Speaking notes for C-2A zoning
A lot of opposition to a minor change
At last night’s public hearing on the proposed C-2A zone (which passed in the end), there was a lot of opposition. I’m not sure opponents understood that the change to allow six-storey rental buildings by right in C-2 zones was approved back in 2021.
Video from the public hearing.
No matter how small a change you make, you can expect opposition. People fear the unknown. I think of the movie Jaws: back then, special effects weren’t that great, so the movie kept the mechanical shark out of sight. Turns out that your imagination can be more fearsome than something you can see.
I called in near the end.
Hi, my name is Russil Wvong. I’m a resident of Vancouver. I don’t work in real estate or development.
A number of speakers have mentioned the need for affordable housing. There’s a close connection between housing scarcity and housing unaffordability. Because we make it pretty difficult to build new housing, prices and rents have to rise to unbearable levels to push people out.
I’m calling in support of this policy change. As I understand it, the proposed C-2A zone basically covers the same area as the existing C-2 zones, which allow six-storey rental buildings in local shopping areas. This was passed back in 2021. The main effect of this change is to have a simpler and more uniform set of rules.
More generally, it’s better for council to focus on passing city-wide policies, even if there’s a lot of discussion - as we’re seeing now - rather than repeating the same battle over and over again on every individual site-by-site rezoning.
In terms of public opinion in general, there was a poll of city-of-Vancouver residents in December, by Leger, asking people how they wanted the city to grow. 14% wanted to limit growth and keep the city low-density. 26% wanted to continue with concentrating density in high-rises near transit nodes. The most popular option, I think about 46%, was four- to six-storey buildings across the city.
In terms of requiring below-market housing, my understanding - based on analysis by Coriolis - is that six-storey rental buildings typically do not include enough land lift to support below-market housing.
I don’t have strong opinions on the change to allow a hotel with the same size and floor space. But the city does need hotel space.
Thank you.
More
What the cost bottleneck looks like, including Coriolis’s May 2022 analysis of a six-storey rental project
The opposition view: CityHallWatch. “New C-2A zone to ‘fast track rental housing and hotels’ affects 50,000 people on 2,348 properties in existing neighbourhood shopping areas of Vancouver.”
Thanks for calling in and supporting this and for all your efforts in support of housing.