 Vancouver council to hold key votes on the future of the Broadway corridor | | |  | | | Next week, the new Vancouver council will be fighting a lot of the battles of the last Vancouver council.
On the agenda for its March 29 meeting is a report titled “Broadway Plan Implementation.”
The report, which you can read here, has a series of recommendations from staff on things to approve or not for its long-term plan for the major corridor, from whether it should have a bike lane to how many new buildings can be approved for the surrounding area in any given year.
People somewhat interested in municipal politics might read that and go, “Didn’t Vancouver pass the Broadway Plan last year? Why are they going back and having another series of controversial votes on this?
But you might remember that Vancouver’s last council was constantly asking staff to study issues and having difficulty gathering the necessary votes to pass concrete action on anything controversial.
It’s why when they passed their Broadway Plan — after three years of studies and consultations — there were a series of amendments that left the door open for future changes, ultimately leaving many of the big decisions up to the next council.
Well, the next council is here — and so are the decisions.
“We are in a rental housing deficit, and we’ve got a rapid transit line along this corridor that’s slated to open this year,” said ABC Vancouver Coun. Rebecca Bligh.
Much of the discussion around the vote next week is a “Pace of Change Policy,” requested by the last council, which would potentially limit new projects along the corridor to five per year.
But it doesn’t seem like an option that Bligh is keen on.
“We need to demonstrate that we are able to respond to this incredible investment … by enabling more housing units as fast as possible,” she said.
OneCity Coun. Chistine Boyle agreed that five projects a year was too low, though her focus is on securing a bike lane along Broadway.
“A lot more people will be moving to the area and calling Broadway home, and we need to make sure as many people as possible can be moving safely throughout the corridor,” she said.
“Pushing this change down the road 20 plus years will cost a lot more later and be much more disruptive.”
A lot of municipal politics can be very speculative, with reports of council asking staff to study something or prepare changes to something without tangible changes to how the city is run.
That was certainly the case for a lot of Vancouver politics over the past four years. But the votes next week will likely be another example of how that era is quickly coming to an end. | | |  | | | 1. When Government Goes Bad | | | It was another week of Council Conduct Controversy, as Tahsis found itself in a screaming match over a motion to censure another councillor, while Kamloops once again saw the mayor at odds with everyone else around the council table, this time over his attempts to change the makeup of committees. There seems to be a high number of B.C. communities with dysfunctional councils this early in the term, but is it historically significant? The UBCM president doesn’t necessarily think so.
Read more | | |  | | | 2. Public feedback | But even in councils that are fairly cohesive, there is plenty of consternation over what is respectful conduct — not from other councillors, but from the public. Debates in White Rock and Langford this week are a reminder that local government, unlike provincial and federal counterparts, has a very public aspect that is fairly unsettled at the moment.
Read more in the Goldstream News Gazette | | | |  | | | 3. Burnaby | Most councils weren’t in session this week owing to spring break, but Burnaby had an emergency vote and discussion to cancel a potential organic waste facility in a park. It was an example of a city abruptly changing course due to feedback — but also sparked a conversation over how complex the Alternative Approval Process is for municipalities and whether it’s a valuable tool to use. Read more in the Burnaby Now | | | | | |  | | | 4. Vancouver | It’s been a busy couple of weeks for former mayor Kennedy Stewart: fresh off his comments about CSIS investigations into potential Chinese government interference in last year’s election, he was awarded $100,000 to cover the cost of fighting an NPA defamation case last year. But it was also revealed he’s facing different money troubles stemming from the campaign.
Read more in Global News | | | |  | | | 5. Vernon | Way back in 2019, Vernon council passed a bylaw banning most items from being placed on gravesites in its public cemetery, including war medals, framed photos or religious items. But it wasn’t until recently that the rule began being enforced — and it’s sparked an outcry and an online petition. We’ll see if it has the same effect as the 2022 scary masks petition. Read more | | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | | That's it for this this week! In the meantime, check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy on Twitter. And if you have any questions you might want answered in a future mailbag, drop Justin a line at metromatters@cbc.ca. | | | |
