CITY OF VANCOUVER

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON
TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC

FEBRUARY 22, 2000

A Regular Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Tuesday, February 22, 2000, at 12:40 p.m., in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall, following the Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic meeting, to consider the recommendations of the Committee.

PRESENT:	Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Fred Bass Councillor Jennifer Clarke Councillor Lynne Kennedy Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor Tim Louis Councillor Sandy McCormick Councillor Gordon Price Councillor George Puil Councillor Sam Sullivan
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE:	Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE:	Lori Isfeld, Meeting Coordinator

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,
SECONDED by Cllr. Daniel Lee,

THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor Owen in the chair.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Report of Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic
February 22, 2000

Council considered the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in the following clauses of the attached report:

Cl.1: Trans Canada Trail - Portside Bikeway/Greenway
Cl 2: Amendments to the Parking By-law for Hotels
Cl 3: Seaside Bike Route along West 1st Avenue
Cl 4: Civic Elections

MOVED by Cllr. Daniel Lee,

THAT the recommendations of the Committee, as contained in Clauses 1-3 of this report, be approved.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,

THAT the recommendation of the Committee, as contained in Clause 4 of this report, be approved.

- CARRIED

(Councillor McCormick opposed)

RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Daniel Lee,

THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ADOPT REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee,
SECONDED by Cllr. Bass,

THAT the report of the Committee of the Whole be adopted.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The Council adjourned at 12:45 p.m.

- - - - -

REPORT TO COUNCIL

STANDING COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
ON TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC

FEBRUARY 22, 2000

A Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee of Council on Transportation and Traffic was held on Tuesday, February 22, 2000 at 9:30 a.m. in Committee Room No. 1, Third Floor, City Hall.

PRESENT:	Councillor Jennifer Clarke, Chair Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Fred Bass Councillor Lynne Kennedy Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor Tim Louis Councillor Sandy McCormick Councillor Gordon Price Councillor George Puil Councillor Sam Sullivan
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE:	Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE:	Lori Isfeld, Meeting Coordinator

ADOPTION OF MINUTES

The Minutes of the Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic meeting of February 1, 2000, were adopted.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Trans Canada Trail - Portside Bikeway/Greenway File: 5553

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated February 8, 2000, in which the General Manager of Engineering Services sought approval and funding for the easterly extension of the Portside Bikeway and the completion of the final portion of the Trans Canada Trail connecting to Burnaby.

Clause No. 1 (cont’d)

Carli Williams, Neighbourhood Transportation, with the aid of display boards, provided an overview of the Administrative Report and its recommendations. Ms. Williams, with Ian Adam, Assistant City Engineer, Transportation, Jim Hall, Neighbourhood Transportation Engineer, and Peter Bremner, Greenways and Local Improvements Engineer, responded to questions regarding the infrastructure and funding proposed for the Trans Canada Trail.

Leon Lebrun, Trails BC, spoke in support of the proposal, and commended the City for accommodating the trail. Mr. Lebrun also pointed out the benefits of having more waterfront access in the area and the potential for local industries to work in harmony with adjacent neighbourhoods.

Jonathan Lazar, Property Manager, 348000 BC Ltd., and Alex Stroshin, Bridgeway Equities, (brief filed), local business operators, raised the following concerns with portions of the proposed extension adjacent to Bridgeway.

… for safety reasons the trail should be kept off the road, and narrowed where necessary to maintain a 14 metre roadway;
… use of CP Rail property should be re-examined in order to keep the trail off the road;
… narrowing the trail or shifting it closer to the treed area should be explored rather than narrowing the road;
… parking should be located on the south side of Bridgeway, to allow motorists safer access to businesses;
… narrowing the road would make truck access to this important industrial area even more difficult.

In response to questions from Council, Mr. Adam advised issues raised by Messrs. Lazar and Stroshin could be partially addressed by narrowing the roadway to the standard 12 metre industrial road width.

Clause No. 1 (cont’d)

The following motion by Cllr. Puil was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

A. THAT the eastern portion of the Trans Canada Trail, and an extension of the Portside Bikeway/Greenway, be constructed as detailed in the Administrative Report dated February 8, 2000, with the provision that the City’s standard industrial road width of 12 metres be maintained whenever possible, with funding of $225,000 provided from Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated Account No. 30000130 - Bicycle Network, in advance of approval of the 2000 Streets Capital Budget and $225,000 from Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated Account No. 30000134 - City Greenways.

B. THAT, commencing in 2001, the following budgets be increased, without offset, as listed:

$1,000 - Streets Operating Budget for Horticultural Maintenance
$4,000 -Streets Operating Budget for Path Maintenance
$2,000 - Street Cleaning Program - Leaf Removal
$1,000 - Traffic Operating Budget for Bike Routes

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

2. Amendments to the Parking By-law for Hotels File: 5651/113

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated February 7, 2000, in which the General Manager of Engineering Services, in consultation with the Director of Current Planning, the Director of City Plans, and the Director of Legal Services, brought forward proposals to amend the Parking By-law in regard to hotels.

