VANCOUVER — The B.C. Supreme Court says the City of Vancouver did nothing wrong in allowing Concord Pacific to continue using a future park on False Creek for commercial purposes.

In a ruling issued Wednesday, Justice Robert Sewell dismissed an application by the False Creek Residents Association to overturn the extension of temporary development permit the city gave to Concord Pacific while it completes adjacent developments.

He also ruled against the FCRA's application for a declaration that any use of the area, known as Sub-area 9, must conform to its zoning, which restricts uses to park and ancillary uses.

In his ruling Sewell said he believes the city has the jurisdiction to relax the provisions of the zoning bylaw that governs the park area. He concluded that city planning director Brian Jackson's decision to allow Concord Pacific to use the park for a sales centre "falls within a range of possible, acceptable outcomes given the relevant facts and law."

He said that as a result of that finding, the residents' association had therefore not shown any grounds for why the second declaration could be made.

The residents' association launched the lawsuit last year after the city continued to give Concord Pacific permission to use the future park for commercial purposes. It argued that residents of the neighbourhood — one of those built by Concord Pacific in a 20-year build-out of former Expo 86 lands — had waited long enough for the promised park.

Concord Pacific has said the park is delayed because it involves the treatment of contaminated soils, which is the responsibility of the province. It also is awaiting a decision by the city on the future of the adjacent Dunsmuir and Georgia Viaducts. Their removal, fancied by the city, would alter development plans for the area.

More to come.

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