VANCOUVER — Vancouver’s council has voted in favour of a plan that will dramatically change the look of the city’s Broadway corridor over the next 30 years.
Councillors voted 7-4 in support of the plan to add up to 30,000 homes along a six-kilometre, 16-block wide strip serving Vancouver General Hospital, City Hall and hundreds of businesses, shops, restaurants and schools.
The project is planned to complement construction of the Broadway subway line, slated for completion in 2025.
Concerns about the plan, which will allow highrises of up to 40 storeys, focus on possible displacement of current tenants while failing to make rental accommodation more affordable.
But supporters, including Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart, say more than 50 per cent of the new homes will be rentals and residents displaced by construction will have the right to pay an identical, or possibly lower rent, on their return.
A statement from the city says the development also supports Vancouver’s target of ensuring 90 per cent of people can live within a short trip to work, school or shopping by 2030 without using their vehicle.
More than 200 people signed up to address council on the plan, one of the highest totals for a single item in recent memory, and council heard impassioned arguments for and against it.
