On January 25th, Vancouver City Council voted unanimously to support seven recommendations for False Creek South (FCS), which will:
Develop Terms of Reference to guide a community planning process in FCS
Develop affordable housing options for all FCS residents to remain in the community
Produce a framework for resolving lease issues
Evaluate land governance options
Initiate building condition assessments
Approve False Creek South principles for community engagement
Include financial support for all of these tasks
Gil Kelley, General Manager of Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability, spoke positively about the community’s early history in the 1970s and 80s in his opening comments to Council, describing FCS’ evolution “as a very thoughtful and passionate experiment that has turned out to be very successful.”
In *RePlan’s response to Council, following the City’s presentations, Chair Richard Evans thanked City staff for their hard work on the report and expressed support for specific components, such as developing affordable housing options for people to remain in the neighbourhood and recognizing the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association’s (FCSNA) leadership role in the community.
Strata Leasehold Subcommittee Chair Anne Kaye emphasized the urgency of resolving lease issues: “We believe new leases are enablers for a successful community plan and for affordable housing options for all residents – in co-ops, non-profits and stratas.”
By approving the recommendations, City Council agreed to simultaneously:
Provide an overall vision for the future of False Creek South that recalls the neighbourhood’s legacy of innovation, by creating compelling, appropriate urban design responses to current day challenges and aspirations
Accommodate additional population and housing choices, retain affordable housing, and explore options for aging in place
Improve the street environment, access to Charleson Park, and “knit” neighbourhoods together
Explore ways to green the community
Manage the pace of change for the existing community
“It’s important to recognize this is an existing and longstanding neighbourhood, and part of the idea behind the phasing is to simply allow people to manage their lives and their choices as we move forward with redevelopment.” Gil Kelley
Develop affordable options to remain: Design a process for creating affordable options to remain in the neighbourhood for all FCS residents (including rental, co-op, non-market and strata leaseholders), informed by current and emerging policies and programs
Scenario evaluation: Evaluate the policy, program, legal and financial implications of affordable options to remain scenarios for report back to Council, coordinated with the overall planning process
Affordable housing strategy: Overarching affordable housing strategy to be developed as part of the planning process
“False Creek South represents one of the most ambitious affordable housing developments that Vancouver has ever undertaken. As part of the initial phase of community planning in the very early stages … we will work with the community to develop affordable options for all residents to remain in the community.” Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, General Manager, COV Community Services
Begin work with strata leaseholders to establish a framework for resolving issues arising from the approaching end of the strata lot leases
Continue to engage with the Province on this matter
“Make no mistake. We are going to be working closely with *RePlan and the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association, in particular the strategic committee they have formed, to help us build our framework. I think it’s going to be a great working relationship.” Bill Ajula, General Manager of COV Real Estate and Facilities Management
Leverage work *RePlan has completed regarding land governance
Conduct a review of land governance options which optimize land development and management of the False Creek South lands
Cost to be funded by the 2017 Property Endowment Fund Capital Budget
“My thanks to the community for your diligence, the incredible amount of effort and work this has taken, the engagement of so many people and the leadership of the community. And to staff for their leadership and dedication … to achieving something unique and on a world class scale.” Councillor Adrienne Carr
City will seek to work collaboratively with the leaseholders when exercising our right under the leases as the landlord to inspect the buildings
Target completion Q3-2017
Cost to be funded by the 2017 Property Endowment Fund Capital Budget
“All over the world, you hear that you’ve got this amazing neighbourhood. I am grateful to the community for all the support they’ve given us and their immense patience … and I really want to thank our staff. I know we’ll resolve this to the benefit of the citizens and the City.” Councillor Elizabeth Ball
A consolidated set of principles that incorporates the City’s, Mayor’s and *RePlan’s principles, as well as *RePlan’s goals for strata leaseholders
“I’m familiar with how tight and engaged this community is. I was very pleased to chat with the *RePlan team and hear how positive the relationship is that they are currently having with the City of Vancouver.” Councillor George Affleck.
To ensure a financially viable path forward for every part of the process
In their closing comments, Councillor Andrea Reimer and Mayor Gregor Robertson spoke of both the past and future of the City’s work with the FCS Neighbourhood Association and *RePlan:
“When the City originally established this neighbourhood [on city-owned land], it made a legislative requirement for a neighbourhood association, which is unique in Vancouver. They [FCSNA] have an independent but related status to the City, so it was our feeling … they should be treated the same way as an advisory committee.” Councillor Andrea Reimer
“A big thanks to staff and everyone at *RePlan for the work to get us to where we are today. A ton of progress is now being made and a sense of achievable timelines for all these complicated pieces to converge is in front of us.” Mayor Gregor Robertson
*False Creek South co-op leases are addressed in a separate report concerning co-ops on city-owned land city-wide. Click here to see a summary of that report (approved by council February 8, 2017) prepared by the Cooperative Housing Federation of BC.
WATCH False Creek South at City Council: Part 1, Part 2
READ the Report: False Creek South Report Back and Next Steps
READ the Minutes: January 25th , 2017—Strategic Committee of Council on Policy and Strategic Priorities
*RePlan’s 2016 Achievements
Raised over $200,000 in financial support from our neighbours and supporters for legal and strategic advice, communications, and administrative support
Convinced COV to establish the False Creek South Project Team to meet regularly with *RePlan
July 13: Won unanimous support from the Mayor and Vancouver city
Built framework for developing strategies and communicating with our neighbours
Successfully opposed COV’s request to the Province to change the Strata Property Act
Encouraged new thinking on how False Creek South land is governed to support affordable housing goals
Began working with the City team on building condition assessments
*RePlan’s Goals for 2017
Significantly increase two-way communications with our neighbours
Continue our research into alternative governance models and affordable new lease options
Participate in regular meetings with the City’s False Creek South team