-- information about the past meeting announcement follows --
GWAC meeting: 7:00 p.m., Monday, January 6th, 2020
Learning Resource Centre (LRC)
Under the Britannia Library
Guest speaker Michael Geller

It is the beginning of a new year, generally a time filled with optimism for the possibility of the year ahead and certainly that is what we would hope for all the citizens of Vancouver and the city itself.  There are, however, many proposals on the "table" for Vancouver that can profoundly affect its liveability as well as its affordability and thus, diversity and sustainability.  

Currently there are many major projects, such as the Pearson Dogwood lands, Oakridge expansion, the Bus Barn at 41st and Oak, the Heather lands, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Jericho & UBC developments as well as the Squamish development at the South end of the Burrard Street bridge and who can forget the Safeway site proposal at Broadway and Commercial?

We have asked Michael Geller, noted architect, planner, real estate consultant and property developer with four decades' experience in the public, private and institutional sectors to share his insights and views on these matters with you and he has generously agreed. 

Come to hear Michael speak and bring your questions.

n the meantime,  if you are concerned about the 
 
Safeway Tower Proposal.... 

.......and want to know more, GWAC is developing a presentation that we can bring to your house to share with gatherings of concerned neighbours. To arrange an information session, simply write to info@gwac.ca.

Also, as this project is going to profoundly affect those living and working south of Broadway, please share this email with them, suggest they share it with their mailing lists &  to contact us to get on our list.

We are seeking a volunteer to coordinate these "kitchen  gatherings". so if you or someone you know wishes to get involved, please contact us through info@gwac.ca

The Council is also planning to develop specific communication plans for media, social platforms and our members to respond to the proposal and share information as it becomes available. We  also welcome concerned community members contacting us to get involved in these initiatives.

Learn more about the proposal to put three towers on the site of the Safeway at 1780 East Broadway.
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The GWAC meeting on Monday, November 4th at 7pm (Britannia, Learning Resource Centre) will examine this rezoning application in much detail. Guest speakers will provide an overview of the application as well as information about the plan and context. This is not the first proposal for towers around Commercial and Broadway, a former GWAC board member will provide an overview of a previous tower proposal that did not go ahead. As well, guest speakers from the Norquay community will discuss the 3 tower rezoning at 2220 Kingsway and how this related to their local neighbourhood plan.

The City of Vancouver received the rezoning application for the Safeway site on June 12, 2019; it was recently made public. The tallest of the three proposed towers is 102.1metres (335 feet) in height.

The City's rezoning application webpage contains further links on the proposal: 
http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/1780ebroadway/index.htm

The City of Vancouver's Development Permit Board will review the proposal to put a 10-storey building at East 1st Avenue and Clark Drive on Monday, October 28th. Members of the public are welcome to sign up and speak at City Hall.

Meeting details will be posted on the City's website here:
https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/development-permit-board.aspx

Details on the application are available here:
https://development.vancouver.ca/1636clark/index.htm​

The Development Permit Board (DPB) can choose to approve or reject a proposal. In the past, the DPB has rejected projects including 105 Keefer, and the DPB has also reduced the height of a project (the Arbutus Ridge development went from 5-storeys to 4-storeys).

September 30th, 2019

Attention: Mayor Stewart and Council,

The Grandview Woodland Area Council would like to convey our deep disappointment at City staff’s abandonment of the recommendation of the Flats Arterial Community Panel to use National-Charles as the route for the new arterial road.

Dozens of people gave hundreds of hours of their time to the Community Panel process, only to see their sincere consideration tossed aside, their time and effort wasted. Staff’s disregard for genuine consultation will undoubtedly leave a distaste in the community toward future engagement efforts by the City.

If Council truly intends to abandon the community consultation process regarding alternatives to Prior-Venables and disregard the many previous commitments made by the City to downgrade Prior-Venables to a local serving street, then strong and clear commitments must be made to reconnect Strathcona residents with their Park through a prompt and effective traffic calming process.

The only way to genuinely reconnect Strathcona with their Park is to proceed in the very near term with the following actions:
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1. Prior-Venables must be downgraded to a neighbourhood collector with clear commitments to one traffic lane in each direction through the immediate restoration of all-day parking with supporting curb bulges to narrow the crossings; 

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GWAC PRESENTS: REACH, your Community Health Centre
REACH is expanding its services and will soon be opening an Urgent Care Centre, available to anyone, even people who aren’t presently REACH patients. Find out all about it and about their other services and programs.

We’ll have a panel from REACH and Vancouver Coastal Health to let you know what’s happening at REACH and to answer all your questions.
Monday, October 7th at 7pm Britannia Community Centre, Learning Resource Centre (below library)

The Strathcona Residents Association is organizing an event on Monday, September 30th from 7:30am to 8:30am at Prior Street and Hawks. The City of Vancouver will be considering a staff report that is not supporting the recommendation by the Community Panel; rather, staff are recommending that an underpass be constructed under the railway tracks at Glen and Prior Street. This staff report will be considered on October 1st; further details can be found on the City's Council meeting agenda page:
https://council.vancouver.ca/20191001/regu20191001ag.htm

[Update: the Public Hearing will reconvene on Tuesday, September 17th 6pm, details below]

A proposal for a 5-storey building at 1535-1557 Grant Street is going to Public Hearing. Find out more about this rezoning at the GWAC monthly meeting on Monday September 9th (7pm at the Learning Resource Centre under the Britannia Library). Guest speakers will provide background and analysis on this proposal; there will be plenty of time for questions and discussions.

The City of Vancouver has scheduled a Public Hearing to reconvene on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 (starting at 6pm, Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue). Residents can still sign up to speak and express their views to the Mayor and Council before and at the time of the Public Hearing, as well as send in letters (update: the Public Hearing started on September 12th, and Council is still hearing from speakers when it reconvenes, new speakers are allowed to sign up). Further information on this rezoning proposal is available online.
https://council.vancouver.ca/20190912/phea20190912ag.htm
https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/1535grant/index.htm
https://council.vancouver.ca/20190723/documents/p10.pdf 
email contact for sending correspondence and to sign up: publichearing@vancouver.ca.

The proposal calls for a building of a height of 5 storeys (maximum 56.7ft.), with 35 market rental units, 23 parking spaces, a Floor Space Ratio of 2.19 (over 4 consolidated lots) with a total floor area of 28,591 sq. ft. (2,656.1 sq.m). The applicant is also asking for full waiver of Development Cost Levies and Community Amenity Contributions. There are no affordable rental or social housing units proposed.

This proposal does not meet the minimum requirements in the the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan for consideration for rezoning in the policies listed in Section 6.4.1; one clear policy is a requirement for a 20' front yard setback that is not met as the applicant is proposing only a 12' setback. This rezoning was not supported by the City's Urban Design Panel (4-3 vote against). The UDP is a board which serves as an advisory body to City Council and staff. There's a very strong emphasis on providing "affordable market rental housing" in the Community Plan; affordability is mentioned numerous times.

This block on the north side of Grant Street does not have a laneway and the site of the proposal backs directly onto lots that face Kitchener Street. This section of Grant Street is narrow and has a significant slope. If approved, this rezoning has a potential to set a precedent for similar large scale proposals. There's a petition created by residents around this area that has more information on the rezoning:
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-the-grant-street-redevelopment-application

​The existing RM-4 zoning on the site allows for a maximum height of 10.7m (35.1 ft.)* and total area of 18,939sq. ft. (1,759.5sq. m which is a floor space ratio of 1.45). The Staff Report on the rezoning lists the following proposed starting rents:

* RM-4 Zoning Bylaw on height
4.3 Height
4.3.1 The maximum height of a building shall be 10.7 m, but no portion of the building shall extend above an envelope formed by a vertical line measuring 7.3 m in height at the north property line and a plane formed by an angle of 30 degrees measured from the horizontal and having its vertex at the maximum building height permitted at the north property line.

LANEWAY HOUSING:Everything you Wanted to Know, But Didn't Know Who to Ask!

GWAC has assembled a panel of experts to speak to their first hand knowledge of everything you may want to know & definitely need to know before committing to infill housing.  
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Date: Monday, July 8th at 7pm at the Learning Resource Centre under the Britannia Library.

​Richard Bell LLC, a lawyer,  will speak to the legal aspects; Jake Fry, of Smallworks,  who co-founded Small Housing BC, will speak to the challenges & opportunities of laneway housing,  as well as the ins & outs of development from the contractor's perspective; Matt Henry,  realtor, will describe how one can market a laneway house; as well  Dan & Felicia Cooper,  who are in process of tangling with the City for approvals for a laneway house in Hastings Sunrise, will describe their experience seeking those permits and more.
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GWAC has also invited some occupants of local laneway houses to share their experience of living in infill housing.

So please, come, and bring your questions!

For information, please find reproduced below a community notice from REACH:

Hello Friends of REACH Community Health Centre,
 
On June 25, from 7:00 to 8:30pm, REACH will be holding a public forum at the Learning Resources Centre (under the Library) at Britannia Community Centre.
 
This event will begin a series of regular public forums that REACH will host to enable the people of Grandview Woodlands and East Vancouver to come together to talk about health care, including what services we have and what services we need to support a healthy community.
 
This first meeting will be an opportunity for you to hear about what's new at REACH, and what issues some of our allies and partners are facing. It will also be an important opportunity for all of us to talk about the priorities that REACH should be paying attention to, and what steps we need to take to keep community health in community hands.
 
You do not need to be a patient at REACH to attend any of these forums. We welcome all of the people in East Vancouver, including the many who already use our health services.
 
Please tell your friends, and be sure to put June 25th on your calendar.
 
Hope to see you there.

The GWAC meeting on Monday, June 3rd, will be all about Greenspaces in Grandview-Woodland.
All of the Vancouver Park Board Commissioners have been invited to attend. Confirmed to attend are Park Board Commissioners Stuart Mackinnon (Chair), Gwen Giesbrecht and Camil Dumont.

Come meet your Park Board Commissioners. Find out more about Greenspaces in the community. The meeting will focus on Parks & Greenspaces in Grandview-Woodland.

Time: 7pm on Monday, June 3rd
Location: Learning Resource Centre, (LRC), 1661 Napier Street
Under the Britannia Library

GWAC Meeting:  Monday, May 6. 2019 7pm
Learning Resource Centre, (LRC), 1661 Napier Street
Under the Britannia Library

What is  the Plan When the Viaducts Are Gone?
The City intends to develop a new route across the False Creek Flats once the Viaducts come down.  A community panel was convened and recently recommended crossing on National Street  to Charles and emptying out on Clark as the preferred route.  This has now gone to the City's Engineering department for review. 

Lon LeClair, director of Transportation with the City of Vancouver has been invited to speak to the  priorities of the City on May 6th, which will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives of the Strathcona Residents' Association, Produce Row, Commercial Drive BIA along with Maria Stanborough of GWACouncil.

They will discuss that which they think is important for you to know and want to hear from you, so plan to attend.

Park Board Meeting

April 30th: A presentation about the False Creek Flats Arterial by the Community Panel at Park Board is set for Tuesday night (6:30pm). Details: https://parkboardmeetings.vancouver.ca/2019/20190430/index.htm …

Background
City of Vancouver: https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/false-creek-flats-arterial-consultation-process-and-documents.aspx
CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/false-creek-flats-arterial-road-prior-venables-train-overpass-1.5088409
The Breaker: twitter.com/theBreakerNews/status/1119271959999598592
​The Straight: https://www.straight.com/news/1224881/community-panel-recommends-new-east-west-arterial-road-route-through-false-creek-flats

The next GWAC meeting is on Monday, April 1st, 7 pm at the Britannia Ice Rink Room.
Come out to meet the new GWAC Board and Executive. We expect some follow-up discussion of the AGM's temporary modular housing presentation and to discuss future public meeting topics and local issues.

