Future of Chinatown at risk, activists say of proposed ‘downzoning’
Dozens of speakers are set to appear Thursday evening at a public hearing, which experts say will have major implications for one of Vancouver’s most-historic neighbourhoods and the rest of the city.
At issue are revisions to zoning policies for Vancouver’s Chinatown, and community activists say the stakes are high.
“What’s at stake is the future of Chinatown,” said community activist Melody Ma, who heads the #SaveChinatownYVR campaign. “How do we make sure we have policies that take care ... of the special place that Chinatown has, in terms of Chinese-Canadian cultural identity and heritage and its importance, and the fact that we only have one.”
Earlier this month, Vancouver city council was presented with a staff report on proposed zoning changes for Chinatown, aiming to preserve its “special qualities,” including “smaller buildings with narrow storefronts, spaces for businesses and culture, and housing for families.”
The revisions were in response to widespread community concern over development policies adopted in 2011, allowing larger buildings. Those policies were intended to revitalize the area, but the pace and scale of the new developments “are not only changing how Chinatown looks and feels, but also impacting long-term residents’ way of living,” the staff report said. While new businesses have moved in, traditional businesses have been priced out of the neighbourhood, the staff report says, and land values almost doubled between 2012 and 2016, forcing out many of the small businesses that gave the area its character.
But as much as Thursday marks an important moment for the nationally designated historic site, the hearing will resonate beyond Chinatown’s borders, said Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program.
“It has implications for the rest of the city because this will really set the tone for some of the contentious issues we’re going to be facing in the upcoming election,” Yan said, particularly around what direction the city takes and who shapes it.
Developers are an important part of the community, Yan said, but there has been a feeling in many parts of the city that they ’ve had an out-sized influence in shaping city plans.
A neighbourhood, Yan said, is like a symphony made of many instruments, “but within that symphony, there’s a feeling these days that it’s being dominated by a single instrument .... That’s not to say that (developers) shouldn’t have a role in these neighbourhoods, but that they ought to be part of that symphony.”
But although community activists like Ma have vocally supported preserving the neighbourhood’s special character, some local property owners have spoken out against the revisions.
At a news conference earlier this month, a group called Chinatown Voices said the proposed revisions amount to “downzoning” the neighbourhood, or reducing density.
Earlier this month, Chinatown Voices spokesman Steve Lee said: “We want more residents in Chinatown to make our retail viable .... Downzoning is going in the opposite direction.”
As of Tuesday, 32 speakers had already registered to speak Thursday night, said City of Vancouver spokeswoman Nancy Eng. Anyone wanting to speak at the hearing can register by phone at 604-829-4238 or email publichearing@vancouver.ca.