot.

Marpole is park deficient and desperately needs more green and recreational space for our growing community.

Our neighbourhood is expected to absorb tens of thousands of new residents, but where are the additional recreational amenities and park space for those new and our existing residents?

Marpolians NEED our promised 10-acre waterfront park.

Please sign this petition to advocate for the 10-acre waterfront park, and to request the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Park Board to actively commit to finding and developing the 10-acre waterfront park in Marpole. 

Please reply and sign petition by April 30.  Petition will then be forwarded to the Development Permit Board on May 1 in time for their 3pm meeting.  This matter can also be spoken to directly to the Permit Board in person, by telephone or over Zoom.

Please click the link to sign: https://www.change.org/p/marpole-waterfront-park

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For documents and information about the Development Permit Board meeting on Monday, May 1, 2023, please visit the “Meetings” tab at this link: https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/development-permit-board.aspx

The page also provides information about how to view and speak to the meeting online, speak by phone, or write to the Development Permit Board.

For a description of the DPB by CityHallWatch, please visit: https://cityhallwatch.wordpress.com/city-hall/development-permit-board-dpb/

To see what comments the public submitted during the Shape Your City consultation phase, click here – https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/mtc-syc-comments-appendix-h.pdf

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Letter from community advocates to Translink

April 27, 2023 

Kevin Quinn, Chief Executive Officer, Translink

Lorraine Cunningham, board of directors chair, Translink

Re: Marpole Transit Centre development application (DP-2022-00957)

Translink has proposed to create a new bus parking depot, called the Marpole Transit Centre, on its 20.4 acre land at the Fraser River, between the foot of Cambie Steet and Laurel Street in Marpole. (https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/8902-9001-heather-st-and-502-w-kent-ave-s )  On Monday, May 1, Vancouver city hall’s Development Permit Board will meet at 3 p.m. to decide on its approval.   

Housing Min. Kahlon rushed and got Bill 26 passed April 26. What’s next? Kits Coalition still seeks contributions, explores legal options.

In the early afternoon on April 26, we published, “Kits Coalition requests contributions to mount a legal challenge to Province’s threat to municipal powers. Estimate $50K needed. Minutes count. All communities in British Columbia affected.” It turns out that this went straight to Committee for detailed that day at about 5 p.m., where each section of Bill 26 was debated. May crucial problems with the bill were raised, but glossed over by the proponent, Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon. By around 7 p.m. the Committee reported back to the Legislative Assembly that the Bill was “complete without amendment.” Within seconds Kahlon announced the Third Reading, and with a vote along party lines, the Bill (Bill 26 – 2023, Municipalities and Validating (No. 5) Amendment Act, 2023) passed. The final stage, Royal Assent is expected anytime from now to May 11. But even after that, this story far from being over.

As stated in our previous post, this issue has gone way beyond one housing project application the Kitsilano Coalition was focusing on at Arbutus Ave between 7th and 8th Avenues in Vancouver. It goes right to the core of the role of provincial government, municipal governments, independence of our judiciary, and the voices of citizens.

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Here is a statement from the Kitsilano Coalition on April 27, the day after Bill 26 passed:

“We were disappointed by the outcome of the debate and vote at the legislature regarding Bill 26 on April 26th. Michael Lee, Elenore Sturko and Mike De Jong all raised valid, on point arguments, that were not addressed by Housing Minister Kahlon.

Specifically regarding the services and transparency in this building approval process, as well as the concerns that this bill removes citizens rights to be heard and use the courts to hold government accountable.

They warned the government that this legislation is very prone to a constitutional challenge.

With an NDP majority, it was expected this bill would proceed, in spite of these significant flaws.

At this time, Kitsilano Coalition is having discussions with the existing and extended legal teams, to determine the most effective next course of action.

These efforts require immediate and ongoing funding to define and implement a legal strategy. The requests and fundraising target made by Kitsilano Coalition is now needed more urgently, as costs are being incurred and will continue to accumulate. We ask and thank you for your financial support. Please sign up at KitsCo site (https://www.kitsilanocoalition.org/) for updates, which will come by mail if you are on the list.

Please also contribute at this link.”

https://www.kitsilanocoalition.org/contribute

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This is an urgent issue of critical importance to all communities in British Columbia. For background, see our previous post on the topic here: In response to City of Vancouver request, B.C. provincial government introduces bill intended to override a community group’s Supreme Court legal challenge to Arbutus tower project (19-April-2023)

Kits Coalition requests contributions to mount a legal challenge to Province’s threat to municipal powers. Estimate $50K needed. Minutes count. All communities in British Columbia affected.

