Thanks for speaking on Monday! We appreciate your bravery and willingness to speak against 105 Keefer.
Here’s what you should expect on the day of the meeting and speak points:
Logistics
The hearing will be located in the Town Hall Meeting Room at the 1st floor of City Hall. The hearing starts at 3pm, but it is very unlikely that you will speak until well after 5pm if you register now.
You will be speaking in front of the Development Permit Board (DPB), not City Council. The DPB is composed of senior staff members, the General Manager of Planning, Urban Design, and Sustainability, General Manager of Engineering Services and General Manager of Development, Buildings, and Licensing
The DPB can only review projects strictly based on whether they’re in compliance with zoning bylaws and design guidelines. Therefore, we encourage you to keep your comments relevant to the development application and the zoning bylaws and design guidelines and why the development does not meet those bylaws and guidelines.
Beedie’s project will be evaluated on the 2017 HA-1A district schedule and guideline.
This is the 2017 Staff Report where the staff provides their evaluation of how Beedie's proposal matches up with the bylaws and guidelines.
Get familiar with the minutes from the 2017 DPB hearing where the board gave specific reasons on why they rejected the project.
City information website on 105 Keefer (pt 12 to 14)
Review the Staff’s response to previous letter submissions in the Staff Report
Review the criticism of the Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee and the Urban Design Panel in the Staff Report (pg 10 to 11)
You do not have to physically be at the hearing right at the start of the meeting if you are not the first 20 to 25 speakers, but your presence will speak volumes to show there’s opposition. Bring water and snacks!
You can watch the live stream to see what speaker number the meetings at. Please give yourself adequate travel time and budget for at least 10 to 15 more speakers before your speaking place by the time you arrive as some speakers may not show up. If you miss your number, wait to speak when all registered speakers are finished.
Do you or someone you know who is speaking require a translator? The City of Vancouver will be providing translators on request. Please request for a translator at 604.873.7770 or email kathy.cermeno@vancouver.ca and may.sem@vancouver.ca.
Your speech
You have 5 minutes to address the board. State the following information in your speech and be concise:
Your full name
The organization you represent (if applicable)
Your relationship to Chinatown. Keep this brief (optional)
Your relevant expertise on the subject to establish credibility (optional)
Your position on the project (support or against)
Rationale on your position. You can simply repeat all the points that the 2017 DPB board used to refuse this application. When possible, use facts to back up your statements, and use vocabulary that is familiar with City of Vancouver staff.
End with a concise summary statement that includes a statement of your position and that you want the DPB to refuse the application outright again.
Make sure you are comfortable before you start, do not rush.
Rehearse your speech and write it down if necessary. You can read from a pre-written speech if you need to.
Use up the full 5 minutes to take up space, so that people who have to come later can have better prediction of timing.
If you choose to use a story or anecdote, make sure it is brief, impactful and, most importantly, relevant to your position and key points.
Although unlikely in a DPB setting, you may be asked some clarification questions from the DPB.
Do not feel obliged to answer a DPB member's question if you do not feel comfortable with the question. Alternatively, you can choose to answer the question by restating a relevant summary of your position and rationale.
Reference Documents
Speaking Points
State that the Development Permit Board has refused it in 2017 and it should refuse it outright again.
Emphasize that the application must not be approved with changes that’s at the discretion of the Director of Planning. Because of the site’s cultural significance by Memorial Square and as a gateway to Chinatown, any changes must be reviewed by the public, neighbourhood and city design review committees through a resubmission process.
State that the Development Permit Board found it “non-compliant with the Zoning By-law and its associated regulations after conducting an assessment of the external design considerations set out at s. 4.17 of the HA-1A Schedule” (See [105] and [106] of BC Supreme Court ruling, and section 4.17 of 2017 - HA-1A district schedule on pg 9)
Consider what the DPB staff and board members have previously said on their scope of decision making by reviewing pg 13 to 14 of Development Permit Board report and pg 2 to 4 and pg 6 to 7 of the Development Permit Board minutes.
Here are the specific reasons on why it was previously rejected by the various city bodies that you can also find in the Development Permit Board minutes - November 6, 2017 and Development Permit Board report - 2017
2017 DPB reasons (pg 5 and 8):
“The effect of the new visible exterior surfaces has not fully satisfied the designed guidelines in the following ways: Work needs to be done to reduce the amount of massing on the building and strengthen the response to the saw tooth pattern.
This would require a significant reduction in the floor area in locations to mitigate view impacts and provide a more appropriate back drop to the memorial plaza.
This would require a deleting of the two glass boxes and a reduction in middle bay heights to better distinguish the soft tooth pattern with the three bay components.”
“…[T]he guidelines also speak to the public open spaces, specifically in Chinatown the Memorial Square as the primary open space. The square accommodates activities such as passive recreation, community events, festivals and memorial services.
Buildings flagging Chinatown Memorial Square should include frontages that offer general pedestrian interests.
“…[G]iven the prominence site of this location and to better address the effects of the new visible exterior surfaces suggested that the applicant team include a professional artist with local contextual knowledge for the detail development of the buildings ornamentation. Including, decorative panels, fittings, railings, and brick work.”
“This is an important site with such an important design signification in Chinatown and in his view the application has not met the design test.”
Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee 2017 (pg 11 here)
The Committee opposed the application and recommended improvements to the following:
Scale and massing;
Reinstatement of seniors/social housing;
Livability (inclusion of more 2- and 3- bedroom family-oriented units);
Detailed architectural expression, to be more in keeping with the historic vernacular of Chinatown;
Sensitive response to the site context (memorial plaza); and
More robust public consultation.
Other design-related issues you could mention:
The building's bland colours do not fit the vibrant architectural style of Chinatown.
The big red boxes on top of the building are culturally appropriative and insensitive.
The glass condo units do not match the rest of the building or the character of Chinatown
Building Development staff report said that the building's main floor is significantly deficient in its compliance with building codes and bylaws, and may need to be redesigned.
Additional points here