Between The Bridges – October 21

Vancouver’s iconic mountain vistas are threatened by the potential elimination of “view cones” that preserve public views by limiting heights and floor plates of new buildings in the downtown core. 

A recent City Council motion asked staff to review framed views “that can be eliminated”. Many of these originate in or cross above False Creek South and enable us to see the Lions/Two Sisters peaks (Ch'ích'iyúy Elx̱wíḵn), Mount Seymour, and Crown and Grouse Mountains, rather than a solid skyline of tall buildings. 

This review is controversial. Some housing advocates believe more housing outweighs mountain views and that eliminating view restrictions will permit taller buildings with more housing. But many urban planners say this is a false dichotomy. 

City News quotes former Planning Director Larry Beasley as saying that removing view cones will do nothing to improve housing affordability and will only benefit speculators by increasing the value of land and privatizing public views. Downtown land is very expensive and less likely to accommodate affordable housing than is less expensive land elsewhere. 

A huge percentage of Vancouver’s land base is zoned for low to mid-density residential use.  Undeniably, Vancouver is in the midst of a housing crisis, but eliminating view cones when detached homes occupy most of the land will not solve the problem. 

Protected mountain views that define Vancouver in the public imagination are of great cultural importance to First Nations people who use the surrounding geography to anchor significant events and tell stories. North Shore mountains and the Lions/Two Sisters (Ch'ích'iyúy Elx̱wíḵn) peaks have held special meaning for local indigenous people for thousands of years. Today, the legend of the Two Sisters, recounted by Chief Joe Capilano to E. Pauline Johnson in “Legends of Vancouver,” continues as a potent cultural story shared by Squamish knowledge keepers. 

As another former planner, Patricia French, said in the Vancouver Sun, “The view cones are not just physical, they are a value of a city’s character. When the view cones are gone, they are gone forever.”

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A grassroots campaign, Save our Skyline YVR, advocating to “save Vancouver’s public mountain views from privatization” is encouraging residents to contact Mayor Sim and Council members (cc’ing the City Manager) and ask that the City maintain treasured, public views of the mountain skyline. https://saveourskylineyvr.substack.com/

To read the City’s existing policy on view cones,”Protecting Vancouver’s Views” go to:
https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/protecting-vancouvers-views.aspx

When Vancouver Councillor Peter Meizner (ABC) moved the motion to review Vancouver’s longstanding view cone policy he said the city has a housing crisis, not a view crisis.

No one doubts that housing is in crisis.  But the hundreds of emails landing on the screens of some councillors indicate that the view cone issue is not to be dismissed that lightly. 

At the Council meeting, the first speaker from “the public”, Farouk Babul, represented Intracorp Homes, the company applying to the City to build a 56 story building on Thurlow and Haro. At a height of 580 ft, it would be more than twice the 260 ft presently allowed.

Babul told Council that sailboat masts at Leg-In-Boot already obscure the view, something Councillor Meizner also told the Vancouver Sun on September 28. (Neither developer nor councillor addressed the fact that boats move and can be moved and buildings don’t and can’t.)
 
Turns out that Intracorp principals also contributed substantially to candidates and parties in the last civic election campaign with most of these contributions going to ABC. 

But how does the view cone issue connect to the housing crisis? The claim is that the view policy prevents Intracorp from building many more units. But, according to former Chief Planner Larry Beasley, existing view cone policies already give developers options. As he told the Vancouver Sun (also September 28), “Whenever there was an intrusion of the corridor, the city established a policy that allowed developers to transfer that density elsewhere…or (they) sold their density to a developer down the street.”

In defending Intracorp, Councillor Meizner cited the “unaffordable average of $3,000” rent per month for a one-bedroom unit. In this way he conflated affordability with removing view cones, ​​because of the “need to do what we can to make the construction of new housing less difficult for developers”.

It boggles the mind to imagine by what strange alchemy a 56 story building with 443 pricey condo units downtown is going to help affordability in a city where $3,000 rent for one bedroom is more than half the average monthly gross pay. It will, however, increase the value of the land because that’s what these developments do.

In this way, Councillor Meisner is right. Eliminating the view cone really does connect to the affordable housing crisis. It makes it worse.

RePlan is pleased to report that Robyn Chan has agreed to step into the role of RePlan Project Manager.

As many in False Creek South already know, Robyn comes to this role with many years of on-the-ground experience doing community organizing and advocacy work in the Creek. 

Robyn worked closely with previous Project Manager Nathan Edelson as RePlan’s Community Planning Assistant from 2019-2022 and in her subsequent role as a volunteer member of RePlan’s Leadership Group. She was a key figure in organizing our collective community response during the October 2021 City Council hearings, which saw the tabling of the City of Vancouver Real Estate Department’s controversial redevelopment plans for False Creek South. Her connections to the City and her professional expertise in municipal affairs are a huge asset to RePlan. 

