Speaking notes: 6081-6083 Collingwood Place
A five-storey rental building on Dunbar
[Update: the rezoning has been approved, with an amendment directing staff to look closely at putting the parkade access on Dunbar.]
Last night there was a public hearing that considered a number of rezonings. The last one, a five-storey rental building on Dunbar, ran into a lot of hyperlocal opposition from the neighbours. It’s a neighbourhood that’s basically impossible for anyone to move into unless they’re already a multimillionaire: houses in the area are typically worth about $4 or $5M. Vancouver Assessment Map.
The neighbours also hired Chuck Brook of Brook Pooni (!), a former city planner and high-powered consultant, to speak in opposition.
I called to speak in support, as did a number of other pro-housing people.
Council will reconvene on Thursday at 6 pm to debate the rezoning and vote for or against. I’m very curious what the decision will be. The hyperlocal opposition is extremely intense, but the focus seems to be on a specific issue: parkade access via Collingwood Place. If it’s rejected, this would be the first time that the ABC majority has voted No on housing.
Hi, my name is Russil Wvong. I’m calling to support this rezoning. I'm a long-time Vancouver resident. I’m a member of a pro-housing group called VANA, the Vancouver Area Neighbours Association. Although I’m a homeowner myself, I know a lot of younger people and renters who are getting pushed out of the city.
Having listened to the speakers tonight, I know that this is not an easy decision. We desperately need more housing. It’s nearly impossible for anyone making less than $100,000 per year to move to Vancouver, and even at that income level, a lot of people are getting pushed out. It’s really hard to see how we can keep our healthcare system going, for example, if nurses can’t afford to live here. We have limited land, and we need to use it effectively.
This is a neighbourhood close to transit, to amenities, and to UBC, where lots are large, and where the average cost of a single-detached house is $4M dollars. To move into this neighbourhood, you would need to have a household income of about $800,000/year.
What’s driving this crazy situation is the cost of the land. The general rule is that for a new project, the cost of the land should be about 20-25% of the total cost. In other words, in an area where land prices are this high, we really need to have mid-rise apartment buildings, so that the cost of the land is shared across a larger number of households.
I understand people’s concerns about Collingwood Place being particularly narrow and lacking sidewalks. But I would suggest that a more appropriate way to maintain public safety, instead of blocking new housing, would be to either ban street parking on Collingwood Place entirely, to have very limited permit parking, or to override engineering and say that parkade access cannot be through Collingwood Place. I understand that engineering best practice is to use the quieter street for parkade access, but I don’t see the point in optimizing vehicle access to a building that’s not going to exist.
Thank you for your time.
"not going to exist". Perfect!