Two days after his 2008 swearing-in, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson was making the rounds of the city, thanking those who had helped his Vision Vancouver party defeat the Non-Partisan Association (NPA).
At a Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver meeting, he acknowledged the grassroots backlash against the NPA’s EcoDensity, the development strategy with a green spin that was conceived and trademarked by mayor Sam Sullivan in 2006.
“We have a great opportunity now with a big shift in the political winds to do things differently at city hall. We want them to come bottom-up; we want the grassroots to have a serious voice at city hall. … We want city hall opened up. ... And it’s more than just us being out in the community; it’s about the community being in city hall.”
Fast-forward six years and a growing number of citizens say they’re being shut out of city hall and the decision-making process.
Vision, seeking what would be a mandate until 2018 under the new four-year municipal government term, claims it’s doing its job to develop the economy and satisfy demand for market housing in a desirable city. Opponents on the left and right have accused it of kowtowing to politically connected developers whose projects could increase population and living costs in their neighbourhoods.
The city’s most controversial development decisions during Vision’s current term in office include:
May 17, 2011:
Granville at 70th
Westbank’s 19- and 14-storey towers at the former Safeway parking lot at 8495 Granville (now called 1549 West 70th) will be the tallest towers in western Marpole. The rezoning prompted residents to organize against further densification in an area known for three-storey walkup apartments and single-family housing.
July 29, 2011: Shannon
Wall Centre Kerrisdale
Wall Financial’s proposal to densify the 10-acre former Rogers and Taylor estate at 57th and Granville could house 1,300 people. The first phase, a trio of buildings from three to seven storeys and the restored heritage-listed mansion, sparked the formation of the Shannon Mews Neighbours Association. It was the hottest item on the agenda before city council’s 2011 summer recess, decided with a 2 a.m. vote carried by the Vision majority.
April 17, 2012:
The Independent
A six-day public hearing that straddled three months led to the April 17, 2012, rezoning at 285 East 10th Avenue. Rize Alliance’s 19-storey Kingsway and Broadway tower will be the tallest in Mount Pleasant. The opposing Residents Association Mount Pleasant expanded its battles against density with a March 2014 BC Supreme Court petition challenging city hall’s closed-door amendment of view cones, which will enable taller, mountain-blocking towers near the Burrard Bridge and east False Creek.
July 23, 2013:
New Jubilee House
The Community Association of New Yaletown wasn’t opposed to innovative financing for social housing downtown, just to the way a deal was cut. It petitioned BC Supreme Court almost a year after city council’s July 23, 2013, rezoning of 508 Helmcken for Brenhill Developments’ 36-storey tower. City council agreed to swap the property beside Emery Barnes Park for 1099 Richards, site of the 14-storey New Jubilee House. Brenhill is to pay $24 million of the $30.6 million project. The residents charge the deal was made in secret and public land was effectively sold without public tender to enable a tower that is taller and denser than area regulations allow. A verdict from the four-day August court hearing is forthcoming.
October 24, 2013:
Vancouver House
It’s called Vancouver House and the twisting design by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels will be like nothing else in the city. Westbank’s 52-storey pièce de résistance is to be the centrepiece of a series of buildings in and around the Granville Bridge’s northern on- and off-ramps. Units are being marketed in the U.S. and China for up to $2 million. CityHallWatch noted that 84% of the land assembled for the project at 1412-1480 Howe, 1410-1429 Granville and 710 Pacific was city-owned, and the city claims it garnered $32.4 million from the sale of those properties.
March 14, 2014:
Oakridge Centre
A heated four-day public hearing resulted in city hall rezoning Oakridge Centre for owner Ivanhoé Cambridge and developer Westbank to build 14 buildings up to 45 storeys on a 28.3-acre site for 6,000 people – the biggest rezoning since Vision came to power, despite opponents who said it would hasten densification of the Cambie corridor and become the western equivalent of Burnaby’s Metrotown when it’s finished.
