Weekly Roundup: Vancouver Views | Capital Budget | Vision Vancouver Nominations

VANCOUVER VIEWS |

Later today at City Hall there will be a discussion and vote on “Vancouver Views,” a policy that would see increased heights Downtown, especially in the West End.

The Vancouver Views policy has attracted quite a bit of controversy. The policy will mean serious changes to the urban environment downtown, and some have begun directly criticizing planning staff and making accusations of misleading the public with their reports. They argue that not only have the public not had enough consultation or time to absorb what the changes will mean, but also that Council could not have had enough time to “do their homework” around the policy.

The Vancouver Views policy is only one part of a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy surrounding planning within the city. This past month has seen several attempts at blanket rezonings of areas dominated by renters. There has been a serious community based, grassroots resistance to wide-sweeping changes that would increase opportunities for real-estate developers. Community organizations argue that the social effects of these policies require more discussion and consideration. Council passed an emergency motion to hold off public consultations on a similar policy, the Historical Area Height Review, last week. Dozens of speakers had signed up to speak not only against the policy but also against City Council itself.

CAPITAL BUDGET |

Also at Council will be the discussion and vote on its capital budget. The capital budget includes the construction of infrastructure, City-owned building renovations and public works projects. The staff administrative report is 117 pages, and includes everything from summaries of revenue from Developmental Cost Levies to the wide variety of proposed projects for 2011.

In spite of the huge support shown throughout the city for affordable housing, the city plans to spend only $22 million of the $337 million budget on new land, construction and renovations for affordable housing. This is not enough. Instead, the report shows a continuance of Vision’s pro-police policies. On top of an unnecessary increase in the police budget of $5.7 million approved in last month’s operating budget, the Vancouver Police Department will receive an additional $11 million to relocate to a new central station. A significant amount is also being spent on Vision’s “Greenest City” initiative. Particular spending for greener public works is difficult to decode; there are no cost comparisons provided but in general this will mean retrofitting existing city infrastructure to pass higher environmental standards. The city plans to spend another $16 million on information technology projects for city hall.

If City Council truly wants to act on the wishes of its citizens, more must be spent on ensuring all classes of people can afford to live in Vancouver. The police and upgrades to city hall should not be prioritized over housing affordability.

VISION NOMINATIONS |

Vision Vancouver has announced it will hold open nominations for all its elected positions, except the mayor. Members of council and the park and school boards will be up for grabs in the next few months.

Vision party members will decided whether or not Gregor Robertson stays as mayoral candidate in the 2011 election by referendum. The party is calling the vote a “leadership review.” Vision members will decide a question either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ with a simple majority deciding. NPA Councillor Suzanne Anton said of the review that, “they don’t want to talk about his flaws.” COPE Councillor Elen Woodsworth called Robertson the “trademark” of Vision Vancouver.

Gregor has repeatedly come under fire, especially recently, about his failings on his campaign promises, especially surrounding his promise to end homelessness by 2015.

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AFFORDABILITY |

Several BC cities have been ranked “severely unaffordable” in a recent world-wide affordability report. The list included Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford and Kelowna.Vancouver ranked 324 out of 325, making it the second most unaffordable city in the world next to Sydney (another “Olympic” town).

The effects of the affordability crisis are hitting working people hard. It has been reported that working-class residents across the Lower Mainland have been struggling to find housing, and that the working-poor are increasingly turning to shelters.

In response to criticism that their policies are exacerbating the housing crisis, the City of Vancouver and the Province have repeatedly boasted about their mythical fourteen sites. Now, in another questionable arrangement with real-estate developers, the City is planning to abandon the requirement of affordable housing on North False Creek in exchange for two properties in the Downtown Eastside. But Councilor Geoff Meggs told CBC on Monday that the City might build condos for young professionals on one of these DTES sites (58 West Hastings – site of the 2010 Olympic Tent Village). Meanwhile, North False Creek would have 4 new unaffordable condo towers as part of a new casino complex (more below).

As previously reported, a coalition (10SITES Coalition) has been formed of Downtown Eastside organizations and allies to pressure the City to buy at least 10 sites per year for 5 years in their neighbourhood. Since it is now out in the open that BC cities are “severely affordable” – not merely Vancouver – housing activism will have a reason to grow across the province, and the 10SITES Coalition may prove to be a model.

CASINO |

A new casino proposal passed the first stage of approval at Vancouver City Council last week. The proposed development would also include four associated condominium towers, bringing a small-scale Las Vegas to downtown Vancouver.

Council is giving lip-service to the arguments against the Casino, but has so far approved the project. Some critics are proposing the Vision-led council is simply playing politics and that the proposal will likely go ahead.

