Our City- Diverse, Informed, Together
Public Hearing – December 14th, 2023 - 1:00pm As this is the last public hearing of the year, Hannah and I had assumed its agenda would be a relatively quiet one. Certainly the first item, an application under the Secured Rental Policy for a five-floor building across from the oldest remaining BC Housing site in... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – November 14th, 2023 – 6:00pm In a week where city council will explore whether to create more homes near parks, under-capacity schools, city-owned lands, and even in Shaughnessy, the biggest news came from Victoria. By now, most British Columbians probably know about the new provincial legislation to allow buildings of up to... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – September, 28th, 2023 – 1:00pm After recently spending eight hours listening to people debate the merits of letting homeowners transform their dwellings into multiplexes, it’s no wonder city council scheduled a lighter agenda this week. At least that’s my guess, as Hannah thinks it might be related to the Director of Planning’s... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – July 13th, 2023 As this is the last public hearing until city council returns from their summer break in September, some may have hoped its agenda would consist of some minor items. Well, Hannah and I have bad news, as like the Duplex amendments in 2018, or last year’s Broadway Plan, there’s... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – June 29th, 2023When Hannah and I discuss our expectations for these public hearings, we consider public feedback, our experiences at the open houses, and previous reactions to nearby applications. The problem is some of these neighbourhoods haven’t seen any development for decades, in-person events are just restarting, and correspondence for Thursday meetings... Continue Reading →
Public Hearings – January 17th, 2023 & January 19th, 2023 After the dysfunction demonstrated at public hearings over the last four years, this week should come off as a nice palette cleanser. In fact it’s why Hannah and I felt comfortable combining Tuesday and Thursday night’s meetings into one summary, as it’s hard to imagine... Continue Reading →
601 Beach Crescent (DP-2021-00162)To say following this mix of 303 strata, and 152 non-market homes has been a torturous process would be an understatement. The hurricane of anger Hannah and I witnessed at its open house pales when compared to the tediousness of the three Urban Design Panel reviews it’s been subjected to, and I... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – July 12th, 2022Update: July 14th, 2022 - Thanks to the reporting of Denise Ryan, we have learned the reason why Item#2 was justifiably removed from this agenda, and you can read about this building's complicated past here.As city council scrambles to find dates to hear the remaining public speakers on several controversial... Continue Reading →
1210 Seymour St (DP-2022-00227)To say I was shocked to learn this non-market housing co-op has been in the works since city council created the Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency eight years ago would be an understatement. Hannah suggested my actual reaction might be too colourful for print, yet she wasn’t thrilled to find out the Planning... Continue Reading →
Public Hearing – July 7th, 2022It’s not as bad as flushing a toilet on a live stream, however our city council must be embarrassed by how Tuesday’s meeting ended. Too many ignored the mayor’s warnings to stay at their computers, with their webcams on to maintain quorum, bringing the night to an immediate end before... Continue Reading →
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