City of Vancouver quashes approval for hotly-debated supportive housing project
Housing minister expresses disappointment as housing site no longer planned at Arbutus Street and 8th Avenue
The City of Vancouver has withdrawn its support for a supportive housing project in the Kitsilano neighbourhood that has been the subject of numerous court challenges.
The B.C. Housing project on city-owned land, at Arbutus Street and 8th Avenue, was approved in 2022 under a previous city council after half a dozen contentious public hearings.
However, a group of local residents called the Kitsilano Coalition filed a court challenge against the rezoning — which prompted the B.C. government to issue legislation in favour of the project and bypass the courts.
But that legislation was subsequently found to be unlawful by the B.C. Court of Appeal, and now, the City of Vancouver has decided to end its legal defence of the project.
That means the rezoning approved in 2022 is no longer valid, and the province and city will have to work on another proposal for the site.
"It's clear this location wasn't the right fit for the scale and type of housing that was proposed," Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement Tuesday.
"While we won't speculate on the future of the site, we fully believe in the important role that both supportive and social housing play in Vancouver's diverse housing mix."
The Kitsilano Coalition said it mounted its court challenge over public safety concerns, with members saying the housing site was next to a park and elementary school.
Coalition spokesperson Karen Finnan said she believed the public hearing that led to the project's approval was flawed and not conducted in accordance with the Vancouver Charter.
"We are grateful that the current council is looking to work with us instead of pushing back on us," she told CBC News. "And we would hope that the provincial government, as well, will reassess how they are managing issues of homelessness, mental illness and addiction."
Other Kitsilano residents that spoke to CBC News, however, expressed support for the proposal, which would have created 129 single-occupancy units for people who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes.
"I think everyone sees that there's a huge housing crisis and homelessness crisis in Vancouver, and it's not gonna solve itself, right?" said Dina Dinat.
"People have to actively create more housing and different kinds of housing to help vulnerable populations."
Opposition councillor, minister disappointed
Both an opposition councillor and the province's housing minister expressed disappointment with the cancellation of the rezoning, especially as there is very little supportive housing in Vancouver's Westside.
OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney said Sim's move wasn't surprising after his motion to freeze the construction of new supportive housing units in the city, and that the mayor was pointing the finger at other governments for problems he should take responsibility for.
"We need to be showing leadership to solve the homelessness crisis," she said. "We need to be working with every level of government and across the region, but we also need to take responsibility for what we can do in the City of Vancouver."
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon also expressed disappointment with the city's decision, given the support the province had put behind the proposal.
"It's disappointing because we know there's people right now in that community sleeping in encampments, sleeping in parks, and we need to get people indoors to get them supports," he said.
"That gives us an opportunity now to look for other opportunities within the community because, [at] the end of the day, it's about supporting the vulnerable people that are struggling in that community."
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With files from Johna Baylon, Katie DeRosa and Renée Lukacs