Deliberations over the controversial Broadway Plan in Vancouver will continue on Thursday.
It comes after Vancouver city council delayed discussions on Wednesday, with more than 100 speakers set to weigh in on the development plan.
Many who were able to voice their thoughts on Wednesday shared their concerns about building heights, tenant protections, and quality of life for those in the new buildings with smaller unit sizes.
“I am, personally, one of the people who is going to be evicted. The redevelopment for my property just passed, and so my fate is to be one of those who is going to lose their home,” one speaker told council.
“I have lived in my apartment for over 20 years. I [will be] forced to move from a livable, one-bedroom apartment with the prospect of a one-bedroom that is going to be 438 square feet in the new building,” she continued.
A staff report given to councillors earlier in the week revealed that 139 development projects are already in progress.
The Broadway Plan, adopted by the city in June 2022, has a goal of building more rental towers along the Broadway Subway line. This week’s review recommends a number of policy amendments and changes that could lead to further densification.
These include removing limits on the number of high rises allowed on a block in some areas and increasing the height restrictions of those buildings. Some of the amendments are being recommended so that land use policies are aligned with the provincial government’s Transit Oriented Areas (TOA) legislative requirements.
Another speaker on Wednesday shared that she has been homeless twice, calling it “unbearable.”
“Some of us are very ill. Personally, I am disabled. You are replacing affordable housing with small to tiny boxes of unaffordable housing for the rich,” she said. “This makes no sense, none at all, except lining property owners and developers pockets at the expense of low-income renters.”
The review comes on the heels of an open letter to council by more than 20 urban planners and architects, urging council to pause the project.
The signatories said that while the plan was supposed to ensure a “measure buildout,” so far, “we are seeing a frenzy of profit speculation, land banking, flipping and land inflation into the heart of vulnerable established, mixed-use neighbourhoods.”
The letter states that by the city’s estimates, the plan will “demolish thousands of existing, affordable homes, resulting in forced resettlement to thousands of people in pursuit of what may be little if any net increase in affordable housing.”
Another speaker on Wednesday shared their dismay at the possible windfall for developers in the plan.
“In Vancouver, land is often worth 10 times more than the building on it. The city’s focus on luxury towers has produced a tsunami of unearned income for land speculators while failing to deliver affordability for renters or owners,” he explained.
Vanocuver city council will reconvene around 6 p.m. Thursday.
With files from Raynaldo Suarez and Srushti Gangdev.