The casino will be another way for the City to gain revenue from working-class residents instead of taxing businesses. Vancouver’s business taxes are extremely low. A study done May of last year rated Vancouver’s taxes not only as the lowest in Canada, but the lowest in the world (study here). Resistance to business taxes has caused somewhat of a revenue crisis. The recently-passed 2011 budget increased taxes by two percent, with almost all of the increases placed on residents instead of businesses.

Casinos have an interesting history in Vancouver, and are often associated with crime, corruption and money laundering. It is also important to note that the Great Canadian Casino made a significant donation to Vision Vancouver’s 2008 election campaign.

A public hearing on the casino will be held at City Hall on Feb 17.

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NORTH EAST FALSE CREEK |

A new deal between the city and the Concord Pacific development corporation might further change the social geography of Vancouver. The deal would grant the City two properties along East Hastings that will supposedly be designated for desperately needed 100% social housing.

The first site is 117 West Hastings, next to Insite. After buying the property specifically for the purposes of speculation and horse-trading, Concord put a “community garden” on it to avoid paying property taxes.

The second site is the empty lot at 58 West Hastings, which hosted 2010’s Olympic Tent Village. Concord also bought this land for the purposes of speculation and horse-trading. They claimed to have had plans to put 160 condo units on the lot, but for over two years have also been working behind the scenes with the Portland Hotel Society to pull off this North False Creek swap.

In exchange for these two sites, the City will waive the 20% social housing requirement on 4 properties in North East False Creek, where Concord plans to build condominium towers.

The two sites on Hastings are estimated to be valued at $13M. It is not yet clear how much money the social housing exemption on North False Creek is worth to Concord Pacific, although it is likely greater than the value of the two sites.

If the sites are transferred to the City, it would mean no social housing in the North-East False Creek neighbourhood of Yaletown, continuing the trend of “self-segregation” by the moneyed classes. The NPA are complaining, saying that social housing should be spread around the city, which is ironic given that NPA-linked architect Michael Geller proposed eliminating social housing from the Olympic Village, an action that sparked significant controversy. Vision-led city council cut the social housing at the Olympic Village last April by 50%.

DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE CONDOS |

Community resistance has been building against the City’s upcoming Downtown Eastside condo tower plan (“Height Review”), which proposes 7 new 15-storey condo towers for the Downtown Eastside. In response to the claim in a City staff report that there was little community opposition to the condo plan, a press conference was held yesterday, Jan 17 by a coalition of Downtown Eastside organizations opposed to the condo plan — including Chinese, Aboriginal, and low-income residents groups, as well as small businesses and artist collectives. Council is planning to vote on the condo plan this Thursday, and will no doubt hear from dozens if not hundreds of speakers.

The city has confirmed that public consultations will be held before any individual projects are accepted. However, as opposition to the gentrification plan seems to be falling on deaf ears, residents are worried that future consultations will have the same result.

NEW ART GALLERY |

The Vancouver Art Gallery is looking for a new home. The Art Gallery has been campaigning to move since last May. The current building was not designed to be an art gallery and, as a result, there are both spacial and environmental concerns.

Council is set to approve a proposal to hold onto the Gallery’s preferred new site, directly east of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The policy report also proposes a closer relationship between City staff and the Gallery.

The location is notable historically as being the site of riots and labour protests. While it is now a parking lot, and was also once a greyhound bus depot, it was in the past known as “Larwill Park” and acted as a place for meetings and demonstrations, serving a function similar to the current Robson Street public square.

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CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM |

Legislation that would make Vancouver municipal parties disclose their donors and would cap corporate donations and overall campaign spending, might be in jeopardy. While the legislation has the support of the municipalities themselves, including Vancouver, several BC Liberal candidates have said the legislation is no longer a priority.

Campaign finance reform is increasingly important in Vancouver, where wealth disparity is growing. And with real-estate developers, often anonymously, pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into civic campaigns to influence planning decisions, campaign finance reform cannot come too soon. The legislation was to be enacted before Vancouver’s upcoming November election. Are the Liberals stalling to help their wealthy associates?

HEIGHT |

A public forum will be held tonight at 6:30 at the Vancouver Public Library discussing the future of height in Vancouver. Details on a live stream of the forum will be available here. This forum is just a part of the community convergence that has occurred around this issue.

In an interview last week, City Director of Planning reiterated that the city planning department “believe[s] strongly in the value of engagement and consultation.”

The Mainlander recently reported on the negative impact the proposed height increases would have on the Downtown Eastside (DTES). This past Saturday, Jan 8, the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council (DNC) general membership voted overwhelmingly to oppose this DTES condo tower plan.

When there is a rezoning, the City negotiates with the developer to extract contributions that will “benefit” the community (e.g. parks, social housing units, jobs, etc); on Saturday the DNC also voted to oppose the current method whereby residents are shut out of these negotiations.

Council is set to vote on the proposal for 7 condo towers in the DTES at 2:30 on Jan 20 2011. The public is welcome to speak on the rezoning policy, which can be found here.