What Vancouver can do about Affordability—Part 1

City Conversation #70: How we manage homelessness is a key to how we manage affordable housing for those suffering housing insecurity and just needing a reasonable place to live

August 18th—fourth in a series of eight conversations about homelessness, housing insecurity, affordability and planning.

Vancouver House—the current City Council’s solution to affordability

“The good news, Dad,” began my son as we resumed our conversation, “is that I’m not homeless. But the not so good news is, now that the Broadway Plan has been approved, my affordable older studio looks to be in developer crosshairs—our building was very recently sold and as I’m close to the future Broadway & Granville Skytrain station in a good repair older building, we could be a candidate for assembly—God, I hate that word and what it’s come to mean. How can I and the thousands like me be protected while still allowing the city to grow?”

“It’s clear to me and many others,” I began, “that the existing affordability model is not working—that’s the one where a developer negotiates a deal with city staff behind closed doors, usually resulting in at most 20% of the resulting housing being “affordable” as defined by complex formulae that are about 50% more than what you’re currently paying. That implies that the other 80% are de facto unaffordable, whether as high end market rental or expensive strata.” He frowned so I continued.

“City staff claim that this model works because it allows them to extract large Community Amenity Contributions (CACs) to pay for things like community centres, pools, parks, schools, etc.”

He interrupted. “And when was the last time any of those amenities was delivered to the neighbourhoods where redevelopment is occurring?”

I smiled at his getting to the heart of the matter. “I don’t actually know,” I responded. “It used to be that CACs for redevelopment within a neighbourhood were “assigned” to that neighbourhood—but that stopped about a decade ago, when it was decided to blend all the CACs into one account to be used for…anything Council wanted, wherever they wanted it.”

He raised his brows and interjected again: “So CACs from, say, the West End, might theoretically fund something in Shaughnessy?”

“That’s correct, except for False Creek North (FCN). Concord Pacific negotiated as part of their overall deal that CACs from their developments could only be used in FCN—I suspect they were afraid of exactly what’s happened elsewhere in the city.”

“Let’s bring this back around to affordability and my situation,” he said, to focus me, “not precarious yet, but getting there.”

I picked up the conversation. “Well, there are at least two things wrong with the current approach to CACs: firstly, they are not charged on a standard basis, so developers never know what they are in for and large approval time delays may occur, caused solely by CAC negotiations; secondly, the CACs go into a “pot” that seems used for just about everything except community amenities.”

I continued. “As a foundational principle, CACs for both rezonings and existing zoning development should be collected through a simple, universal formula and applied in or immediately adjacent to the neighbourhood where redevelopment is proposed.”

“Why did you add in or immediately adjacent to into the mix?” I smiled at his focus on the details.

“Many community amenities, such as pools, parks, etc., serve more than one neighbourhood,” I answered. “But where CACs from say, Killarney, are used for a facility in West Point Grey, there will be justifiable cries of outrage from Killarney.” He nodded so I kept going.

“But if those same CACs collected in Killarney are used for community amenities that because of, say, land availability, end up being located in the adjacent neighbourhoods of Renfrew-Collingwood or Victoria-Fraserview, and if that’s seen as a universal approach for all CACs, then I think neighbourhoods will go along.”

“You also mentioned both rezonings and existing zoning development. What’s up with that?”

More details! “I’ve written lots about the evils of spot rezonings—I hope they will become a legacy issue after the next election. But where, for example, zoning already allows for, say, residential atop commercial, then those developments already do and should continue to pay CACs at a defined rate.”

“We need to talk about how we manage development in existing zoning as well as spot rezoning, but that requires another refill.” He smiled as I arose to get another beverage.

The Time for Action is Here and Now

The additional four What Vancouver can do about… conversations that follow are my continuing take on actionable homelessness, housing insecurity, neighbourhood planning and related policies that our next civic government should focus on—what we can actually achieve versus what we might aspire to (and waste taxpayer money on). They may or may not be the detailed policies of any civic party, but are most closely aligned to TEAM for a Livable Vancouver.

Vancouver’s civic election is October 15th of this year. Lots more damage can still be done to our city before that date—and it will continue, and worsen, unless TEAM elects the next Mayor and a majority (6 of 10) City Councillors—less than 6 and not much will change for the better. If you are concerned that the City Conversations you’ve been reading are examples of what’s wrong with our city, feel some affinity to my What Vancouver can do about… conversations and want to bring back Vancouver’s livability, join TEAM and work with us to restore Vancouver as a place we can all afford to call home.

And please let me know what other subjects you are passionate about so we can have that conversation before election day, October 15th.

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Today’s questions: Do you think these foundational principles can work? Are they worth trying? What aspects do you like/dislike? Where do you think I have missed or hit the mark?

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I am a Vancouver-based architect, building envelope and building code consultant and LEED Accredited Professional (the first green building system). I am semi-retired for the moment, still teaching and writing, so not beholden to any client or city hall. City Conversations mix real discussion with research and observations based on my 40+ year career including the planning, design and construction of almost every type and scale of project. I am the author of the award winning Amazon best seller “An Architect’s Guide to Construction.” I am 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. Although I am not a candidate for TEAM or any other civic party, City Conversations are generally congruent with TEAM policy, so if you like the ideas that I’m writing about, please consider joining TEAM.