Vancouver city councillors are poised to approve changes to the city’s protected “view cones,” which have historically been used to preserve the city’s vistas, to favour housing density amid a housing crisis.
A 105-page report will go to council on July 10 and is expected to pass — in October, council’s ABC majority called for staff to review Vancouver’s traditionally protected views, which prevent development from restricting views such as the North Shore mountains along certain corridors.
“This is really about balancing the need to protect and enhance the beautiful views and vistas in Vancouver and this policy will do that, but it’s also about unlocking housing on key sites, particularly on the Broadway corridor,” said Coun. Peter Meiszner, who was behind last year’s motion.
The issue pits one of Vancouver’s greatest public amenities — its physical beauty and connection to nature — against a desperate need for housing in a city where it’s unaffordable and insufficient.
An international housing report from June deemed housing in the city “impossibly unaffordable.” Vancouver housing was less affordable than all 94 cities across eight countries to which it was compared, except Hong Kong and Sydney. Land costs were a main reason given in the report.
Enacted in 1989, the City of Vancouver View Protection Guidelines now preserve 38 public views by limiting the location and design of new buildings. As the city modernized, some argue the guidelines have resulted in developments that are reduced in height or size.
However, the idea to remove, limit or completely change the ways Vancouverites can see the North Shore mountains, the downtown skyline and Burrard Inlet is abhorrent to many.
“At the end of the day people have said to us that these views are important to us because they are priceless,” said Melody Ma, who is behind a campaign called Save Our Skyline YVR, which seeks to preserve view cones.
City staff recommend removing 14 view points, which are either outdated or have limited value, and amending another 11, while the rest would remain unchanged.
Idyllic views from Vancouver are set to change. City staff have come up with a plan to amend and even remove some of the so-called view corridors that were put in place more than 30 years ago. As CBC’s Chad Pawson reports, it stems from city council’s desire to spur more housing development.
For example, a view with Vancouver’s city landscape in the foreground and the North Shore mountains in the background from Olympic Village would be split in two and narrowed to allow development in between and higher up into the view.
A view of the North Shore mountains from the Cambie Street Bridge, which is obscured by apartments and the top of B.C. Place, would be removed completely.
Another example is removing protections from the bottom of a view of Vancouver and the North Shore seen from Queen Elizabeth Park, which currently features trees and city buildings.
Josh White, the City of Vancouver’s general manager, said the recommendations seek to continue to protect views but also introduce changes to their boundaries that could “enable significant development opportunities.”
For example, he said removing the bottom view from Queen Elizabeth Park could free up up to 100 million square feet of development space for future housing over the next 20 to 30 years along the Broadway corridor.
“It could enable thousands and thousands of homes, but also not compromise the public views that matter to Vancouverites,” he said.
Public opinion?
Ma said the report was produced without enough consultation and pointed to a similar review from 2010 that did include residents and resulted in added protections.
“When there is citizen involvement in this public view process and there is a public, comprehensive review such as the one that was conducted in 2010, the citizens of Vancouver treasure their views and we should keep it that way,” she said.
Ma is asking residents to show up for the July 10 meeting and register to speak out against the recommendations.