Grandview-Woodland plan gets green light
‘Inclusive, welcoming’ community needs to move forward, mayor says
Years of work by city staff and residents came to an emotional close Thursday as Vancouver councillors voted to approve the controversial Grandview-Woodland community plan.
Minutes before the vote, which passed with just one dissenting vote, Mayor Gregor Robertson addressed the tension that has formed between many of those closely involved in the development and refinement of the 30year plan.
“It’s been a really long process. At times it’s been divisive,” Robertson said. “The great strengths, I think, in Grandview-Woodland, are that it is a really inclusive and welcoming neighbourhood. It’s been that way for generations and it needs to continue.
“Debate and discourse over the plan can challenge that, but I think moving forward we really need to build on … new relationships.”
Adriane Carr was the councillor who voted against the plan. The only Green party councillor said a little more time might have been enough to win the backing of those who have been the most active and engaged on the issue.
“(To) feel that they were sidelined and hadn’t the chance in the end to really get on board, I really regret that,” Carr said, her voice cracking.
She spoke to some of the enduring concerns, particularly around height and density.
“You don’t need to build to the kind of height and the kind of density on certain spots that we have been pursuing and that are in this plan. You can incorporate more people, you can incorporate growth, we can develop as a city in a scale that is more amenable to the human scale,” she said.
“I’m really worried about the character of the community and around the Drive. What’s going to happen? It’s going to change. And the people aren’t all on board with that.”
Vision Vancouver Coun. Heather Deal responded directly to Carr’s comments. “Change is happening. Change will happen, with or without a plan. And in this case, that change will happen after years of debate (and) deliberation by a group that actually reflects the community,” Deal said, referring to a representative citizens assembly that was set up to help staff build the plan.
In a separate vote, councillors left open the possibility of considering a taller Kettle Boffo supported-housing development than the nine storeys that had been provided for in the plan. In the “absence of sufficient senior government funding” to fill a funding gap, a dozen storeys could be back on the table. Many residents had been calling for four storeys at most. Only Carr and Non-Partisan Association Coun. George Affleck voted against the concession.
Nancy Keough, the executive director of the non-profit Kettle Society, said she was “sitting here in shock” over the decision.
“I’m delighted. I am so delighted,” she said, before putting it in perspective. “This is one step.”