CITY OF VANCOUVER

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

JULY 21, SEPTEMBER 15, AND OCTOBER 5, 1999

A Special Meeting of the Council of the City of Vancouver was held on Wednesday, July 21, 1999, at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Third Floor, City Hall for the purpose of hearing delegations on Southeast False Creek Policy Statement: Towards a Sustainable Urban Neighbourhood and Major Park. Subsequently, the meeting reconvened at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 15, and Tuesday, October 5, 1999.

The Minutes represent a consolidated record of the proceedings over the three evenings for ease of reference.

July 21, 1999	September 15, 1999	October 5, 1999
Present: Mayor Philip OwenCouncillor Don Bellamy Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario Councillor Jennifer Clarke Councillor Don Lee Councillor Gordon Price Councillor Sam Sullivan Absent: Councillor Alan Herbert Councillor Lynne Kennedy (Sick Leave) Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor George Puil	Present: Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Don Bellamy Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario Councillor Jennifer Clarke Councillor Alan Herbert Councillor Lynne Kennedy Councillor Daniel Lee Councillor Don Lee Councillor Gordon Price Councillor George Puil Absent: Councillor Sam Sullivan (Civic Business)	Present: Mayor Philip Owen Councillor Don Bellamy *Councillor Nancy A. Chiavario

Councillor Jennifer Clarke
Councillor Alan Herbert

*Councillor Lynne Kennedy

Councillor Don Lee
Councillor Gordon Price
Councillor Sam Sullivan

Absent:
Councillor Daniel Lee (Sick
Leave)
Councillor George Puil (Civic
Business)

* Denotes absence during part of the meeting.

CLERKS TO THE
COUNCIL: Lori Isfeld; Gail Johnson; Tarja Tuominen

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Don Lee
SECONDED by Cllr. Herbert

THAT this Council resolve itself into Committee of the Whole, Mayor Owen in the Chair, to hear speakers on the Policy Report on Southeast False Creek Policy Statement: Towards a Sustainable Urban Neighbourhood and Major Park.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

1. Southeast False Creek Policy Statement:

Towards a Sustainable Urban Neighbourhood and Major Park

Council had before it a Policy Report dated June 29, 1999 which conveys the Southeast False Creek (SEFC) Policy Statement to Council for adoption, as completion of the policy development phase. This document will guide both the creation of the Official Development Plan (ODP) and the subsequent sub-area rezonings.

Larry Beasley provided a summary as outlined in the Policy Report. He explained the background leading to the decision to undertake this process, which for the past year and a half, involved staff from all departments working with an environmental consultant, advisory and interest groups, adjacent communities, and the City’s development consultant preparing the SEFC Policy Statement.

Ian Smith provided a more detailed explanation of the Policy Statement document which includes long-supported policies intended to create a complete, mixed use neighbourhood including a range of housing to support a diverse social mix, a full range of amenities, public art, child care, parks, and opportunities for passive and active, indoor and outdoor recreation. Transportation is to favour pedestrians, bicycles and transit over the automobile. The Policy Statement also addresses environmental and social concerns that have not been included in past developments, and also includes a new section entitled “Stewardship” which recommends the establishment of a stewardship advisory group, comprised of community and interest group representatives and City staff.

Summary of Correspondence

The following correspondence was received by Council:

- 13 letters of support
- 6 letters in opposition
- 343 petition letters in opposition
- 1 proposal

Clause No. 1 continued

Speakers

The Mayor called for speakers and a total of 45 speakers addressed Council over the course of the three evenings.