Robyn will soon be completing her Master of Urban Studies at SFU. Her thesis is titled “The impact of place-based grassroots activism when challenging the real estate state: Strategies and successes of the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association“. 

During the next few months, Robyn looks forward to meeting with co-op boards, strata councils and FCSNA delegates to introduce herself and promote ongoing close communication between RePlan and the community it serves. Please join us in extending a warm welcome (back) to Robyn!

RePlan has been keeping open the lines of communications with the Province’s Ministry of Housing. On October 5th, RePlan representatives met with Mark Hosak who serves as Senior Advisor to Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon. We discussed co-op land lease renewals, the importance of community planning for False Creek South’s future, and an upcoming tour of False Creek South for Minister Kahlon.

We extend our appreciation to Nancy Hannum, Chair of the AWG (RePlan’s Authorized Working Group of Co-ops), who spoke on a plenary panel at this year’s Cooperative Housing Federation’s BC Fall Education Conference on Oct 14. Nancy told conference attendees about the roadblocks that False Creek South’s housing co-ops have faced with the City of Vancouver in recent years. She also shared her perspective on the role of community solidarity as part of an ever-evolving collective strategy for ensuring that the vitality of housing co-ops in False Creek South is taken seriously at City Hall.

STOP! Slow down! “What’s happening?” Question marks were filling the heads of drivers and pedestrians on Moberly Road near the bus loop from October 10th to 12th.  

Curious to know what all the digging was about, I sauntered over to the work site to make some inquiries. It turns out an excavation company was performing road surgery in order to install pipes to carry fibre optic cables, thus improving internet and hydro services in the False Creek South area. The drilling, digging, and installing operation kept the workers on site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  

By midday on October 12th I noted that Moberly Road had been all stitched up and ready to take the normal flow of traffic. One remaining worker was adding some final stitches and reported that the operation was very successful and the prognosis was good.  

Most often, hearing loss affects the ability to hear high-pitched noises such as a phone ringing, or beeping of a microwave, washing machine, or dryer. But age-related hearing loss (presbycusis) – the gradual loss of hearing affecting almost a third of seniors over age 65 –  can also cause "adverse health impacts". 

These include increased risk of falls, hospitalizations, cognitive decline, depression, social isolation, excess cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, and can be further exaggerated in cancer survivors. (source: Johns Hopkins). With the cost of hearing aids amounting to $6,000, it would be a wise investment to reduce risk factors by modifying your lifestyle and learning about habits that recent research has discovered to eliminate or minimize hearing loss.

These risk factors include: exposure to loud noises (when going to a loud concert at Rogers Arena, consider ear plugs!), certain medications (such as aspirin and  commonly used antibiotics like neomycin, gentamicin, tobramycin), smoking (never too late to stop if you are a smoker), previous inner or middle ear infections, chronic metabolic disease (such as diabetes), and hypertension (home blood pressure measurements are more "accurate" than blood pressure at your doctor's office). (source: JAMA)

A higher risk of developing hearing loss can occur among people with excessive intake of carbohydrates, meat, sugar, excessive weight causing impaired blood circulation, systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) may affect hearing in one or both ears.

Previous research in animal studies have shown benefit in hearing health by ingestion of vitamins A, E, and C along with blueberries, but they do not improve human hearing. 

Folic acid/folate (vitamin B-12) does reduce your risk of developing hearing loss and the severity of having hearing loss. And dark green vegetables and legumes are rich in folic acid and effective for humans! Supplementation with folic acid 800 mcg daily is safe and effective for humans unable to routinely consume legumes and/or dark green vegetables: chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans), peanuts, black beans, green peas, lima beans, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, and navy beans.

Dark green vegetables include bok choy, broccoli, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, all lettuces (romaine, arugula, mesclun, baby spinach, etc.), mustard greens, and spinach. Be careful in consuming romaine lettuce due to possible e.coli contamination: be sure to do a triple wash).

Bon Appetit!

From S. Gilmore, Marina Co-op:

Such a great neighbour profile story. Really inspiring. Thanks for all your hard work.

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And from Mariam Habib, Creekview Co-op:

Kudos and a "Shout out" to you and your team! Another great publication! Thank you, once again for encouraging me to participate. 

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Kathleen Kulpas, Connaught Housing Co-op writes: 

Thank goodness, after 35 years there is some organic growth that’s pretty in Leg-In-Boot Square, like other gathering places around the city.

That plaza has been a non-event for 40 years. Gathering was a taboo. Thanks to Beth we have a chance. Why do some of us remember fondly gathering on the Spanish Steps or Porto Vecchio in Europe? They are people places. With all the creativity available around here, we can build a welcoming unique space to be proud of. Some of us can’t go to other neighborhoods anymore for that nurturance.

The issue of the view cone from Leg-In-Boot Square to the North Shore mountains raises other questions: What is the actual name of the two peaks in question? And does what you call “actual” depend upon whose story you choose to tell?

