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Posted Mar 14, 2008, 7:28 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Vancouver
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Article from the Courier about those gardening plots on Pacific @ Seymour:
Quote:
Developers sprouting gardens
Allen Garr, Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, March 14, 2008
Sometime during last summer's civic strike a Tex-Mex rib joint named Carlos 'N Bud's disappeared from the corner of Pacific and Seymour and a most amazing transformation took place. The building's rubble was removed and was replaced with top soil and fencing. Sixty community garden plots were created.
The land owner, Onni Developments, formed a partnership with an activist community group called Vancouver Public Spaces Network (VPSN). VPSN is in charge of handing out the gardening spaces. And a number of those plots are already sprouting what appear to be onions and crocuses.
Community gardens are not new. They have spread across the city for years, particularly along the old CPR line along Sixth Avenue on the West Side. Then there is Strathcona Gardens east of Main. According to the city, Vancouver now has about 23 community gardens where people can grow their own vegetables and plants.
But what Onni is up to is something relatively new. It represents a move by developers to catch a green wave and make gardens a marketable amenity like swimming pools or health clubs.
This trend has two parts. The first part is using vacant private space for public use until the development goes ahead. Onni has created its garden in the downtown core, and Park Lane Homes has set aside an acre of land on the South Fraser Lands.
The garden at Seymour and Pacific is not an altogether altruistic move according to Chris Evans, Onni's vice-president in charge of development. With Vancouver's homeless crisis, leaving vacant buildings standing inevitably leads to squatters and public safety problems. Putting what Evans estimates at about $100,000 into creating the garden avoids that headache and burnishes the developer's image.
It's a significant improvement in land use over what we see now all across the city where lots sit vacant and surrounded by chain link fences for years and do nothing more than grow weeds and collect trash that is tossed their way.
But neither Onni nor Park Lane is committing its garden space forever. This brings us to the second part of the plan. Onni's community garden will only exist for one or two growing seasons or until the development permit is approved for condos. But part of that condo development will include garden space available for the condo owners or tenants in that building. That garden space, by the way, won't be at ground level. It will be several stories in the air on the building's podium at the base of the tower.
This is an advance on the concept of green roofs which are passive spaces where access to the public is usually prohibited, like the green roof at the main branch of Vancouver's Public Library. These new garden spaces will be set up to encourage people to plant their own flowers and veggies.
Onni is not the first developer to sell gardens as a plus in their building. According to city senior social planner Vicki Morris, the pioneers, Magellan Developments, kicked off this trend a couple of years ago with their Freesia building at Seymour and Helmcken. They have another project, Atelier on Homer Street, which will also include garden plots.
Morris says this added amenity appeals to owners in their 20s and 30s who want to live in the hustle and bustle of downtown but also want to have a back-to-the-land experience of growing their own food without leaving the city.
This spring the city will introduce a new urban agriculture policy based on work started under the former COPE/Vision council. It will strongly encourage more of these types of gardens. But there will be no benefits, like density bonuses, offered in return. Developers, like Chris Evans who was involved in developing the city policy, say that's just fine.
Going green, it seems, is its own reward.
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Quote:
Rezoning application sparks concern in West End
Resident association says proposed development will eliminate 18 rental units
Anne Makuch
Vancouver Courier
Friday, March 14, 2008
West End residents fear a recent rezoning application could mean a loss of affordable housing and bring more cars into the neighbourhood.
Brent Granby, president of the West End Residents Association, said the application, if approved, represents a "drastic loss of affordable rental housing" for the neighbourhood.
The application proposes rezoning a site in the 1700-block of Pendrell Street from a multi-unit residential site to a site-specific development district. The developer, DTKH Pendrell Developments Ltd., is asking the City of Vancouver for permission to demolish the three-storey apartment building at 1772 Pendrell St. and build a 19-storey market-rate condominium tower and townhouse podium with a total of 34 units and 65 underground parking spaces. Granby said the existing three-storey walk-up holds 19 rental units. A house at 1754 Pendrell St., which has nine rental units, would be renovated and expanded to 10 units with three parking spaces. Ownership of the house would be transferred to the city for guaranteed affordable rental housing.
"If the project goes ahead, we lose 18 market rental units in total, and gain 68 additional cars in the West End," said Granby. "I understand the city's notion of density, but the concern for our group is liveability."
EcoDensity, the controversial name given by Mayor Sam Sullivan to city development policy focusing on densification, aims to use less land to house more people.
But Granby and others in the neighbourhood think the proposal of a 19-storey tower and podium housing only 34 units and drawing 65 more cars to the West End does not meet EcoDensity's stated goals to address climate change and lower the city's ecological footprint.
Michael Naylor, rezoning planner for the City of Vancouver, said the rezoning application proposed for the Pendrell Street site has nothing to do with EcoDensity. He said the city has no EcoDensity policy that would direct the planning department. Naylor insists the application is being considered because it meets all council requirements for submission, including a plan to secure 10 units of affordable housing for the city.
Rob Royce, a real estate agent and West End resident said he's baffled the city would look at a proposal that goes against long-established West End principles of affordability and environmental concern.
"I'm not against redevelopment but just how it's proposed," said Joyce. He said the city isn't sufficiently consulting West End residents about redevelopment in the neighbourhood. "I want the city to involve residents in a comprehensive plan for the neighbourhood."
Naylor said the city's parking bylaw requires the applicant to provide "a minimum of one space for each 80 square metres of gross floor area" if a tower is built. But, he added, city staff will review parking included in the proposal because of strong objection to the number of parking spaces proposed in the application.
According to Naylor, if a public hearing is called to address rezoning of the site, it will likely not be held until 2009. The city hosted a public information open house March 11 to allow residents to view proposed development plans. Naylor estimated 200 residents attended, but said only 135 signed in. Those in attendance "almost unanimously did not support" the rezoning application, according to Naylor.
© Vancouver Courier 2008
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