City Council voted to sell off view cones protecting Chinatown & DTES
This decision will accelerate the gentrification of Chinatown and DTES
Today, Vancouver’s City Council voted to remove the 30-year view cones protecting Chinatown and DTES, and the free public views of the North Shore mountains that were meant for all the enjoy.
They essentially re-upzoned Chinatown outright even when the Chinatown higher buildings policy was reversed and rejected by the Chinatown and DTES community just a few years ago.
Not only was today’s vote a destruction of one of key Vancouver’s public asset—our public mountain views—but it automatically boosted land values of real estate owners in Chinatown and DTES.
At the council meeting today, a councillor asked how much additional housing would be gained with the elimination of the view cones protecting Chinatown and DTES, the answer was a mere 40 to 200. They claim it will produce “affordable housing”, but for whom and by whom?
The view cone they removed is right above key public assets in Chinatown and 105 Keefer. Are they planning on selling off and redeveloping the Chinatown Plaza Mall or the Chinese Cultural Centre or even the Sun Yat Sen Park and Garden into tall towers? Are they going to boost the height of 105 Keefer? Because that’s what the removal of that view cone now allows.
For the record, Councillors Adrienne Carr and Pete Fry put forward a motion to restore the major view cone protecting Chinatown and DTES, though not for the reasons to protect the neighbourhoods. Councillor Rebecca Bligh along with Carr and Fry also proposed to prevent other view cones from being outright eliminated. Unsurprisingly, all the other councillors voted both motions down. Do note that Bligh, Carr, and Fry supported the shrinking of the rest of the public views and did not oppose the view cone reduction recommendations outright.
In fact, the City was so excited about the change for Chinatown and DTES, that they already changed the City’s web page for this view cone first just hours after the vote to show the elimination of this public view whereas the others are yet to be updated.
To watch the full city council debate, view here:
The councillor, Peter Meiszner, who brought the view cones elimination motion forward, went online to pat himself on the back for destroying the public views. Mayor Ken Sim say’s he’s “delivering for Vancouver” — though it seems like he’s actually destroying Vancouver and Chinatown.
You may be wondering what’s next.
That’s it. There’s no recourse. There’s no public engagement and no more public hearings or anything. Vancouver’s public mountain views have been sold off. Gentrification and displacement in Chinatown and DTES will be accelerated.
If you want to vent your frustrations, here’s what you can do:
Send an email to Mayor and Council to express your disappointment about their decision today:
If the button doesn’t work, see the emails below.
In the next civic election, make Vancouver’s public views an election issue and vote for candidates who will meaningfully restore the view cone policy and protect Chinatown and the DTES.
Email Instructions
TO: ken.sim@vancouver.ca, rebecca.bligh@vancouver.ca, christine.boyle@vancouver.ca, adriane.carr@vancouver.ca, lisa.dominato@vancouver.ca, pete.fry@vancouver.ca, sarah.kirby-yung@vancouver.ca, mike.klassen@vancouver.ca, brian.montague@vancouver.ca, lenny.zhou@vancouver.ca, peter.meiszner@vancouver.ca
BCC: savechinatownheritage@gmail.com