Special Guest Speakers: Patrick Beattie and Duncan Higgon
(Portland Hotel Society)        
Topic: Temporary Modular Housing 
The guests took the floor at 11:30 am. Duncan Higgon and Patrick Beattie are leads with the Portland Hotel Society’s Temporary Modular Housing (TMH) initiative. They were pleased to announce that in Vancouver, 660 units of supportive housing have come on line in the past year. Attempts to reduce progress-slowing red tape and bureaucracy have meant that it now takes nine to ten months to build units and to house people who need a medicalized environment. The key is to get people off the streets so that they may begin their recovery under supervised conditions.
PHS and other supportive housing advocates insist that shelter is the first step to wellness and that it is fiscally responsible to create supportive housing because spending $11 on housing SAVES $20 in the system.

(full minutes below, see section 5 for Guest Speakers and Q&A):​

Patrick Beattie and Duncan Higgon from the Portland Hotel Society will be our Guest Speakers for a presentation on Temporary Modular Housing.

The AGM and guest presentation will take place on Sunday, March 17th, from 11:00 am to 1:45 pm, at Canuck Family Education Centre, 1655 William Street (the southern-most building in the Britannia complex on the north side of Grandview Park). Everyone is welcome to attend.

The announcement of the AGM was previously posted at this link:
http://www.gwac.ca/news/gwac-annual-general-meeting-march-17th-at-11am-and-special-panel-presentation-on-modular-housing

The City of Vancouver will be showing information at an Open House related to a rezoning application at 2209-2249 East Broadway (block between Lakewood and Garden Drive). This Open House event will be held on Monday, April 1st between 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm Vancouver Technical Secondary School (2600 East Broadway, Cafeteria). A total of 87 condo units are proposed in a building with a height of 65ft (19.8m), 95 underground parking spaces and a Floor Space Ratio of 2.65. Further details can be found on the City's website.
rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/2209ebroadway/index.htm

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Our AGM is slated for Sunday, March 17th, from 11:00 am to 1:45 pm, at Canuck Family Education Centre, 1655 William Street (the southern-most building in the Britannia complex on the north side of Grandview Park). Everyone is welcome to attend to hear Board members’ annual reports, to enjoy our special panel on modular housing, and to vote for candidates for next year’s Board.
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GWAC urges people who live or work in the neighbourhood to consider becoming part of the Board—put your name forward at the AGM. Members of the current GWAC Board hope to see many Grandview-Woodland neighbours at this annual event.

GWAC Annual General Meeting - March 17th at 11AM
Special panel on modular housing​

Update: The Public Hearing will reconvene on Thursday, February 21st at 3pm to hear from remaining speakers. Anyone who wishes to address Council on this proposal can sign up to speak before 3pm or in person at City Hall.

The Public Hearing for the proposed detox centre, sobering facilities, social enterprise space and low-moderate income housing complex proposed at 1st Avenue and Clark Drive is scheduled to take start on February 20, 2019 starting at 6pm at Vancouver City Hall. Information on the Public Hearing for 1636 Clark Drive and 1321-1395 East 1st Avenue and details on how to send in correspondence and how to sign up to speak are contained in the meeting agenda: https://council.vancouver.ca/20190220/phea20190220ag.htm

The proposed building would take the length of a City block, in a form that goes up to 120’ in height with an overall density as measured in Floor Space Ratio of 3.15. More details of this rezoning are online on the City's webpage: rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/1636clark/index.htm

GWAC’s response to the 1st Avenue and Clark proposal is available at this link: http://www.gwac.ca/news/gwacs-response-to-the-1st-and-clark-proposal

The minutes of the June 4, 2018 GWAC meeting contain further information on the proposal.
Additional details on the proposal and on City policy are available via the links below.

Grandview-Woodland Community Plan
Memorandum of Understanding 

Vancouver City Councillors and Neighbourhood Councils 
GWAC Public Meeting Monday, 14 January 2019
Activity Room, Britannia Ice Rink

Special Guest Speakers: Councillors Adriane Carr, Lisa Dominato, Colleen Hardwick, Jean Swanson, Michael Wiebe
The meeting began at 7:00pm
D. Cromie chaired the meeting and began the meeting by introducing our guests.

Community Announcements
 Thursday, January 17, Grandview Heritage Club, Britannia Board Room, 7 – 9 pm.
Thursday, January 17, Grandview Garden Club, Learning Resource Centre, 7 – 9 pm
Saturday, March 17, GWAC AGM, 11:00 – 1:45 pm (Note: Time Change)

D. Cromie opens the discussion with a question about the validity and value of Grandview Woodland Community Plan (GWCP), saying that people worked diligently, in good faith for a long time to create this plan, only to be told by city planners that the plan is a “guide” only. A guide for whom, and what does that mean? Is there a city-wide plan?
Each of the councillors present addressed the issue:

Colleen Hardwick—Ms. Hardwick began by saying she was elected to represent the people of Vancouver, all of them and had to think of our children and children’s children when making decisions. She calls for creation of a new city-wide planning process (the last was in the early 1990’s and she would re-visit those plans).  Ms. Hardwick claims that councillors recognize there has been a lot of top down directives and that they want to put forward an antidote to that style of governance. She wants to start on a positive note—make a plan that takes into account the nuances of each community.

Adriane Carr--Thanks GWAC for the invitation to speak, noting that Grandview Woodland always has packed meetings. Ms. Carr went on to explain that her 1st motion this year was to call for a new city-wide plan (the first city-wide plan was created in 1928/29). She says that City Councillors worked together to make this motion a true collaboration.  She would like to use neighbourhood plans to inform the city-wide plan and to set some goals by asking what kind of city do citizens want? Ms. Carr believes council must ask citizens the big questions: How do we make a city-wide plan. How do we organize it? What should the process of consultation look like?

Michael Wiebe--He said he understands the community plans creation process because he worked on the Mount Pleasant Community Plan and was a member of its Implementation Committee. Mr. Wiebe related how his neighbours were frustrated as they saw proposal after proposal failing to follow the neighbourhood plan, despite the thousands of hours spent on developing it. Recognizing that the process was so broken, Mr. Wiebe ran for council. He felt no one at City Hall acknowledged or implemented the good ideas that came from the community. As a consequence, valuable ideas and time were lost.

Lisa Dominato She started by citing her background in the Hastings Sunrise area and in public planning. Ms. Dominato insists that public planning needs local input to succeed but that the “big picture” also must be acknowledged (transit, other infrastructure, diversity, etc.). She said that neighbourhood nuances need to be considered.

Jean Swanson Ms. Swanson related her experiences as a member of the Downtown East Side (DTES) Planning Committee, five-years ago. She does not think there is much to celebrate in this plan, noting that all involved must acknowledge problems with implementation and insist that the neighbourhood plan has value and is recorded. Ms. Swanson urged the audience to be sure what they really want is translated back to council. Her key concerns, however, are for tenants and housing affordability. She is the “go-to person” for this issue. Ms. Swanson wants needs to be met and cited the Kettle Friendship’s dire need for affordable housing. She wants to see that the Kettle gets the housing it so needs and without the towers. 
​
Questions from the Floor

Grandview Woodland Area Council
December 10, 2018

Owing to GWAC’s cautious position stated July 8, 2018, many residents in the community believe that GWAC supported this proposal as presented.

DETOX - GWAC supports community-based and community-scaled detox in all Vancouver neighbourhoods. GWAC does not support the conglomeration of several major detox facilities in Vancouver at this one location, and does not support the closing of two established detox centres, and does not support the subsequent reduction in number of beds from these closures.