British Columbia Legislature

Straight to the punchline. Kitsilano Coalition is seeking contributions to support a critical legal case that could affect every community in British Columbia. Whether they can go ahead will depend on whether they can raise enough funds. Minutes count, literally. Details are below. To contribute securely, please access this link: https://www.kitsilanocoalition.org/contribute

It is rare for CityHallWatch to make an appeal like this.

But this is an urgent issue of critical importance to all communities in British Columbia. For background, see our previous post on the topic here: In response to City of Vancouver request, B.C. provincial government introduces bill intended to override a community group’s Supreme Court legal challenge to Arbutus tower project (19-April-2023) and more, further below.

The Province government under Premier David Eby and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon is moving VERY quickly on this. It went from a vaguely worded media release about “Legislative action will streamline housing approvals in Vancouver” on April 18 and the First Reading of Bill 26 on the same day, to Second Reading (yesterday) on April 25 (see Legislature video, aft session, interventions starting about 7:20), and a committee meeting likely today (April 26). The Third Reading, and Royal Assent are imminent, in hours or days. Eby and Kahlon are racing to get this through. To be most effective, a legal challenge needs to be mounted as quickly as possible. (See general info on how bills are passed in B.C.).

Here’s what the Kitsilano Coalition said about all of this: Most significantly, the steps taken by the municipal and provincial governments through this legislation should be of great concern to all citizens across the province. This legislation undermines citizens’ rights to be heard by government, compromises the integrity and obligation of government to provide transparency, and limits access to the court when governments act unlawfully.

This issue has gone way beyond one housing project application the Kitsilano Coalition was focusing on at Arbutus Ave between 7th and 8th Ave. in Vancouver. It goes right to the core of the role of provincial government, municipal governments, independence of our judiciary, and the voices of citizens.

CityHallWatch has been observing civic affairs for nearly 15 years and witnessed a steady erosion of respect for community voices and neighbourhoods, and municipalities. Just two recent examples are, based on murky origins in Vancouver, municipal election cycles in all of British Columbia went from three years to four in 2018, which reduces voter potential to influence how our towns and cities are run in this province. Just a year ago, the Province changed legislation making public hearings optional for most municipalities in many cases, reducing the chance for the public to comment directly to their elected officials on rezoning applications (example from Delta here).

This current action by the provincial government under David Eby with housing minster Ravi Khalon is unprecedented. The only chance to challenge this and allow the opportunity for more respectful and transparent public debate is now, and it’s in the hands of Kitsilano Coalition. But they need to have adequate funds to launch an appeal quickly.

Please consider making a contribution immediately. Their target is $50,000.

For more background please see below.

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KITSILANO COALITION

Release: Unprecedented legislation to circumvent lawsuit: https://www.kitsilanocoalition.org/blog/unprecedented-bc-legislation

Response from Kitsilano Coalition to the BC Government’s Unprecedented Legislation to Circumvent Lawsuit Against 7th/8th and Arbutus Supportive Housing

Feint by Numbers: 220,350 and Counting (CC#110: What a Homes for Whom refresher tells us) by Brian Palmquist

(City Conversation #110 was first published 23-Apr-2023)
(For a list of City Conversations by Brian Palmquist on CityHallWatch, please visit this page.)

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Excerpt from my Homes for Whom (HfW) database

It’s been a while since I looked at my HfW database. On this rainy day I decided to refresh and update…harder than it sounds. But I was inspired by a well known national journalist telling me this afternoon what an accomplished population statistics academic told them earlier today about some information they were seeking: “Brian is the person to ask!”

After visiting 450+ Shape Your City web page and updating at least once a week, including this afternoon, I have the summary above—a total of 220,350 proposed new homes in the city of Vancouver to the year 2050. For “fun,” I’ve included the projected school age student impact of each of these numbers[1] (kindergarten, primary and secondary). So we have:

• 66,488 homes are in play in 419 distinct spot rezoning projects either approved or in the “pipeline” to be approved—applications made, Shape Your City[2] web pages mounted, dates for online commentary established, etc. A spot rezoning is where the existing zoning says one thing, but an applicant comes to city hall, saying “How about this instead?” If the spot rezoning is successful, the applicant pays city hall a negotiated Community Amenity Contribution (CAC), in the millions for larger projects, which City Hall can spend however it wishes. Those spot rezonings—just the ones in play as of today— will give us 7,919 additional school students.

In response to City of Vancouver request, B.C. provincial government introduces bill intended to override a community group’s Supreme Court legal challenge to Arbutus tower project

Above: Rendering of street view of the massing of the proposed tower at Arbutus and 7th/8th Avenue.

