On January 31, 2010 WERA hosted a community forum called “Your Story. Our Future.”
This forum was held as part of a campaign for community-based planning and a comprehensive community vision for the West End. The forum included a visioning workshop, a Q&A with the City of Vancouver, and a case study discussion of a future redevelopment in the West End.
WERA hired facilitator, Dara Parker, to produce a report from this forum: WERA Community Visioning Report
WERA director Christine Ackermann is quoted in this story in this week’s WE newspaper. Posted here with the permission of the author.
NEWS: Community unites to “vision” a better West End
Posted By: Jackie Wong

03/17/2010 12:00 AM

A group of West End residents gathered in front of the Beach Towers apartment building at Harwood and Cardero streets Sunday afternoon (March 14) to voice their opposition to a rezoning and development application for the site that will soon be submitted to the City of Vancouver. The proposed rezoning for Beach Towers — which consists of four towers clustered along Beach Avenue between Cardero and Bidwell — is the most recent in a series of rezoning applications that has drawn criticism from neighbourhood residents.

A rezoning application for a 21-storey tower at 1215 Bidwell, as well as an application for a 22-storey tower at 1401 Comox Street (currently the site of St. John’s United Church), have raised neighbourhood concerns about a perceived lack of public consultation. They are part of the City’s Short Term Incentives for Rental (STIR) program, a two-and-a-half-year initiative approved by city council in June 2009 that provides incentives for developers to build new market rental housing. Incentives include parking requirement reductions and expedited permit processing.
“What’s happening in the West End is that there’s been a number of rezoning applications because of the STIR program,” says West End Residents Association (WERA) director Christine Ackermann. “ the projects themselves aren’t really addressing the number-one concern of westenders, which is affordability.”

The public hearing on the rezoning of Maxine’s at 1215 Bidwell will be held on December 1, 2009.

The public open house on the rezoning of St. John’s at 1401 Comox will be held on November 24, 2009.

WERA is committed to facilitating a responsible and critical public dialogue among residents and City Hall when it comes to rezoning and development applications.

We encourage as many residents as possible to be engaged in the public process. WERA has invited folks to attend open houses, fill out comments forums, write to Mayor and Council and attend Council meetings. These are the ways in which you have a chance for your voice to be heard. We also believe residents need a chance to speak and listen to each other.

WERA will host a community forum on Saturday Nov. 21 (1-3pm, Crystal Ballroom, Empire Landmark Hotel at Robson & Broughton) to give residents of the West End an opportunity to share their concerns and thoughts with each other, and to become more informed about the proposed rezoning on Bidwell St. and on Comox St. We’ll review the steps in the rezoning process. We’ll talk about visioning the future of our community.

WERA views Vancouver’s future through three critical lenses: affordability, livability, and ecological sustainability. When we speak at City Council about rezoning applications, we ask these questions:

• Do these projects create more affordability in our community?
• What will this affordability look like?
• How big are unit sizes, is this livable?
• How will this project contribute to a sustainable city for the future? Does the project promote use of cars?
• How will the commercial space contribute to economic vitality of our community?
• What is our equity stake in this building? How much is the community giving up in development levies by the application of the STIR program in these developments? Is the rental stock we receive in return a worthy trade?

WERA presented these articles last year on the issues of housing, affordability, and Vancouver’s future:

Affordability facilitates diversity=economic vitality

What is the most excellent critical mass

Housing Authority for Vancouver

Again, WERA strongly encourages all residents to become involved in their community’s future by engaging in the public process. We also welcome feedback at WERA. See CONTACT US.

A new website has been created for information and discussion about the proposed rezoning of 1401 Comox Street. The site can be found at: www.1401comox.ca

How will Vancouver maintain its high quality of life if it loses its affordability? People from all over the world relocate in Vancouver. The city has a spectacular setting, situated in the valley of the Coastal Mountains, but increasingly Vancouver is becoming less affordable. The change in affordability is also going to affect the diversity of the city. Particular in the West End, where over 80% of residents are renters, keeping market rate rental units affordable is essential to ensure the neighbourhood’s diversity and to maintain and improve the livability of the community.

WERA Director Christine Ackermann is quoted by Jackie Wong in the following West Ender article:

TRAC to handle olympic-related tenant disputes
By Jackie Wong

As part of its efforts to prevent unfair evictions during the lead-up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the City of Vancouver has hired the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC) to help renters deal with Olympic-related tenancy issues. The City had originally set aside $40,000 for a tenant-assistance worker to start work this past spring, with the position remaining active through Games time. The position will now be shared among TRAC staff, who will hire additional part-time workers to help run a drop-in office at an as-yet-undetermined location.