HOUSING - GWAC supports the number of proposed housing units and area of the housing component of the project. GWAC supports housing built in conformance to the policy described in the section 6.4.2. of the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan.

SOBERING - GWAC supports sobering centres located in or near law enforcement facilities. GWAC does not support locating Vancouver’s only 24-hour sobering centre removed from police oversight. Because clients will be leaving this facility on foot, in a high-traffic area poorly served by transit, they will be at risk. As well, residents and businesses in the 1st and Clark neighbourhood are concerned about releasing City-wide clients on our community streets.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE - GWAC supports the creation of a Social Enterprise Centre. GWAC does not support using this proposed 3,700 square-foot facility to justify rezoning of industrial land protected in Section 6.4.4 of the Grandview Woodland Community Plan "The plan does not contemplate any land use changes in this industrial area"

GWAC sent the following letter to Vancouver City Council:
City of Vancouver Mayor and Council
December 10, 2018

Dear Mayor and Councillors

Please find attached Grandview Woodland Area Council’s updated position on the Housing, Detox, Sobering and Social Enterprise proposal for 1st Avenue and Clark Drive.
​
We trust that you will consider our position during consultation and decision making regarding this proposal.
If you have any questions, please let us know.

Sincerely,
​Dana Cromie, President
Grandview Woodland Area Council

Professor Patrick Condon will be a guest speaker at the November 5th monthly GWAC meeting.

Date: Monday, November 5th, 7pm - 9pm
Location: Learning Resource Centre, (LRC), Under the Britannia Library, 1661 Napier Street

​​The topic is transportation options along the Broadway corridor, funding models for development along the corridor, and options for affordable housing within those models. There will be an opportunity for questions and general discussion after Patrick Condon's presentation.

Professor Condon has researched and has written extensively about transit and affordable housing. A number of his articles are available on The Tyee. Please see the links below for additional details.

thetyee.ca/Bios/Patrick_Condon/
​https://sala.ubc.ca/people/faculty/patrick-condon

GWAC Public Forum
Monday, October 1st - 6PM to 9PM
Britannia Gym D

Mayor and Council
All Candidates Meeting
World Cafe Style
One of the most important events in the life of a city and in that of its citizens will occur on Saturday, October 20th – a municipal election for Vancouver’s mayor, councillors, park board commissioners, and school board trustees.
To increase voter turnout, create community, engage residents, air candidate platforms, and assess candidate accountability, GWAC has joined with other community groups to create East Van Votes, the organization which will sponsor a number of events where you can meet and ask questions of candidates vying local office.
Using the “world café” format, the events will offer individuals and representatives from each party an opportunity to speak for three minutes and then, after these short speeches, the balance of the time will be spent at tables, with 10-15 community residents in a 15-minute dialogue with a single candidate. After 15 minutes, candidates will rotate tables. Each table will have a moderator and a note taker, and the notes will be shared with our community through various platforms.
Dates to meet Mayor and City Council candidates:
•   Monday, Oct 1st at Britannia, 6:00–9:00pm, 1661 Napier (Light dinner at 5 pm)
•   Wednesday, Oct 9th at Ray-Cam, 5:30–9:00pm, 920 E. Hastings
Dates to meet School Board & Park Board candidates:
•   Saturday, Sept 29th at Britannia, 11:00-3:00pm (Lunch at 11 am)
•   Friday, Oct 12th at Strathcona, 6:30-9:30pm, 601 Keefer

Be part of the future of your city; cast your ballots on Saturday, October 20th.

The City of Vancouver is scheduling an Open House to provide details about a rezoning application for a 6-storey market rental building at 1535-1557 Grant Street. The Open House will be held on Tuesday, September 11th, between 5pm and 8pm at the Britannia Secondary School Cafeteria at 1001 Cotton Drive. Please note that the cafeteria is on the west side of the school (on the side with the big oval field). The City of Vancouver Rezoning webpage contains more details on this application.
​https://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/1535grant/index.htm