Latest news with #KitsilanoCoalition
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
B.C. Housing Minister expresses concern after Vancouver abandons controversial supportive-housing project
British Columbia's housing minister says he is concerned about the future of supportive-housing projects in Vancouver after the city quashed construction plans in a west-side neighbourhood amid a legal battle with residents over the rezoning changes. The rezoning for the 129-unit, 13-storey project in Kitsilano was rescinded April 30, after a consent order between a local residents' group and the city essentially overturned a 2022 approval. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said he was surprised by the city's decision to abandon fighting a lawsuit the Kitsilano Coalition for Children and Family Safety Society had brought claiming the city's public-hearing process for the rezoning was flawed. 'If you don't want concentrations of supportive housing, but then you don't want them in Kits, where do you put people?' he said. Vancouver abandons controversial supportive-housing project in Kitsilano Earlier this week, Mayor Ken Sim told The Globe that the city is trying to work with the province on finding alternative sites, where two 40- to 60-unit projects could be built that fit in better with the neighbourhoods. Supportive housing provides units to low-income people the way social housing does, but also helps with drug addiction, mental-health counselling, medical visits, lifeskills training and more. Mr. Kahlon said the province is willing to work with the city but hasn't seen any 'credible' alternatives so far. 'It is frustrating but we're going back to the drawing board to find alternative sites,' he said, though he added that the province isn't about to buy out any private-rental development currently on offer as city officials have suggested. It's also unfair for some neighbourhoods to declare they're only interested in housing for seniors or other groups they have decided are less problematic, Mr. Kahlon said. The city's move has generated significant reaction, with many supporters saying the site was problematic because it was across the street from a private Catholic elementary school, too close to a women's rehab centre and would have resulted in too many troubled people in one place. Supporters have also criticized the province for trying to force disruptive new housing that they claim would be dominated by drug users into every community. 'This housing, in this location, was not appropriate and the community spoke,' said David Fine, a filmmaker who is a frequent commenter on Kitsilano housing issues on X. 'No one is against some form of social or supportive housing there, just not what was being proposed. In this case, Sim made the right decision.' However, several housing advocates, non-profit housing providers and city councillors are appalled by the move. 'It's a very scary, telling direction that this council is going. We definitely recognize this is going in the wrong direction,' said Donna-Lynn Rosa, CEO of Atira Women's Resources Society, which runs multiple supportive-housing buildings in the city. 'Less housing, less options is not the solution. We're just concerned about these motions that seem reckless.' BC Housing applied to the city four years ago for a rezoning for the building, saying it would provide accessible supportive housing for the many homeless people living in Kitsilano's parks, on its beaches, or near storefronts. But thousands of residents expressed concerns that it would draw new drug users and crime to the area and allow for open drug use right across from the school. OneCity Vancouver Councillor Lucy Maloney said she is going to do whatever she can to support work at city hall to approve supportive housing, after hearing during her recent election campaign that improving the situation for homeless people was one of voters' top three priorities. 'I have to assess the best way to address the problem that Vancouverites said was their top concern,' she said. Ms. Maloney said she was surprised that she learned the news through the Kitsilano residents' newsletter instead of from the city itself. The decision to abandon the legal fight was made during an in-camera vote earlier this year before new councillors Ms. Maloney and COPE's Sean Orr were sworn in. Prominent drug-policy advocate Guy Felicella, a former drug user who champions better treatment and harm reduction, called the move 'NIMBYism at is finest,' noting that city residents are constantly calling on the province for more resources to get people off the streets but then reject providing housing for them.
