KCC Community
Visions Program
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KCC Community Vision Summary
KCC Community Vision Action Plan
KCC CityPlan Committee Meeting Notes
KCC Initiatives
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Kensington-Cedar Cottage CityPlan Committee
Meeting Notes
Kensington-Cedar Cottage CityPlan
Committee Meeting
Thursday, February 7, 2008
7:00 pm
Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood Pub (Dickens Room)
3728 Clark Drive
| Chairperson: |
John Buckberrough |
| Attendees: |
Peter W., Mike K, Milinda S., Tyler H., Joseph J., Lilli W., Rick P., John M., Kelly R., Kim N., Anne R., Barbara M., Marit R., Craig M.
Visions Implementation Staff:
Edna Cho
Guests: Sue Davis, Vancouver Coastal Health; Ronda Howard, City of Vancouver |
1. Additions to the Agenda
- Request from the ‘Vancouver Neighbourhoods for Eco-City’ group to sign on to a letter outlining concerns around EcoDensity. While the KCC CityPlan Committee did not agree with all points in the letter, there was enough concern among members over the EcoDensity process that the group decided to endorse the letter.
- Grais Park (tabled for next meeting)
- City owned land at Knight and King Edward (tabled for next meeting)
2. Approval of minutes - approved
3. 1669 E. Broadway – development and pre application process (Sue Davis):
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is planning to relocate the Grandview-Woodlands Community Health Centre and Mental Health Unit (currently located at 1st and Commercial) to 1669 E. Broadway. The working proposal is for a four storey building with retail on the 1st floor, and two floors above for health services. Other programs proposed include SAFER (services for those suffering from the loss of a loved-one), geriatric Intake, suicide prevention, and several outreach programs. Most of these services are provided for residents in Grandview-Woodlands and KCC communities.
This proposal is in the pre-application stage – there has been no development permit application made yet to the City of Vancouver. VCH is hosting a pre-application Open House on Saturday, February 16 at Britannia Secondary School. Information about VCH programs will be available at this event.
4.Pan Visions (John/Edna)
There will be a ‘mini’ Pan Visions Meeting with representatives of the eight CityPlan Committees and City staff. The meeting will be held on Monday, February 11 at VanDusen Gardens. Each committee has been asked to select two representatives. The meeting will focus on two main agenda items: 1) a summary report by each committee on what they’ve heard so far about EcoDensity at the CityPlan Committee meetings, and 2) general discussion about the future EcoDensity process and community involvement. John Buckberrough and Kim Nulty volunteered to be the KCC representatives.
5. Friends of Dickens (Barbara)
Barbara organized a ‘think tank’ discussion on January 31 to brainstorm ways to retain the 1913 portion of Charles Dickens Elementary. The event was a great success and was attended by Committee members, City staff, Neighbourhood organizations, Heritage Commission, Provincial Ministry Staff, and politicians (Suzanne Anton – City Councillor, Jenny Kwan, MLA). The Friends of Dickens Subcommittee would like to retain the building for children’s programming. Arts Umbrella has offered to provide free programs. Demolition is slated for the summer. The Subcommittee’s next step is to continue to gather support and to raise awareness for the project.
6. Presentation and Discussion: EcoDensity Draft Charter and Initial Actions (Ronda Howard)
Ronda gave a brief overview about the EcoDensity Draft Charter and Initial Actions and outlined the process to date. On November 27, 2007, Council received a staff report, "Next Stage of EcoDensity Public Consultation: Draft Charter and Draft Initial Actions." Council referred the draft EcoDensity Charter and Initial Actions to further consultation in January and February 2008. A Special Council Meeting date for Council to hear from the public is scheduled for February 26.
Issues and Questions raised by the group:
Amenities
- Is there adequate capital funding to pay for services/amenities related to growth?
- Concern that the City does not look at Capital funding in a wholistic manner (e.g. a beauty contest between departments)
- We are currently falling behind on providing community services and infrastructure (wait time is long between when the density is put in place and when the amenities are in place)
- Concern that there will be density without parks and community space
- Vancouver chronically under-invests in public amenities
- Ideas:
- there should be a freeze on selling City-owned property; use those properties for public space, parks, etc…
- footprint tax
Affordable housing
- Concern that increase in density will not be affordable for ‘regular’ Vancouverites (e.g. families with children can’t afford to live in Vancouver)
- Supply and demand doesn’t work in Vancouver – increase supply doesn’t equal more affordable housing
- Ideas:
- Zone land for rental housing
- Require middle-income/low-income housing
- Use Property Endowment Fund to subsidize low/middle-income housing
EcoDensity should be thoughtfully and carefully approached
- Lots of nuances need to be considered (e.g. some areas, like apartment areas, should be retained for rental housing and not encouraged for redevelopment into higher densities)
- Shouldn’t encourage blanket C2 zoning
Relationship with the Community Visions
- Concern that EcoDensity will “run roughshod” over the Visions
- The Visions yields density. Why don’t we just put more resources into implementing the Visions?
- The Visions are not specifically acknowledged in EcoDensity
Process
- Concern that the process is too fast (should ask Council for a delay)
- Concern that there will be too much process (implementation of EcoDensity will take too if “we process ourselves to death”)
Character/Design guidelines should be encouraged
Encouraging employment is an important part of a sustainable City
Discussion items/points of clarification
-EcoDensity is only one part of a Sustainable City (other parts like Transportation, food policy, Amenities, etc., are being currently addressed by other Departments in the City)
-Density is the tool for achieving a sustainable City, not the goal.
-Timing – EcoDensity would roll out over ‘generations’
Other (review and refine RT10/RM1 schedule at K&K)
-strong desire and interest was expressed to review the current RT10 and RM1 zones with the HAWGs and Neighbourhood Centres staff to understand what is working, and what parts of the zoning need to be refined.
7. Next meeting
Thursday, April 3, 2008 at Trout Lake Community Centre, 7-9pm
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