West End Residents Association

Brook + Associates Inc. has applied to the City to rezone this site from C-5 (Commercial) District to a CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) District to permit conversion of the existing hotel rooms and hotel facilities to residential (rental), office and retail uses. The existing Denman Mall would remain unchanged.

314 Rental units would be created. The conversion would not occur until the current hotel operator ceases to operate at this location.

You are invited to an Open House to view the application and to meet City staff and the applicant team members who will be available to answer questions and receive comments. You can also provide comments by filling out our online feedback form.

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Time: 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Place: West End Community Centre, Denman Room, 870 Denman Street

CoV Rezoning

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. “[But] the projects themselves aren’t really addressing the number-one concern of westenders, which is affordability.”

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The deadline to offer comments on the proposed rezoning of St. John Church is to today. There is an online feedback forum atfeedback forum

or

-By regular mail: City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Y 1V4
-By fax: 604-873-7060

For more info on the proposed rezoning:1401 Comox St.

Action Plan From WERA Community Forum

1. Attend open house on Nov. 24 for rezoning application of 1401 Comox St.:
Coast Plaza Hotel, Nelson Room, 1763 Comox St., 4 to 7 pm
Jackie Wong article
open house notification letter

For more info:

Rezoning application

2. Sign up to speak at public hearing on Tuesday Dec 1. On the rezoning application of 1215 Bidwell. St., Council Chamber City Hall call 604 871 6355 to put on the speakers list.

3. Email Mayor and Council and let them know what your views of the proposed rezoning application

mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca
or
Vancouver City Hall
453 West 12th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Y1V4

or call

311

More info available at:

1401 comox.ca

CoV rezoning applications

WERA president Brent Granby was busy on November 14 getting the word out about the upcoming WERA-sponsored public meeting about West End rezonings. See http://wera.bc.ca/archives/886 for details.

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