I wanted to support this plan. But there is one major issue that means I have had to oppose it.
More shopping and restaurants / coffee shops closer to each neighbourhood would be great and yes the city needs more housing but I can't support the rights and choices of current property owners being trampled on to achieve this.
Here is my comment to council and I will unfortunately be speaking in opposition to a plan that I wanted to support...
The worst part of the Villages zoning plan is what effectively amounts to expropriation of land (without paying for that expropriation) of approximately 750 properties on or near arterial streets.
If you are a property owner of one of these lots you will be banned from being able to renovate your home by adding an addition to your house, or from being able to build a new single family house or from adding a lane home to your property, you will also be banned from building a duplex or a MultiPlex which are all things that most properties in Vancouver are allowed to do right now.
Who's property is it? Property owners rights are being trampled on. Your choices eradicated.
If the city pushes this through for these 750 properties what will stop them from doing the same thing to another 5% of lots in the city a few months from now then another 5% a few months later, and so on, and so on until most property owners have no choice about what they are allowed to build on THEIR property.
In the case of our property, we had choices taken away from us when a city initiated rezoning was thrust upon us to RM-8A (townhouses). We didn't ask for it, it was done to help developers bypass the costly and time consuming rezoning process (and now townhouses are no longer a viable option in our area). We were told not to worry, that nothing would change for us, that we could do anything we would have been able to do if we weren't rezoned. NOT true. We would have been R1-1 and would have been able to do a MultiPlex. But we have been told we can't do that (to City planners - please fix this and add MultiPlex to RM-8A).
Pre zoning is not a gold mine for existing owners, not a get rich situation, it is control by the city to get what they or developers want.
If you own one of these properties you will become just a tax paying place holder for the eventual developer who will be your only choice to sell to, and only if you can manage to assemble with enough of your neighbours to make a parcel of land that would entice a developer to want to buy.
If the city wants to take away the rights of current property owners they should pay to expropriate these 750 lots.
While I think that 4-6 storey small scale (1-2 lot) apartment buildings like the older ones in kits and in the Cambie village area would be fine as a way to solve the housing crisis. I even like the idea of more ground floor retail to bring shopping and restaurants closer to each neighbourhood but it's the rights and choices being stripped away from current property owners in this plan that is atrocious.
If you bought the house as a single family property you should retain the ability to do anything you could at the time you bought it, as well as new choices. Not be suddenly told you only have one choice.
This Villages plan needs a major revamp including more consultation with existing owners and renters in the affected areas.
I submitted a quick comment in support, and will be pretty upset if this doesn’t go through. There’s been extensive public consultation on the topic to this point, and it would be really shitty if all that got ignored because some NIMBYs showed up to one city council meeting instead of all the engagement opportunities beforehand while the people who actually need housing are too busy working to attend.
The kerrisdale comment is hilarious because this area was one of the best at building mid sized apartment complexes until it was completely outlawed. At some point we need to get away from one bedroom apartments or 8 bedroom mansions, and this plan is one of the most well thought out ways of doing that.
I wanted to support this plan. But there is one major issue that means I have had to oppose it.
More shopping and restaurants / coffee shops closer to each neighbourhood would be great and yes the city needs more housing but I can't support the rights and choices of current property owners being trampled on to achieve this.
Here is my comment to council and I will unfortunately be speaking in opposition to a plan that I wanted to support...
The worst part of the Villages zoning plan is what effectively amounts to expropriation of land (without paying for that expropriation) of approximately 750 properties on or near arterial streets.
If you are a property owner of one of these lots you will be banned from being able to renovate your home by adding an addition to your house, or from being able to build a new single family house or from adding a lane home to your property, you will also be banned from building a duplex or a MultiPlex which are all things that most properties in Vancouver are allowed to do right now.
Who's property is it? Property owners rights are being trampled on. Your choices eradicated.
If the city pushes this through for these 750 properties what will stop them from doing the same thing to another 5% of lots in the city a few months from now then another 5% a few months later, and so on, and so on until most property owners have no choice about what they are allowed to build on THEIR property.
In the case of our property, we had choices taken away from us when a city initiated rezoning was thrust upon us to RM-8A (townhouses). We didn't ask for it, it was done to help developers bypass the costly and time consuming rezoning process (and now townhouses are no longer a viable option in our area). We were told not to worry, that nothing would change for us, that we could do anything we would have been able to do if we weren't rezoned. NOT true. We would have been R1-1 and would have been able to do a MultiPlex. But we have been told we can't do that (to City planners - please fix this and add MultiPlex to RM-8A).
Pre zoning is not a gold mine for existing owners, not a get rich situation, it is control by the city to get what they or developers want.
If you own one of these properties you will become just a tax paying place holder for the eventual developer who will be your only choice to sell to, and only if you can manage to assemble with enough of your neighbours to make a parcel of land that would entice a developer to want to buy.
If the city wants to take away the rights of current property owners they should pay to expropriate these 750 lots.
While I think that 4-6 storey small scale (1-2 lot) apartment buildings like the older ones in kits and in the Cambie village area would be fine as a way to solve the housing crisis. I even like the idea of more ground floor retail to bring shopping and restaurants closer to each neighbourhood but it's the rights and choices being stripped away from current property owners in this plan that is atrocious.
If you bought the house as a single family property you should retain the ability to do anything you could at the time you bought it, as well as new choices. Not be suddenly told you only have one choice.
This Villages plan needs a major revamp including more consultation with existing owners and renters in the affected areas.
I submitted a quick comment in support, and will be pretty upset if this doesn’t go through. There’s been extensive public consultation on the topic to this point, and it would be really shitty if all that got ignored because some NIMBYs showed up to one city council meeting instead of all the engagement opportunities beforehand while the people who actually need housing are too busy working to attend.
The kerrisdale comment is hilarious because this area was one of the best at building mid sized apartment complexes until it was completely outlawed. At some point we need to get away from one bedroom apartments or 8 bedroom mansions, and this plan is one of the most well thought out ways of doing that.
Submitted a comment in support.
I supported the village plans