Appeal against temporary Marpole housing dismissed

A judge has dismissed an appeal from a group of Marpole residents frustrated by the city’s plans to build temporary modular housing in the neighbourhood.

It is the second blow to the group’s legal attempts to block the 78-unit temporary modular housing project on Heather Street.

The Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society had previously filed a petition in December, claiming the city had failed to provide proper notice of a public hearing. When that petition was dismissed in January, the group filed an appeal.

In a decision dated March 9, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice David Franklin Tysoe dismissed the appeal, noting the city had adequately provided notice.

“I do not think that the small amount of opposition at the hearing indicates, as the appellant contends, that the notice was inadequate,” said Tysoe in his reasons for judgment.

“An equally plausible inference is that members of the public were generally unopposed to the amendment until it later became apparent that the social housing was to be located in their neighbourhood.”

According to background outlined in Tysoe’s decision, the city first began discussing a bylaw amendment in July 2017 that would allow the city’s director of planning to relax zoning bylaws under certain conditions, paving the way for more social housing throughout the city.

The proposed amendment was referred to a public hearing, which was advertised in local media. Three members of the public spoke against the amendment at the hearing held on Sept. 19, 2017, while nine others wrote letters of opposition.

The amendment was quickly adopted and in October, the city notified nearby residents about plans to build temporary modular housing on a 10.3-hectare lot in Marpole. The city then held four public information sessions in early November, attended by 650 people.

Three weeks following the information sessions, the city was granted a development permit to begin construction of the units.

Tysoe did not rule on the appellant’s claim that the city’s director of planning did not have the power to relax zoning bylaws, since temporary modular housing is among the types of buildings for which a zoning exception can be made.

Marpole residents had previously accused the city of using bullying tactics and voiced concerns that the project was located close to an elementary school and a high school.

A 2017 count found more than 2,000 people were homeless in Vancouver, prompting the city to begin discussions about adding 600 modular homes to the city’s housing stock.