The Information Below Is Supplied By
The Yaletown Residence Association. The Comments and Opinions are Solely those
of the individuals providing the information and do not reflect those of Les Twarog
and his team.
1050 Expo Boulevard:
Yaletown Residents are Concerned!
The City of Vancouver is
considering a development application to construct a 133-unit building at 1050
Expo Boulevard to house “single individuals who have low incomes, who are
homeless or at risk of homelessness and currently living in older hotels and rooming
houses of Downtown1.” Under the proposal, “a
third to a half of the 133 units would be occupied by persons with a mental illness
and/or substance abuse problem2,” with a “minimum
of 2 staff on duty1” at any given time.
The City’s only information
mailing to nearby residents notifying them of the development application is dated
9 June 20081. While the City claims that “any development
proposal for social housing on this site will be subject to public discussion
through the development permit approval process2,”
the Project Facilitator has stated that at the forthcoming public meeting of the
Development Permit Board on 25 August 2008 at City Hall, the Board “are
not debating the use of the building, as it has already been decided by City Council3.”
This refers to a decision that was taken at a City Council meeting on 19 December
2007, nearly six months before the information mailing to residents, for which
the City provided advance information via newspaper adverts that did not mention
the address, size, or intended composition of residents of the proposed development;
and via its website.
The City’s main experience
of supported housing outside the Downtown Core is limited to apartment buildings
ranging from 9 to 34 units2. The 1050 Expo Boulevard site
was described as having “a maximum potential of 100 units4”
at the City Council meeting of 19 December 2007. Subsequent to this meeting
and without public consultation, the proposed number of units was increased to
133. A study on the impact of supported housing on nearby communities, cited
by the City itself2, found that for “large facilities
with 53 or more residents, rates of reported violent and total crime increased
significantly within 500 feet of the sites after they opened5.”
Where does the Yaletown
Residents Association stand?
- We strongly support the provision
of social housing in our community. At the same time we insist that Yaletown residents
should be properly consulted about the development of 1050 Expo Boulevard. We
are willing and eager to work in partnership with the City to form a plan to address
both the need for social housing and the long term livability of Yaletown.
- We are greatly concerned by the size, composition, and very low minimum staffing
levels of the proposed 1050 Expo Boulevard building. We believe the proposal in
its current form is not in the best interests of either the future residents
of the building or existing Yaletown residents.
If you are also concerned
then:
- Send email to the Mayor and
City Council at [email protected], or register your concern by writing
your name and address in the box below and mailing this letter to
Mayor and Council, City of Vancouver, 453 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y
1V4
- Sign the request at www.ipetitions.com/petition/insufficient-notification
for a meeting between the Yaletown Residents Association and the City Council
at which all aspects of the proposed 1050 Expo Boulevard development will be open
for discussion
- Send email to [email protected] to ask to speak at the 25 August
2008 meeting of the Development Permit Board at 3.00pm in Committee Room No.1,
3rd Floor of City Hall
- Email [email protected] to receive updates from the Yaletown Residents
Association
1 Notification letter dated
9 June 2008, distributed to residents living near to 1050 Expo Boulevard
2 City of Vancouver website www.vancouver.ca/commsvcs/housing/reservedsites/owned/1050ExpoBlvd.htm
3 Email sent by John Greer, City of Vancouver Project Facilitator for 1050 Expo
Boulevard, 31 July 2008
4 Memorandum of Understanding between BC Housing and the City, approved by Vancouver
City Council on 19 December 2007
5 G. Galster et al, “The impact of supportive housing on neighborhood crime
rates”, J. Urban Affairs vol. 24, pp. 289–315, 2002
The City of Vancouver
considers that newspaper adverts like this were sufficient notification of the
City Council special meeting on 12 Dec 2007 for the proposed 1050 Expo Boulevard
development.
WE DON'T.
- No mention of 1050 Expo Boulevard
- No description of the number of
units or the intended composition of residents in the proposed development
- Details can be found only by following
links to the City’s website
- Information mailing to nearby Yaletown
residents undertaken only in June 2008, six months after the City Council’s
decision
- The City claims there will be “public
discussion through the development permit approval process”, but states
that at the public meeting on 25 Aug 2008, the Development Permit Board “are
not debating the use of the building, as it has already been decided by City Council1”
We consider the notification process
followed by the City of Vancouver for the Special Council Meeting on the proposed
1050 Expo Boulevard development to be inadequate. We request a meeting between
the Yaletown Residents Association and the City Council at which all aspects of
the proposal will be open for discussion.
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