9 Comments

I am not in favour of any spot zoning, however this one is especially egregious. Let's be honest, this would never be considered if it was next to a public school. Also, why here? It could be located anywhere.

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Personally, I think why here is a blatant political statement designed to foment discord between the west side of the city and the DTES. The city has annoyed so many neighbourhoods that there's not much left of a supporting constituency, except for the folks who won't have to live with it, nor will be around when it fails.

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My point was that the specific public value of this location, being steps to the subway terminus and a commute, would be lost on this application. The prescribed use could be implemented anywhere without this amenity.

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I am beyond opposed to this rezoning, and I am shocked (but I really shouldn't be) that City Staff could even bring this council as a via proposal for the neighbourhood. I expect that several thousand votes will turn on how individual councilors vote on this.....I know I'll be taking names.

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I have read legions of comments from those community folks heavily involved in this—the recurring theme is that their concerns were never acknowledged, let alone acted on. We can but try.

Thanks for reading City Conversations

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Thank you very much for bringing this issue to light - no pun intended. It is shocking that this request even got to Vancouver City Council. How could BC Housing think it was a good idea? Ministers Heyman (building in his riding) and Eby (school in his riding) have doubled down on their support of this location so BC Housing had no reason to engage in fullsome consultation.

I am generally in favour of spot rezoning within an overall urban plan and not flagarant one-offs.

And, not to worry Brian, St. Augustine School is much older than you - their website says it opened and has operated at Arbutus & 7th since 1911. You're going to seem young now!

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I agree with your analysis, would add that I think what we are seeing is one of the most egregious displays of political power in some long time. Hopefully we can stop it before too much harm is done.

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In the words of Bob Dylan, “Forever Young.”

Thanks for reading and commenting

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Also metal container form is very likely to impact mental health further and maybe cause deaths in the extreme heat we will be seeing more of? Correct? This model for housing low barrier vulnerable people I thought was a temporary solution not a long term strategy. How can we keep building such buildings in which there is no safety or quality of life considerations?

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