Tomorrow, Tuesday January 13th, Vancouver city council will consider a zoning amendment to rezone approximately 200 blocks to match what was already approved in principle as part of the years-long Rupert & Renfrew Station Area planning process. Like the recent "pre-zoning" [sic] of the Cambie Corridor and Broadway plans, this is an important step towards making it easier build apartments by zoning for what the City says it wants. We support it, and you should too! That said, there are major issues with this zoning bylaw. Chiefly, that our city planners remain committed to housing policies that their own analyses show are only marginally or not viable at current rents, and thus cannot be expected to improve affordability vs. today, although they will help prevent affordability from getting worse. You can show your support, and encourage improvements, by writing to council or requesting to speak at the hearing on Tuesday evening. It is item 2 on the agenda for Jan. 13th.

How we got here - Pretextual zoning

Provincial legislation now requires Vancouver to, for the first time, develop an Official Development Plan ("ODP") for the entire city. This is a high-level planning document, and the idea is to encourage long-term thinking. 
The draft ODP is now out and the city is asking for comments. Click here to read more about it, and read on below to learn how you can participate!

The following is our letter to Vancouver City Council outlining our concerns and specific recommendations regarding the draft Rupert & Renfrew Station Area Plan as currently written. Council will consider approving it on Tuesday, July 8th.

Dear Mayor Sim and Council,

Abundant Housing Vancouver would like to offer our qualified support for the Rupert & Renfrew Station Area Plan. However, the plan needs significant improvements to be effective. 

Overall, a lot of time and effort have gone into this plan over years, and the estimated 10,000 homes over 25 years from this plan represents a small contribution to addressing housing needs in Vancouver. The City’s latest housing needs report states that the city needs 56,228 additional homes in the five years to 2026, but completions are less than half of that, even before subtracting demolitions. The shortage in Vancouver is growing much faster than the 400 homes/year this plan is estimated to deliver. The planning regime needs to focus on delivering the highest opportunity policy changes first and delivering them faster, and that continues to not be apparent.

We have many specific concerns with the plan itself and the language in the plan is often somewhat ambiguous. The following is a summary of our most substantial concerns and recommendations to address them. 

Unviable 6-storey Rental Requirements - Corner Lots

(from page 51 of the plan)

In 2018, we wrote about our finances, saying that, “the short answer to most questions: we are a self-funded organization on a small budget, and we do not accept funding from real estate organizations.”

In 2025, the short answer to most questions about our finances is: our organization operates on a small budget funded by a mix of small dollar donors and the donations of our volunteer board members.  We do not accept funding from real estate organizations.

The first 4 apartment buildings under the Broadway Plan are facing a public hearing this Tuesday. Expressing your support via the City's comment form just takes a minute (registering to speak is even better)! There isn't even much to say: these are nice buildings that serve a desperate need in high-demand locations; they should be able to get built in more places and without needing to jump through so many hoops! Consider sending a quick note in support of:

6. 2156-2174 West 14th Ave

Why it's good:

• 170 secured rental homes close to Broadway and the new SkyTrain line.
• 20% of homes (20% of floor space) permanently below market, 20% below CMHC average for all apartments (not just new-build rents).
• A small local retail unit on the ground floor for a more complete neighbourhood.
• Close to Arbutus Greenway, great for active transit, and just 5 short blocks from the Arbutus subway station.

7. 2175 West 7th Avenue

• 182 secured rental homes.
• 20% of the floor area secured for below market homes (approximately 35 units).
• Broadway Plan tenant relocation policy: Tenants displaced by the building demolition receive a rent top-up while displaced and can return to the new building at their same rent, or 20% below CMHC average, whichever is lower.
• Limited car parking with sufficient bike parking encourages more public & active transit use in this central area near SkyTrain. Less parking means less traffic.
• Close to Arbutus Greenway and Delmont Park; great for active transit!

4. CD-1 Rezoning: 523-549 East 10th Ave

• 175 secured market rental homes
• 20% of the rental homes (by floor area) permanently below market.
• Childcare centre for 25 children, which, like housing, we desperately need more of in Vancouver.
• On the 10th Avenue bikeway; great for living & for active transit.
  Limited car parking with sufficient bike parking encourages more public & active transit use in this central area near SkyTrain. Less parking means less traffic.

TL;DR

The BC NDP Housing Platform - link

We rate the NDP platform best overall as they have brought in some meaningful zoning mandates and shown a willingness to bear the tiresome whining from (some) municipalities. 

That said, they have allowed cities significant leeway in implementing these policies which takes away from their effectiveness, and their transit-oriented areas, the only policy that explicitly requires allowing apartment buildings, is quite limited in geographic scope. Residents of BC are right to be frustrated that the NDP have only this year, toward the end of their second term in government, enacted meaningful legislation to address housing supply.

The NDP has otherwise admirably shown a willingness to throw everything and the kitchen sink at addressing the housing crisis.

The BC Conservatives Housing Platform - link

The Conservative platform makes some aggressive and important commitments on removing barriers, permitting delays and limiting fees. It ultimately comes up short for us due to their commitment to repeal mandatory multiplex zoning in cities and John Rustad’s appeals early in the campaign to the “local control” which has largely created our housing crisis. It is unclear, beyond zoning for triplexes & 4-plexes, exactly how much of the recent reforms the Conservatives would repeal; they have said they will not repeal legislation requiring cities to allow apartments near rapid transit, but that legislation relies on mandatory housing targets to be effective.

The fastest permitting in the world will not add housing if all that can legally be built in a city is what is already there. It is difficult to take criticisms of the NDP’s slowness to act seriously when the Conservatives are simultaneously promising to roll back the clock on some of the most meaningful reforms in Canada.

The BC Greens Housing Platform - link

The Green platform hinges on directing a large amount of building capacity to the non-profit sector, 26,000 homes/year, which is around half of BC's total annual housing starts in recent years. It is not clear from their plan how they intend to make this work, beyond “partnering with municipalities.” They also promise counterproductive property transfer taxes on REITs (real estate investment trusts), who provide funding in the current housing system that helps get more housing built, keeping rents lower than they would be otherwise.

Much More after the jump...

With a Provincial election coming up, housers need to do what we can to reinforce public awareness of the continued need to address the systemic barriers to housing affordability in British Columbia. What better way to do that than with a simple slogan that challenges the basic assumptions of our “free market” housing? E-mail us by Aug. 25th to order yours! [Note: please read ordering info below]

Kits Point and Shaughnessy are both centrally located neighbourhoods that have extremely restrictive zoning. But when Vancouver legalized multiplexes last year, both these neighbourhoods were EXCLUDED. 

Now the Province is stepping in and making Vancouver legalize multiplexes in these areas. While we’re happy the Province is making the City do something, the bottom line is that multiplexes aren’t nearly good enough in these areas.

Look at Kits Point. It is minutes away from Downtown, and right beside it the Squamish Nation is building 6,000 homes on just 11 acres at Senakw. That shows what housing demand in that area actually is. While the Squamish Nation is busy building thousands of homes, the City has to be dragged against its will to legalize just 3 or 4 homes on a lot.

A small apartment building under construction in (Second) Shaughnessy

Let’s Show Some Support to the Jericho Lands!

After five years of planning and consultation, the Jericho Lands Policy Statement is finally coming to Vancouver Council on Wednesday, January 24, 2024. This is the time to show your support for this exciting and forward-looking proposal!