1906-1918 West 4th Avenue

I love my partner, but Darren can be a little naive sometimes, so when he told me he thought the open house for rental housing at Cypress and West 4th will be quiet, I smiled and prepared for the worst. Still, as Kitsilano is known for being a free spirited community, it is easy to understand why he thought these homes would be accepted. Plus, this particular area of the West 4th BIA has some of the best restaurants in the city — who hasn’t heard of Fable, Rain or Shine Ice Cream, or Trattoria’s annual meatball eating competition. The 84 express bus with its high frequency connection to Skytrain and UBC, as well as the neighbourhood’s cycling infrastructure means that no matter how you choose to commute, the Downtown Core is literally minutes away. Top it off with a local owner simply wanting to leave a legacy and a place for his kids to live, and this project should have enjoyed widespread support.

What Darren overlooked is that policy would have allowed for this project to be one floor taller, which would have provided an additional 6 – 8 homes. We can only assume that backlash at the pre-application open house resulted in the current proposal. When we arrive around 6pm, there were about 8 people in attendance, with only 6 more coming after us, including a member of Abundant Housing Vancouver. As we entered the room we saw a middle aged couple complaining about the size of the the outdoor amenity space, how close it was to their single family home, and how there should be more than 1 parking stall per unit. That’s actually a standard reaction at these events. After taking in the boards, Darren made his way to the model to ask staff why so much parking was proposed for this rental building, while I grabbed a coffee.

I didn’t hear it happen, but the conversation was joined by a resident who claimed this rental building was simply too much for the neighbourhood. She started yelling that this was designed to be a wedge that would allow the entire neighbourhood to be redeveloped, which would result in the eviction of the seniors who live there. When Darren said he didn’t realize that the nearby buildings were rental housing, she looked disgusted. She bellowed that of course these buildings weren’t rental, rather her concern was that owners could be forced to move if 80% of their building chose to accept a large payout from a developer. Darren tried to reassure her, explaining that even if one day in the future that happened, a residents who bought in the 1970s or 1980s would receive a windfall large enough that they could still live in Kitsilano. She simply scoffed at this, it wasn’t good enough for people to be able to stay in the neighbourhood, the neighbourhood had to remain in the same condition as it had for years.

At this point, a young couple spoke up, and Darren looked relieved when they asked how that issue related to this building. That calm ended when they explained how upset they were that it was 5 floors tall, highlighting they chose to buy a home in a 3 story neighbourhood. They had no desire for that environment to change, even though they complained they were currently “trapped in a small box.” When Darren tried to explain how more density and rental homes could allow them to have more options, he was interrupted by someone who claimed adding more homes would only succeed in ruining the neighbourhood. Giving up, he simply asked, “Then what are people to do? Commute an hour or two everyday from Langley or Abbotsford?” This evoked a resounding yes. The original speaker, literally frothing at the mouth at this point, screamed at Darren, “We birthed you! We deserve to live here! You should commute to work from Abbotsford, and you can have the City when we’re done with it!”

I could see this comment deeply bothered Darren, and motioned to him there was no point in trying to engage further. After Darren withdrew, we consoled ourselves with Tim Horton’s Boxed Coffee and a TimBit. While city staff tried to calm the crowd, we overheard a separate discussion. A member of the applicant team, visibly shaken, was asking staff what they had done wrong to so anger the community. The staffer shrugged, and responded that if the applicant wanted, they could take an easier option. Pointing out that the current zoning allows for 4 floors here, the applicant could simply apply for a development permit which would be a simpler process. That choice would result in the loss of two – 1 bedroom and six – 2 bedroom homes. We assume the rents of the remaining homes would be raised to compensate for the lost rental income.

There are already flyers being posted in Kitsilano asking resident to write council and oppose this building. We believe all voices should be heard, but if you believe it is unfair to ask people to waste their lives stuck on the TransCanada, than make sure to write in so that the city hears more than just the voice that wants to drive us to the suburbs.

The proposal includes:

Commercial uses at grade;

32 secured market rental units above;

a total floor area of 3,055 sq.m (32,887 sq. ft.);

a total floor space ratio (FSR) of 3.13;

a building height of 18.9 m (62 ft.); and

2 levels of underground parking.

– Source