Analysis: Vancouver's new city council draws both praise and criticism for willingness to override city planning staff's recommendations to push for bolder action on their priorities.
A large-scale pedestrian friendly plaza along downtown Granville Street, outdoor concerts, more hotels and a major transformation of one of the city’s most iconic blocks: with big changes Tuesday, Vancouver’s new city council signalled its willingness to override city planning staff’s recommendations to “put the pedal-to-the-metal” on their priorities.
Downtown Granville is probably one of B.C.’s most recognizable streets, and has been an important cultural and nightlife destination for more than a century. But there also seems to be widespread consensus that the strip, with vacant storefronts and a lack of daytime activity, needs revitalization.
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A report from city staff went to council this month seeking approval to embark on an 18-month planning program for the Granville Entertainment District, aiming to turn the five-block stretch between Robson and Drake streets into a 24-hour culture and commerce hub.
Staff presented to council earlier this month on a proposed Granville planning program and interim rezoning policy. On Tuesday, council approved the plan — but not before making significant alterations to what staff recommended.
A key change focuses on a single development proposal seeking to transform the 800-block of Granville, including the Commodore Ballroom. Local landowner and developer Bonnis Properties, which owns most of the 800-block, wants to build a 17 storey building combining office, retail, restaurant and cultural space, which would form a “bridge” over the Commodore Ballroom and Commodore Lanes. Those two historic properties would be retained as a concert venue and bowling alley, and refurbished — but the block’s other historic buildings would only have their facades preserved.
That facade-only retention is just one of a number of issues city staff have raised in regards to Bonnis’s proposal. City staff outlined several concerns about the Bonnis’ proposal in a presentation last summer to the previous council, stating in a report that the application “significantly contravenes Council-approved policy” and “disregards the policy framework and public trust.”
Despite staff’s concerns, last July the previous council OK’d Bonnis’s proposal to proceed to the next step in the rezoning process.
But when city staff came back this month recommending a path forward, it was apparently not as fast as council wanted.
Staff recommended proceeding with “enhanced rezoning” for 800 Granville to be processed in parallel with the Granville Street planning program over the next 18 months. This would allow for more public feedback than a typical rezoning application, and would mean council wouldn’t consider the proposal at a public hearing until after the approval of policy updates through the Granville planning program is completed, currently estimated to be late 2024.
On the floor of council Tuesday, ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung introduced an amendment directing staff to advance the 800 Granville rezoning for referral to a public hearing at the “earliest possible date while respecting the legal requirements.”
Kirby-Yung said she appreciated staff’s work on the Granville planning program, but she “felt that it could go further and do more” and wanted to “dial up” the plans. Her amendment also directed staff to advance applications for developing new hotels “as expeditiously as possible, in order to address the critical shortage of hotel rooms in the city,” to consider a new “destination public space” on Granville, and report back on the feasibility of making the strip vehicle-free and rerouting buses to adjacent streets.
OneCity Coun. Christine Boyle introduced another amendment, directing staff to focus on addressing gender-based violence in the entertainment district, and explore bylaw changes to allow more public amplified music performance in the evening hours.
Kirby-Yung’s and Boyle’s amendments were approved by all of council, except for Mayor Ken Sim who recused himself from voting on the entire Granville planning program “out of an abundance of caution” to avoid the perception of conflict because he owns a business that leases space from a Bonnis-owned company.
Records show Bonnis family members donated ahead of last year’s election to both ABC Vancouver and then-Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s party.
A few councillors mentioned how vibrant Granville has been during past instances when the strip has been temporarily pedestrianized and musical performance was allowed. Now, they urged, the city should explore making the street a great public space in a continuing way.
Kirby-Yung told council: “This is a moment where this council is signalling that we want to be bold … You’re going to see us doing that: championing public space, culture, fun, economic revitalization, and a bold vision for the city. We deserve these public spaces, there’s very little large public space downtown.”
After the final vote, Kirby-Yung told Postmedia News that the decision signals “council really putting their weight behind staff to give them the mandate to move forward and make these bolder changes.”
City staff had “a more conservative approach,” Kirby-Yung said. “And I think this is, ‘Put the pedal-to-the-metal and pull back the throttle and just go for it.’ ”
Not everyone supports this approach. Anthony Norfolk, a past member of the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee and Vancouver Heritage Commission, called Tuesday’s amendments “a bit seat-of-the-pants.”
Council’s decision to override recommendations from planning staff was “unfortunate and uninformed,” Norfolk said, disregarding Granville’s “special scale.”
Kerry Bonnis, who runs Bonnis Properties with his brother Dino, said he was glad to see the councillors from ABC, the Green party and OneCity “grabbing the bull by the horns and taking action to make our city a better place,” instead of being constrained by the city bureaucracy’s “lethargic” pace.
In the past, Kerry Bonnis said, proposed developments that could have offered more residential, commercial and cultural space were hampered or killed by the planning department’s concerns over shadows. But Bonnis doesn’t believe that’s what Vancouverites want or what they have voted for.
“I think it’s great that council are listening to their constituents and they’re going to direct city staff to follow what the citizens and stakeholders in Vancouver want,” Bonnis said. “I don’t think we should live in a museum.”
dfumano@postmedia.com
twitter.com/fumano
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