The following speakers generally supported the Southeast False Creek Policy Statement and provided comments on various aspects of the Policy Statement, or offered suggestions to improve the proposed Policy:

… Henry Hawthorn, Vancouver City Planning Commission
… John Irwin, Southeast False Creek Working Group (brief filed)
… Leslie Stern, Women’s Housing Coalition
… Joe Winkler, property owner
… Linda Mix, Tenants’ Rights Coalition
… Sylvain Boulanger, Community Arts, Civic Arts Committee
… John Whistler, SPEC Society
… Ronald Bain, EcoDesign Resource Society
… Patrick Mooney, Director of Landscape Architecture, UBC
… Magnus Bein, Farm Folk/City Folk (brief filed)
… William Taylor, Southwest False Creek resident
… John Northey, Polygon Homes Ltd. (brief filed)
… Gavin Ross, Mt. Pleasant Community Centre Association
… Eva Riccius
… Anita Romaniuk
… Fred Mah, Friends of False Creek
… Peter Busby, Downtown Vancouver Association
… Mike Burton-Brown, False Creek Rowing Club
… Enzo Guerriero, Britannia School
… Vicky Gibson, Canadian Musicians Association for Cooperative Housing
… Jason Wilshire, Thunderbird Community Centre
… Edna Tepper
… Reena Lazar
… Larry Chu, Dragonboat Festival
… Magnus Bein
… Joe Thompson
… Ray Straatsma, Friends of False Creek
… Larry Wilson, Designers for Social Responsibility (brief filed)
… Guy Palmer (brief filed)
… Tana Worcester, Urban Youth Alliance
… Nicholas Heap

Clause No. 1 continued

… Don Alexander
… Mark Roseland
… Bob Laurie

The speakers’ points are summarized as follows:

… SEFC Policy Statement is a promising beginning for long term solutions to environmental needs i.e. sustainability, finding a new way to live, and reducing urban sprawl;
… support expressed regarding economic, social and environmental sustainability i.e. jobs on site, use of park space, natural waterfront, arts and culture to create a lively, sustainable community;
… City should be applauded for producing this unique document which effectively describes and deals with the complicated concept of “sustainability” i.e. most sustainability issues have been identified and covered in the report;
… this project should be a world class prototype for the city, region, and perhaps the rest of the world; for that to happen the vision should continue to be strengthened, not diminished;
… the real significance of the project is that it will become a model able to be replicated; Southeast False Creek development is being monitored by world groups because of its location, views and City infrastructure making this is a unique opportunity to record and share our efforts city and worldwide;
… Southeast False Creek Policy normalizes sustainability; sustainability will become a realistic practical choice for people;
… City Council and Parks Board should be thanked for their contributions of time and expertise in taking the first step towards sustainability;
… support expressed for the 26 acres of the 47 City-owned acres being set aside as park;
… strong support for Stewardship Advisory Group being formed from the beginning, to ensure the principles and targets contained in the policy document are implemented throughout the Official Development Policy and Rezoning process;
… support expressed for high density and tall buildings with attractive exteriors, as opposed to the low density, less expensive buildings of Southwest False Creek;
… City deserves credit for proposing a greater range of housing options in the SEFC Policy Statement;
… support expressed for the use of a prime location, other attempts at sustainable communities have taken place in peripheral locations;
… this vision can work where others haven’t because it’s well designed and practical and uses established technology;

Clause No. 1 continued

… suggestion made to move Appendix B regarding performance targets directly into Policy Statement in order to ensure performance targets are adopted as part of the policy;
… performance targets need to be monitored as site is developed; suggestion that targets be somewhat flexible allowing for changes that could make the development even better; adjust population-revenue goals; use a fair accounting for soil remediation costs;

