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Thirteen-story BC Housing project at Arbutus and 7th Avenue will provide permanent shelter for 129 homeless people
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July 27, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 3 minutes read • 90 comments An artist’s rendering of the Arbutus project in Kitsilano which will provide 129 units of single occupancy. jpg
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Vancouver city council has approved rezoning for the second of five BC Housing developments in the city that will create 424 apartments for the homeless.
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The City Council voted Tuesday night to rezone a city-owned site on Arbutus Street in Kitsilano between 7th and 8th Avenues (next to the planned Arbutus Metro Station) to allow a 13-storey building with 129 single-person social housing units providing mental health and mental health. other media. The project will be managed by the MPA Society, a long-standing not-for-profit agency with 220 full-time employees.
Each unit will have a kitchen and bathroom and occupants will have security of tenure, said Celine Mauboules, the city’s director of housing and homeless services. He said 99% of the estimated 250 people living in tents and canvas structures along Hastings Street right now would jump at the chance to occupy one of these units.
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Last week, a community group called The Kitsilano Coalition called on the City of Vancouver and BC Housing to reconsider the Arbutus social housing project after then-Housing Minister David Eby fired BC Housing’s board . They were fired because the agency was found to sometimes hand out multibillion-dollar contracts without a rigorous process to ensure the best supplier was chosen.
Some residents worried the new development would affect safety in the area, fearing the situation when the 147-unit Marguerite Ford social housing project opened in the 200 block of West 2nd Avenue and generated more than 700 police calls in 18 months. The development is also across the road from a primary school.
Coun. Colleen Hardwick, who is running for mayor in the October municipal election, was the staunchest advocate for those neighbors and voted against the project. Councilors Melissa De Genova and Sarah Kirby-Yung also opposed the project.
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Hardwick said 75 percent of the council’s 300 speakers opposed the project, including mental health researcher Dr. Julian Somers, retired provincial court judge Tom Gove, who ran the centre’s community court, and staff at the Sancta Maria recovery home. For women
“Instead of standing up and demanding a better model, the majority of council accepted the failed model presented by BC Housing as good enough,” Hardwick said.
Coun. Adriane Carr, who backed the project, pointed out that former mayor Gregor Robertson had promised to end homelessness in 2015 and it was a false promise with homelessness in the city “worse than ever”.
Coun. Lisa Dominato said the community consultation process for the project was poor, but the MPA Society had a good reputation and would work to create a good tenant mix.
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The project was supported by the rest of the council and Mayor Kennedy Stewart.
“As more and more neighbors are pushed onto the streets due to a lack of supportive housing, this project offers hope for a better way forward,” Stewart said in a statement. “129 residents will soon have their own place to call home, with comprehensive services ensuring they are well supported.”
Part of council’s approval was for the MPA Society and BC Housing to create an advisory group to hear any concerns once the project is up and running, that a pedestrian-controlled flashing light be installed at 7th and Arbutus and that the project consider offering more than one – Employment of people in the units.
The other BC Housing project that has been approved is located in the 1400 block of King Edward Avenue East. This will be a 14-storey building with 109 units operated by the Vancouver Native Housing Society.
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The three projects that have yet to receive rezoning approval to move forward are a planned six-story building at 2930 Renfrew St. offering 50 individual units operated by Lu’ma Native Housing Society, a six-story, 64-unit development in the 2500 block of South Grandview Highway led by Community Builders and a six-story, 72-unit project at 1925 Southeast Marine Drive operated by The Kettle Society.
dcarrigg@postmedia.com
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