The following letter went to Vancouver City Council. Note that the meeting reconvenes on 28-Jan-2020.
January 20, 2020
City of Vancouver Council
Dear Mayor Kennedy Stewart and Councillors,
RE: Items 4 & 5. CD-1 Rezoning: 3600 & 3680 East Hastings Street Public Hearing Jan 21,2020
https://council.vancouver.ca/20200121/phea20200121ag.htm
The Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods (CVN) opposes these rezoning applications for the following reasons:
• these types of rezoning projects render moot the effectiveness of the years-down-the-road mirage of a City-wide Plan
• these would be blockbusters setting a precedent for additional large buildings in the middle of a C-2C zoned area.
• the building height is overbearing to the houses next to it; 48.8 (160.2 ft.) tall, 14 storeys
• the MIRHP Program is giving a bonus to the developer of 10 additional storeys for providing ±20 units of ‘Median Income’ rental. And the taxpayers get to supply the funds for the additional loads onto all neighbourhood amenities and infrastructure, with the added bonus of waiving CACs and DCLs.
• only 47 parking stalls for 94 units (3600) and 61 for 118 units (3680), in an area already overburdened with on-street parking problems
– area schools are already overcrowded; the community centre is too crowded with no space for small children; and with the waiver of CACs as a bonus to developer, no money to change this situation!
• there is nothing that staff can point to indicating general support for this in the ‘community plan’ as there was no household survey
• height is unprecedented in the surrounding Vancouver neighbourhood; Burnaby is irrelevant, as it is a different jurisdictional authority.
Density and affordable housing are good. These buildings, on these sites, are not. The Coalition recommends that these applications be rejected.
Sincerely,
Larry Benge, Dorothy Barkeley
Co-Chairs