CBC
5 days ago
- General
- CBC
City of Vancouver quashes approval for hotly-debated supportive housing project
The City of Vancouver has withdrawn its support for a supportive housing project in the Kitsilano neighbourhood that has been the subject of numerous court challenges. The B.C. Housing project on city-owned land, at Arbutus Street and 8th Avenue, was approved in 2022 under a previous city council after half a dozen contentious public hearings. However, a group of local residents called the Kitsilano Coalition filed a court challenge against the rezoning — which prompted the B.C. government to issue legislation in favour of the project and bypass the courts. But that legislation was subsequently found to be unlawful by the B.C. Court of Appeal, and now, the City of Vancouver has decided to end its legal defence of the project. That means the rezoning approved in 2022 is no longer valid, and the province and city will have to work on another proposal for the site. WATCH | City withdraws support from supportive housing project: Future of Kitsilano supportive housing development unclear 13 hours ago Duration 2:00 A long-embattled supportive housing development on Vancouver's Westside has lost the mayor's support. Earlier this year, Ken Sim put a pause on net new supportive housing in the city but said he wouldn't get in the way of projects already designated. As CBC's Renee Lukacs reports, that's now changed. "It's clear this location wasn't the right fit for the scale and type of housing that was proposed," Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement Tuesday. "While we won't speculate on the future of the site, we fully believe in the important role that both supportive and social housing play in Vancouver's diverse housing mix." The Kitsilano Coalition said it mounted its court challenge over public safety concerns, with members saying the housing site was next to a park and elementary school. Coalition spokesperson Karen Finnan said she believed the public hearing that led to the project's approval was flawed and not conducted in accordance with the Vancouver Charter. "We are grateful that the current council is looking to work with us instead of pushing back on us," she told CBC News. "And we would hope that the provincial government, as well, will reassess how they are managing issues of homelessness, mental illness and addiction." Other Kitsilano residents that spoke to CBC News, however, expressed support for the proposal, which would have created 129 single-occupancy units for people who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes. "I think everyone sees that there's a huge housing crisis and homelessness crisis in Vancouver, and it's not gonna solve itself, right?" said Dina Dinat. "People have to actively create more housing and different kinds of housing to help vulnerable populations." Opposition councillor, minister disappointed Both an opposition councillor and the province's housing minister expressed disappointment with the cancellation of the rezoning, especially as there is very little supportive housing in Vancouver's Westside. OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney said Sim's move wasn't surprising after his motion to freeze the construction of new supportive housing units in the city, and that the mayor was pointing the finger at other governments for problems he should take responsibility for. "We need to be showing leadership to solve the homelessness crisis," she said. "We need to be working with every level of government and across the region, but we also need to take responsibility for what we can do in the City of Vancouver." WATCH | Supportive housing freeze draws criticism: Vancouver pauses new supportive housing, sparking opposition and political risk for mayor's party 3 months ago Duration 2:02 Vancouver's opposition parties are hoping to pounce on council's decision on supportive housing. On Wednesday, in a six to three vote, councillors paused net-new supportive housing in the city. The housing is meant to support the city's most vulnerable residents, providing wraparound services for their unmet needs. As Chad Pawson reports, it could come with political risks for Mayor Ken Sim and his ruling ABC party. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon also expressed disappointment with the city's decision, given the support the province had put behind the proposal. "It's disappointing because we know there's people right now in that community sleeping in encampments, sleeping in parks, and we need to get people indoors to get them supports," he said.
Global News
6 days ago
- Business
- Global News
City of Vancouver backs down on Kitsilano supportive housing project
The City of Vancouver has backed down in its legal fight over a controversial proposed supportive housing building in Kitsilano. City council approved the rezoning application for the 13-storey project at Arbutus Street and West 8th Avenue in 2022. Shortly after, the Kitsilano Coalition launched a court challenge seeking a judicial review of the council's decision. The City of Vancouver has consented to the judicial review, meaning the rezoning has been quashed. The Kitsilano Coalition also says it has been in discussions with the city and the mayor's office who have shown interest in creating a different type of project. 'It is what it is,' Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I think the bigger question is we have to rethink these projects and go back to the drawing board. We have to make sure that the projects that are presented work in the context of setting everyone up for success.' Story continues below advertisement 1:53 Eby weighs in on Kitsilano supportive housing fight In January, B.C. Premier David Eby said he was frustrated about the project after the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in December that a law passed by the provincial government to stave off opposition to the project was unconstitutional. The B.C. government adopted the law in 2023 at the City of Vancouver's request to push through the development, which would have been 12 storeys tall on Arbutus Street with units open to low-income residents and those needing support services. 'This is frustrating,' Eby said in January. 'We're trying to build housing for people. Everybody in British Columbia knows there's a housing crisis. They see the people in the streets. They see that providing affordable housing with supports for people as part of the response to this.'