… suggestion reducing density from 3.0 FSR to 2.0 FSR and lowering building heights would better contribute to sustainability;
… need to strengthen the concept of urban agriculture and food security, need more community and private gardening opportunities in parks, on balconies and on rooftops;
… impact on views in Mount Pleasant should be taken into consideration;
… suggestion made to include car co-ops in the Policy Statement and disconnect parking from the sale of suites, discouraging people from automatically purchasing parking;
… car-free area or street should be established, and “shared streets”, which are narrower, breaking up line of traffic;
… parking should be kept at a minimum, future lack of parking can be met by setting aside a piece of land which could be adapted to other uses if additional parking is never needed;
… environmental policies should be included in the document and become the binding policies for the site;
… increase affordable housing from 20% to 50-80% in order for the site to meet the present demand for affordable housing in the City and to create social sustainability for future generations; 50% of False Creek South is currently rentals and coops which would suggest that many people will be looking to SEFC for more affordable housing; a sustainable community needs rental housing make it accessible;
… suggestion the Stewardship Committee be jointly administered by the Park Board and City Council and following the creation of the SEFC sustainable neighbourhood it should become the “Sustainability Advisory Committee” with a city-wide mandate to assist in the incorporation of sustainability principles in future developments;
… suggestion the Stewardship Committee be community and resident driven; need to think about the new market and new people;
… City should enter into agreements with developers, and provide bonuses to encourage more affordable housing;
… suggestion to speed up the process by collapsing the ODP and rezoning phases, to ensure that the City does not miss the momentum of the recovering market during the next two years;
… suggestion 1st Ave. have variety and strong pedestrian priorities and that 2nd Ave. be optimized for transportation;

Clause No. 1 continued

… Southeast False Creek park does not eliminate the need for future park development in Mt. Pleasant;
… maintain a perimeter walkway/vehicle way around the False Creek Basin;
… housing should not be separate from parks;
… this is an opportunity to incorporate a much needed permanent boathouse facility for non-motor boating (i.e. rowing, kayacking, dragon boating) storage, repairs, and events; these activities are team oriented, democratic and of a volunteer nature, and provide activities for youth and contribute to healthy social development;
… the only boat launch in False Creek is located adjacent to Vanier Park; need access to the water by residents of the east side;
… need to increase access to waterways by increasing number of non-motoring boaters, i.e. although since 1986 dragon boating has increased from 30 teams to 150 teams, there still is no permanent festival or docking facility;
… support expressed for high density near downtown, Finning site, and new I-3 zone;
… recommendation that more Artist live/work and work/live studios be included; art is important for tourism and as part of communities and artists and musicians with families need affordable places to live and work.

The following spoke in support of using the entire site for a major park:

… Gaching Kong, Southeast False Creek Working Group
… Charles Dobson, Mount Pleasant resident
… Audrey Gilmour
… Marilyn Bell
… Commissioner Duncan Wilson, Park Board
… Mark Bologna
… John Davis
… Kirsten Pendreigh
… Noel Mckenna
… Art Cowie (brief filed)

The speakers’ points are summarized as follows:

… suggestion 100% of site be used for park on southeast shore of False Creek; should preserve this last stretch of waterfront;
… the site offers the opportunity to use the site in a way which will give the greatest benefit to most people; it is important that all 43 acres are devoted to forest;
… this is an historic opportunity to make the decision to preserve the site as a forest;
… save the environmental remediation costs to the City, by not including housing development;

Clause No. 1 continued

… suggestion the land be used as park because east side of Vancouver is park deficient; park should not only be for new residents, but for the whole area;
… defer a decision on the Policy Statement for a year and let the Park Board do a similar planning process as was done for Hastings Park; more public input is required;
… access to the Canada Trail and SkyTrain would make this site suitable for a world-class park that everyone can benefit from.

Denis Baron presented Council with a proposal entitled “Millennium Monument Project”. The proposal is to create a major world class monument unique to British Columbia’s heritage with a 160 ft. tower with observation deck surrounded by a spiritual park with aboriginal theme.

Chris Bouris commented the process to develop the Policy Statement needed more openness and participation. The Policy Statement needs to incorporate more points of view; currently, it has only one point of view.

The Mayor announced Council will make a decision on the Policy Statement at the Regular Council meeting on Tuesday, October 19, 1999.

RISE FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy

THAT the Committee of the Whole rise and report.

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

ADOPT REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

MOVED by Cllr. Bellamy
SECONDED by Cllr. Herbert

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

- CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

The Meeting was adjourned at the following times on these three evenings:

July 21, 1999, 10:15 p.m.
September 15, 1999, 9:45 p.m.
October 5, 1999 at 8:55 p.m.

* * * * *

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