NSV submitted two letters to City Council before the Public Hearing held on April 9, 2013. Please find the full text of these letters reproduced below as both text files and PDFs. The rezoning of 1900 RS-1 zoned lots in Norquay to one of four new District Schedules represents a very large-scale change in residential land use in Vancouver. Excellent in-depth analysis is available on the website Eye on Norquay that contains many details on both the area wide rezoning of Norquay and on the rezoning of 2220 Kingsway.
Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan Implementation – New Zoning District Schedules – RT-11/RT-11N and RM-7/RM-7N (Rezoning)
PDF Version
2220 Kingsway (CD-1 Rezoning three 14-storey towers on a podium at former Canadian Tire site)
PDF Version
Text version: Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan Implementation – New Zoning District Schedules – RT-11/RT-11N and RM-7/RM-7N (Rezoning)
April 8, 2013
Mayor Robertson and Councillors
City of Vancouver
453 West 12 Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1V4
Dear Mayor Robertson and Councillors,
Re: REZONING – Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan Implementation – New Zoning District Schedules – RT-11/RT-11N and RM-7/RM-7N
Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver join Norquay residents in opposition to the rezoning of Norquay as currently proposed. The rezoning was not community supported and was not consistent with the Community Vision or policy plan. These Zoning District Schedules should not be used as a precedent for other neighbourhoods.
Some of the concerns are as follows.
1. There has been no community consultation on the new District Schedules as they were only released to the public with the policy report 3 weeks before the public hearing. This is not enough time for the community to review the complex documents in detail. Therefore, please delay approval of the new District schedules until a thorough public consultation process has been undertaken.
2. Details are not consistent with the Norquay Plan. Particular concern attaches to rowhouse widths that go below the 16 ft minimum already specified. We request that schedules be amended to respect the Plan. Currently the draft guidelines only requires 12 ft. minimum and possibly narrower.
3. All allocation of Community Amenity Contribution (CAC) should involve meaningful consultation with the local community and respect the result of that consultation. Priority must be given to the specific major promises developed through the extensive process that led to the Norquay Plan: indoor and outdoor community space at the 2400 Motel site, completion of the Renfrew Ravine linear park, extensions to and improvements of Brock and Slocan Parks. No allocations to other items should be made until these specific major promises have been fulfilled.
4. The Norquay area itself is admitted to be without any amenity other than daycare, which is not a general benefit visible to the broad community. Recent growth has brought none of the commensurate amenity promised in the community vision. Significant new capital plan funding is required. The 2011-2014 capital plan made no specification for Norquay, despite the Norquay Plan having been passed in November 2010.
5. There is no plan in place to house the people who will be displaced through gentrification and loss of older more affordable secondary suites, as the new buildings will be too expensive for many existing renters.
This proposed rezoning is geared to serve the interests of the development industry, and treats Norquay as a commodity to be exploited for profit, without sufficient regard for the existing or future community We recommend that much greater care be taken to ensure that the problems we have identified are addressed.
Sincerely,
The Steering Committee
Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver
Group contact email: info@nsvancouver.ca www.nsvancouver.ca
http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20130409/phea20130409ag.htm
Text version: 2220 Kingsway (CD-1 Rezoning three 14-storey towers on a podium at former Canadian Tire site)
April 9, 2013
Mayor Robertson and Councillors
City of Vancouver
453 West 12 Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1V4
Dear Mayor Robertson and Councillors,
Re: REZONING – 2220 Kingsway
Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver joins the Norquay community in opposition to the rezoning of 2220 Kingsway.
Some of the concerns are as follows.
1. The policy plan was not community supported and is not consistent with the Community Vision. Moreover, the policy plan implied only one tower of 14 storeys– not three towers.
2. The scale of the development is much too high and dense for the area. Note comparison between the current development proposal and what was approved by Council in the policy plan (attached below).
3. The $4 million Community Amenity Contribution (CAC) is too small and the community should determine how it is to be invested. The on-site CAC is far too oriented to benefiting the development itself.
4. The public art funding should go to artists based in East Vancouver, if possible to those based in or close to Norquay. A poodle on a pole from an outsider is not wanted. Please address these concerns as expressed by the community and do not approve this rezoning as proposed.
Sincerely,
The Steering Committee
Neighbourhoods for a Sustainable Vancouver
Group contact email: info@nsvancouver.ca www.nsvancouver.ca
http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20130409/phea20130409ag.htm
http://eyeonnorquay.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/walled-off-compound/