Paul Pinsker, Parking and Development Engineer, with the aid of display boards, provided an overview of the Administrative Report and its recommendations, and with Pat Johnston, Planner, Zoning Policy responded to questions.

Clause No. 2 (cont’d)

The following motion by Mayor Owen was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

A. THAT the Parking By-law be amended for hotel use generally as contained in Appendix A of the Administrative Report dated February 7, 2000: to reduce the parking requirement in the Downtown District, Central Waterfront District, and all Historic Area Districts, to introduce city-wide passenger space requirements, and to reduce city-wide loading requirements;

FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary by-law.

B. THAT the Director of Current Planning be instructed to make application to amend CD-1 By-law No. 7679 for 201 Burrard Street to introduce a parking standard for hotel use generally as contained in Appendix B of the Administrative Report dated February 7, 2000, and that the application be referred to a Public Hearing;

FURTHER THAT the Director of Legal Services be instructed to prepare the necessary by-law.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

3. Seaside Bike Route along West 1st Avenue File: 5553

The Committee had before it an Administrative Report dated January 18, 2000, in which the General Manager of Engineering Services sought Council’s approval for changes along West 1st Avenue between Spyglass Place and Ontario Street to maintain and improve the existing Seaside Bicycle Route.

Doug Louie, Downtown Transportation Engineer, with the aid of display boards, provided an overview of the Administrative Report and its recommendations, and with Bruce Maitland, Manager of Real Estate Services, Dave Rudberg, General Manager of Engineering Services, and Doug Smith, Structures Engineer, responded to questions regarding future options for a route adjacent to the water.

Clause No. 3 (cont’d)

Marilyn Bell, Parkland is Sustainable and Supportable, urged Council to construct a temporary route as close to the False Creek shore as possible.

Discussion followed regarding a Council member’s query in reference to the use of Molson Indy Legacy funds towards the completion of the shoreline walkway.

The following motion by Cllr. Bass was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

THAT Council approve the proposed changes to the existing Seaside Bike Route along West 1st Avenue as outlined in the Administrative report dated January 18, 2000, and that an additional $16,000 be allocated to fund the changes from Streets Basic Unappropriated Capital Account 30000136, Pedestrian and Other Structures.

AND FURTHER THAT staff consider the use of Molson Indy Legacy funds to extend the bike route westward from Science World along the shoreline route as far as possible and do so with appropriate community consultation

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

4. Civic Elections File: 1101

The Committee had before it the following Motion referred from Vancouver City Council’s meeting on February 15, 2000 due to delegation requests:

MOVED by Cllr. Louis,

WHEREAS Mayor Philip Owen expressed concerns about low voter turnout in the 1999 civic election and recommended that Mayors of other major Canadian cities and municipalities join him in exploring a system of fines for voters who fail to cast a ballot in civic elections;

AND WHEREAS, the City of Vancouver did not conduct a comprehensive municipal enumeration of voters in 1999;

AND WHEREAS, in 1999 the numbers of eligible voters declined from those eligible in 1996;

Clause No. 4 (cont’d)

AND WHEREAS, this decline in the number of actual voters is a concern to all members of Council, School Board and Parks Board;

AND WHEREAS, the voters of Vancouver have twice indicated a preference for implementing a not-at-large voting system;

AND WHEREAS, the City of Vancouver has the power to implement changes to the current at-large system of voting;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

1. Council instruct the City’s Chief Elections Officer to conduct a full and comprehensive voter enumeration prior to the 2002 Municipal Elections, and;

2. Council appoint a Commissioner who will establish a process whereby members of the public can make presentations on methods and ways of increasing voter turnout, and that the Commissioner then report to Council.

- withdrawn

Ulli Watkiss, City Clerk and Jan Gibson, Director of Meeting and Election Services responded to questions and provided background information on enumeration, voter’s list compilation, and voter turnout.

Nina Westaway and Colin Stark, a member of Canadians for Direct Democracy spoke in support of the motion, based on one or more of the following points:

… concern expressed regarding low voter turnout;
… enumeration should happen before an election because it helps publicize and encourages people to vote;
… there should be more referendum on important issues;
… consideration should be given to a different system of enumeration.

At this point Councillor Louis withdrew his motion.

Discussion then ensued on the following motions by Councillor Bass, and at the request of the Committee members, a separate vote was taken.

Clause No. 4 (cont’d)

The following motion by Cllr. Bass was put and carried. The Committee, therefore,

RECOMMENDED

Council instruct staff to consult the Provincial Elections Officer to look at ways of improving enumeration so as to obtain comprehensive voter enumeration prior to the 2002 Municipal Elections.

- CARRIED

(Councillor McCormick opposed)

The following motion by Cllr. Bass was put and lost.

Council ask staff to bring forward recommendations on a process whereby members of the public can make presentations on methods and ways of increasing voter turnout, and that the staff then report to Council.

- LOST

(Councillors Clarke, Kennedy, Daniel Lee, Don Lee,
McCormick, Price, Puil, Sullivan, and the Mayor opposed)

The Committee adjourned at 12:40 p.m.

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