A Vancouver artist adds a few words to accompany her work shown here.

“Officially ‘The Lions’, they were named by BC Supreme Court Justice John Hamilton Gray in the 1880s because they reminded him of the seated lion statues back home in Trafalgar Square. Yet for time immemorial these were/are ‘Two SIsters’ (as translated into the colonizers’ language), for the Indigenous story of twin sisters who were made immortal for bringing peace into the land. In the spirit of real and active true reconciliation, it’s time to dump the Lions and officially recognize the Sisters”. 

Forty-eight years ago in 1975, researcher Donald Gutstein wrote in Vancouver, Ltd: 
 
“Far too quickly Vancouver has reached a watershed in its short 90-year history. The choice is clear: to continue on the mindless drive toward a high-density prestige ‘executive city’ —a Manhattan with mountains; or to redirect itself toward providing adequate housing and a decent environment for all classes of people. The first route is promoted by those who currently control Vancouver’s development. The second route will require drastic changes in the priorities of the decision makers.”

Vancouver Ltd. also argued that that if those who then controlled city redevelopment got their way, what was then called the False Creek basin – “perhaps the greatest single issue facing Vancouver over the next few years”-- would become “a high density high rise playground for thousands of affluent young executives who will be working in all those downtown high-rise office towers.”

In 1976, when a city council elected four years earlier actually changed the priorities, construction began of the False Creek South we know today.

Flash forward to 2021 when the city’s Real Estate department unveiled a grand plan for the redevelopment of the same area, much in the context of what Vancouver Ltd called “the mindless drive toward a high-density prestige ’executive city’”. And that plan, although not endorsed by the previous City Council, is alive and well today in the City’s Real Estate department – that is, among those who currently control Vancouver’s redevelopment. 

Something loved about False Creek South is its relationship to nature: mountain views, mini-forests, the ocean, streams and ponds – and all the wildlife living here. But lately some folks feel we might be getting too much of a good thing with many coyotes seemingly taking up residence, or at least becoming frequent visitors, in our courtyards and public spaces.

More frequent sightings may mean multiple factors at work: dry summer, loss of habitat west of Granville, the Covid years when fewer humans were out and about enabling coyotes to become secure roaming, the bunny population (an abundant food source, perhaps resulting in a coyote population boom). Whatever the reason(s), anecdotally there are more coyotes about. So what do we do? 

Not originally native here, since the 1980s urban coyotes are almost as ubiquitous as raccoons – particularly in Vancouver where re-wilding with multiple green spaces provides them suitable habitat. Now an important part of ecological balance, particularly in controlling the local rodent population, coyotes are here to stay. 

Aggressive coyotes are actually very rare, but it is up to us to keep it that way. Here are a few simple rules for co-existing with coyotes and not turning these passing visitors into resident bullies.

Be Big, Brave, and Loud – if you see a coyote, scare it – the most effective way to keep people, pets and coyotes safe.  There are special “coyote discouraging” coats for dogs and cats and noise makers to carry as you walk through the woods. Keep your pets on leash (except in off-leash areas) and teach your children how to be safe when they see a coyote. Most importantly, do not turn your back or run. Coyotes have a natural instinct to chase after prey.

Never Feed – Deliberate feeding, the sole cause of aggressive behaviour, is illegal under the provincial Wildlife Act. If you see someone feeding a coyote, report it. Don’t leave garbage, scraps or compost where coyotes can get into it. If you see a “sick” coyote, don’t feed it, report it.

Spread the Word – Tell your neighbours about co-existing, put up posters in your courtyards, and report your coyote sightings (link below).

And, as alarming as some of us find coyote sightings this year, it could be worse:  as many BC communities are experiencing, it could be bears. https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/animals/master-49/grizzly-bears-roaming-in-bc-cities-reflect-kind-of-a-weird-year-for-wildlife

To learn more about dealing with coyotes go to:
https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/urban-coyotes.aspx
https://stanleyparkecology.ca/ecology/co-existing-with-coyotes/coyote-sightings-map/

Activities at False Creek Elementary are in full swing now that the school year is well underway. 

In one of the big events, the annual Terry Fox Run, False Creek Elementary had no trouble reaching its fundraising goal.

Another successful fundraising event, the now annual Hallowe’en Costume Swap, supported what the school calls “a great cause”: SheWay, an organization supporting DTES women and kids. Families donate, or swap out, a costume they aren’t wearing this year. Though the cost of the costumes ranged from $1 to a maximum of $3, participants raised just over $100. An added bonus is recycling rather than discarding these costumes -  another lesson in community spirit.

Between The Bridges welcomes readers’ contributions of story ideas, events of interest, original photographs, and completed articles relevant to the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association’s goal to “promote an economically, social and culturally diverse neighbourhood with a friendly, positive and vibrant sense of community”. For details go to: