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Vancouver council pushes controversial Chinatown ‘downzoning’ to public hearing

City votes for public feedback on reducing density in historic neighbourhood
chinatown photo chris cheung
Under new City proposals, new development heights in Chinatown would be restricted, in response to concerns from residents over the pace of change in the area. Photo Chris Cheung


In a move described at council as “unusual,” the City of Vancouver council voted June 5 to send to public hearing a proposed policy that aims to reduce previously allowed density in the historic Chinatown neighbourhood.

Responding to widespread concerns about the pace of change in the area, a report put forward by city staff recommended that the 2011 policy, allowing buildings of up to 150 feet along Main Street and 120 feet in Chinatown South, be amended to reduce the maximum allowable heights, floor-space ratio and building-frontage widths.

Under the new proposal, buildings could not exceed a maximum conditional height of 90 feet and an outright height of 70 feet, with frontages not exceeding 75 feet. The new policy would also prevent developers from giving on-site or cash contributions towards community or cultural amenities, or social or affordable housing elements in exchange for higher density, which could make it more difficult to provide such elements.

Since the 2011 plan was put in place, six high-density projects have been approved or completed, including Keefer Block and BlueSky Chinatown. The pace of development has resulted in headline-hitting protests against projects such as 105 Keefer Street, which was denied a permit by the City.

However, local groups are at odds on whether reducing density in the area – known as “downzoning” – is best for the neighbourhood.

Some groups – such as the #SaveChinatownYVR campaign – are in support of the new downzoning proposal proceeding to a public hearing, saying that it will protect the neighbourhood from real estate speculation.

Opposing them is a group called Chinatown Voices, which claims to represent more than 50 per cent of property owners in the area along with many store owners and residents. Chinatown Voices says that reducing density is the last thing they want as it would reduce market housing and the number of residents and shoppers in the neighbourhood. The group held a meeting June 4 to call on the City to slow down on the changes, talk to more members of the community and reconsider the proposed zoning reductions.

Organizers of the #SaveChinatownYVR campaign claim on their website that Chinatown Voices is made up largely of property developers who have a vested financial interest in keeping zoning high.

At City Hall Tuesday, city senior planner Helen Ma said that the city’s Chinatown Transformation Team had held several public consultations over the past three weeks, including the June 4 meeting with Chinatown Voices, after the city postponed the previously scheduled vote in May. Ma said, “We don’t believe anything would change [if we were given more time]. We have spent three and a half years consulting, proposing ideas and revising the policy recommendations. We’ve talked to over 1,000 people, offered multiple opportunities for people to give us feedback, and we’ve gone above and beyond in our normal notification process.”

Vancouver’s chief planner Gil Kelley added, “[The 2011 policy] did not give us the Chinatown that we wanted… There’s nothing punitive about these rezoning proposals that would hamper economic development.”

NPA councillor Melissa de Genova made a motion to refer the proposal to an economic impact study, to be included in a new version of the report by September before pushing it to public hearing. She cited concerns such as those expressed by Chinatown Voices that businesses will suffer with reduced residential density. The referral motion failed 7-4. Councillor de Genova’s follow-up motion to extend the proposal’s public consultation with business owners until September was deemed too similar and therefore out of order.

Tuesday’s final vote was 10-1, with only Councillor de Genova voting against sending the proposal to public hearing.

As well as pushing the downzoning changes, the City is asking UNESCO to designate Chinatown as a World Heritage Site as another tool to protect the neighbourhood’s character while attracting tourism.