After 10 a.m. on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, the airwaves started buzzing with a story about the Province of British Columbia overriding a lawsuit concerning a City Council decision on a controversial supportive housing tower proposed at Arbutus and 7th/8th Avenue in Vancouver. That has been followed by a flurry of media coverage and interviews.

This relates to a proposed 129-unit social housing tower approved in a July 2022 Vancouver City Council (8-3 vote) to rezone a city property in Kitsilano to build a 13-storey social housing tower. Four months later, the Kitsilano Coalition launched a judicial review of council’s decision, targeting the public hearing process, restrictions on questions during the hearing, and concerns that the city did not release enough information regarding the project. Their website (https://www.kitsilanocoalition.org/) emphasizes that the proposed “low-barrier congregate housing model is a failure,” “there has been no meaningful consultation,” and “this specific rezoning is purely political.”

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon reportedly said this is the first time the B.C. government has ever used legislative powers to push through a housing development on land not owned by the province.

In addressing this case, neither Premier David Eby nor Kahlon has really addressed the concerns of the community about the project. From the neighbourhood perspective, it would be nice to see some sincere communication going on, rather than reverting to impatience and the use of legislative force. What are the implications for the future?

Wouldn’t it be refreshing to see the Premier (in his own riding) and Housing Minister actually meet with leaders of the concerned neighbourhood, discuss their concerns openly, and de-escalate?

Below are some resources, background information, and media links.

The original source that set off this situation was this April 18 news release on the government website, which was actually quite sparse on details.

News release: “Legislative action will streamline housing approvals in Vancouver” (link – https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023HOUS0034-000551)

It stated that “…the Province is introducing legislative amendments through the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act.”

There was not the slightest detail, reference information, or links about (1) the date or schedule when this will happen, (2) what stage this process was at and the process/steps going forward, (3) the exact text of the amendment, or (4) mention of the fact that the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act relates to all other municipalities in B.C. except Vancouver, so how this announcement actually related to the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Charter that governs it.

The release also states that “The Province is making the changes to the act as a direct response to a request from the City of Vancouver for legislative intervention to allow the Arbutus Project to move forward as soon as possible.”

KPRA vs. CoV: BC Supreme Court started April 18 on judicial review of City of Vancouver ‘services agreement’ decision on Sen̓áḵw project (straddling Burrard Bridge). It could have major ramifications.

Above: Artist’s impression of a portion of the 11-tower Sen̓áḵw project at the base of the Burrard Bridge. Credit: Sen̓áḵw website.

(Update 19-Apr-2023 5 pm. New media coverage added to list.) The hearing of the Kits Point Residents Association (KPRA) legal petition seeking a judicial review of the Senakw Services Agreement with the City of Vancouver started on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 10 a.m., at the Vancouver Supreme Court, Robson Court, 800 Smithe Street, Vancouver, BC. The case is being heard by Madam Justice Carla Forth.

Court Room 55. Fifth floor, west side of building.

It was scheduled for three days but now four days, potentially, to Friday, April 21. The courtroom is open to observers from the public.

DAY 1 (Tues 18-Apr): The KPRA lawyer made opening remarks and then led the Judge through the evidence. The argument started on the standard of review and the question of whether the approval of the services agreement and the subsequent meeting could lawfully be made in camera (in secret).

DAY 2 (Wed 19-Apr): KPRA argument continues in the morning, followed City of Vancouver, then the First Nation.

KPRA says that the issues of transparency and accountability in our civic government are central to their action.

The petition against the City of Vancouver is in relation to the City’s “Services Agreement” with the Squamish Nation. This case could have substantial ramifications. The 250-page, 120-year agreement, eventually released publicly on July 29, 2022, stipulates how Senakw will connect to the City of Vancouver infrastructure (water and storm sewers, sidewalks, roads, bike lanes and public transit), and who pays for what. The deal was negotiated out of the public view, and both parties collaborated to prevent the details from being made public. Westbank, the silent partner in the project, started work in the summer of 2022 on the first of four anticipated phases of the project.

Details are available on the KPRA website. On March 16, 2023, KPRA filed an Amended Petition in its application for judicial review of the COV decision to approve the Senakw Services Agreement. The amendments respond to new information obtained from COV staff reports that were presented to City Council and disclosed in connection with the legal action.

This project involves a major development on a 11.7-acre section of land at the south end of the Burrard Bridge, set to create about 6,000 units in 11 towers up to 56 storeys in height.

Orders sought by the Amended Petition are as follows: