Jericho Lands + UBCx UPDATE 2—The Beginning of the End

City Conversation # 39: Today City Council voted for the proposed alignment of the UBC SkyTrain through the Jericho Lands—my alternative title, "The End of the Beginning," was not to be.

March 29th, 2022—My remarks to City Council before the vote—even more relaxed than my usual style. My excuse is I was talking over the phone:

Proposed UBCx Skytrain alignment showing bend at Broadway and Alma and no station in West Point Grey Village

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“Thank you for allowing me to speak in opposition to the proposed alignment of the SkyTrain extension out to UBC. 

I must thank Bill Tieleman for introducing me this morning. He is one of the more than 2,100 folks who have read my post about UBCx and the Jericho Lands since I published it last Sunday evening. I must acknowledge as co-authors Stephen Bohus and Kunal Tiwari, who modelled the Jericho Lands site. We were not granted access to the city’s 3-D model, so made our own.

I sent the Mayor and Councillors a copy of that blog post yesterday.

Unlike Bill, I did have advance notice of this meeting. The Mayor was kind enough to send me an email last week thanking me for supporting UBCx, even though I have never supported it, but thanks anyway for the reminder. In case I missed it, I got another reminder from his re-election team this morning, warning me of “the well-organized opposition that does not want rapid transit in their own backyard.” Reliant as the well-organized opposition is on volunteer 3-D modellers and blog writers, I’m not sure I would characterize us that way. Perhaps they were referring to the Jericho Coalition, another volunteer group of which I am not a member, most of whom were involved in the 3-year so-called public consultation process around the Jericho Lands. At the end of that process, five months ago, two development concepts were revealed about which the Coalition had little advance notice and which were a complete surprise as regards the density and height of its more than sixty high-rises—that’s more than False Creek North, which is more than twice as big.

But today we are focused on UBCx. TransLink staff earlier this morning confirmed that they have proposed bending the SkyTrain alignment into the Jericho Lands because the proponents requested it. Also that they have not considered the economic impacts on West Point Grey Village of a SkyTrain that stops several blocks from the Village, then skirts it to continue out to UBC.

There have been many questions from speakers and Council about how UBCx will affect affordability. I was stunned to hear a senior city planner explain this morning that staff were acting to contain land speculation by imposing a $332/sf ($3,550 per square metre) additional development fee in areas they think might be the subject of speculation.

Since the proposed alignment is along Broadway and includes stops at MacDonald and Alma, that must mean, for example, that a developer currently proposing, say, a new 4-storey development with apartments over ground level shops, as permitted by the various commercial zonings along that part of Broadway—that non-Jericho developer who might have been ready to start such a low-rise project next month, will now pay an extra $332/sf for the privilege of developing in anticipation of SkyTrain. That’s $150,000 for a typical studio, close to a quarter million dollars for a modest one-bedroom apartment. Pardon me if I ask, “How does that help affordability?”

Speaking further about affordability as promised for inclusion in the Jericho Lands, the commitment is “At least 20% of the units to be provided for social housing, half of which will be designed for families with children.” That’s a quote from the Jericho Lands Phase 3 Engagement Boards.

The only other additional commitment on the Boards that I can find about affordable housing says “At least 10% of the units are to be provided for rental housing, with a portion of the units required to be at below market rents.” 

What does this actually mean? Well, city staff now define social housing as all of the homes in a development that has 20% below market rentals. So the 20% social housing units might be as few as 400 below market rentals out of 10,000. And nowhere that I can find does it say the 10% rental housing is separate from the 20% social housing.

So out of a notional 10,000 homes (I say notional because the city’s own sparse density documentation suggests the real number is much closer to 15,000), we could see:

·      400 below-market rental apartments

·      600 market rental apartments

·      9,000 apartments for sale

So much for affordability. For me the question today is not so much do you endorse a UBCx alignment that favours a private development over West Point Grey Village, although that is an important question. Rather, the equally important question for Council is do you endorse a UBCx alignment that will make development of housing along Broadway west of Vine Street $150,000 or more extra per home, to allow a private developer to create at least 10,000 homes on the Jericho Lands, of which only 400 may be below-market rentals, another 600 will be market rentals, and the remaining 9,000 homes will be for folks for whom the $150,000 per unit premium charged others east of the Jericho Lands is simply the price of an admission ticket to a great location in what was once one of the world’s great cities?

I am hoping you will place the interests of Vancouver residents first in your deliberations. Thank you for listening.”

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None of the two dozen speakers who preceded and followed me spoke in favour of a station in the Jericho Lands. A few were in favour of UBCx, but not through Jericho. This led to an amendment, then an amendment to an amendment—both were defeated by Council.

Councillor Hardwick then moved an amendment in favour of more consultation:

…which was defeated.

In the end, or rather the beginning of the end, only Councillor Hardwick opposed Council’s endorsement of the proposed UBCx Skytrain alignment through the Jericho Lands without any connection to West Point Grey Village. The final motion was quite long, and included requirements to consult with TransLink, the developer and the province. There was no mention in it of the citizens of Vancouver.

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More Calls to Action

Opposition to the current proposal for the Jericho Lands is being led by the Jericho Coalition, a group of concerned citizens, many of whom participated in the three year long “consultation” process and feel betrayed by the emergent plan, which they did not see until the eve of its publication. There may be other groups I am unaware of. If you are also concerned about the Jericho Lands Plan, consider joining them.

Vancouver’s civic election is in mid October of this year. Lots of damage can be done by the current Council, city management and staff before that date—and it will continue, and worsen, unless TEAM for a Livable Vancouver elects a majority (6 of 10) City Councillors—less than 6 and not much will change. If you are concerned that what you’ve just read is an example of what’s wrong with our city, and want to bring back its livability, join TEAM and work with us to restore Vancouver as a place we can all afford to call home.

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Today’s question: Do you think it’s fait that a SkyTrain extension to UBC could result in a an additional $330,000 fee charged for a new studio apartment along Broadway? Why or why not? 

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Brian Palmquist is a Vancouver-based architect, building envelope and building code consultant and LEED Accredited Professional (the first green building system). He is semi-retired for the moment, still teaching and writing, so not beholden to any client or city hall. These conversations mix real discussion with research and observations based on a 40+ year career including the planning, design and construction of almost every type and scale of project. He is the author of the Amazon best seller “An Architect’s Guide to Construction.” He is also a member of team for a livable Vancouver, a new political party dedicated to restoring a livable Vancouver starting with the 2022 civic election. City Conversations are generally congruent with TEAM policy, so if you like the ideas that I’m writing about, please consider joining TEAM.