Colleen Hardwick's TEAM seeks 'upzoning' moratorium to protect affordable rentals | Daily Hive

Colleen Hardwick's TEAM seeks to protect affordable rental housing with 'upzoning' moratorium

Colleen Hardwick. (TEAM For A Livable Vancouver)

Colleen Hardwick, a former Vancouver city councillor and the mayoral candidate for the TEAM For A Livable Vancouver party, is calling for governments to take a more direct role in creating new homes that middle-income residents can afford — through cooperation with private developers and changes to how the City of Vancouver plans new building development.

TEAM wants to protect existing affordable secured purpose-built rental housing buildings and give residents a greater say in identifying where new housing should go.

Generally, many of Vancouver’s existing rental housing buildings with a higher degree of affordability — lower rents — are older buildings. The party has consistently taken issue with the redevelopment of such properties, especially within the Broadway Plan area.

In the party’s announcement today, Hardwick argued that Vancouver’s housing challenge is a shortage of affordable homes, rather than simply a shortage of housing units.

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“We can’t rely on developers who are making building decisions based on the market alone to deliver affordable middle-income housing,” said Hardwick.

“Government has a role to play in setting the stage for success. Affordability, not just supply, must be a driver — and government action needs to reflect that priority.”

Among the ideas Hardwick highlighted is a moratorium on zoning changes that would allow larger developments on sites occupied by qualifying affordable rental buildings. This “upzoning” moratorium would apply to buildings with at least 10 units that are in “adequate” condition, and where rents cost a median-income earner less than 30 per cent of their income.

For new construction, Hardwick highlighted planning tailored to individual neighbourhoods, with residents helping identify suitable places to add housing. The approach would tailor development rules to each area, instead of applying the same changes across different neighbourhoods.

Another proposal would have the City review how land is used to uncover overlooked housing sites, including idle properties or developments that no longer serve their original purpose. The findings would be collected in a map showing potential housing opportunities.

Other recommendations highlighted by TEAM include tying zoning decisions to public infrastructure requirements to curb land speculation, and simplifying approvals while retaining neighbourhood input and technical reviews.

Hardwick argues that allowing more development on a property can increase its land value and encourage speculation, with higher land costs ultimately reflected in the housing built there.

“City Hall has to avoid unnecessary land-value escalation, capture increases in land value for public benefit, and explore ways of removing or reducing land costs from the affordability equation,” she says.

“Instead of simply asking how many units were approved, we need to ask questions like: who can afford the units in question? For how long? And who will actually live in them?”

Over the years, Hardwick and TEAM have been vocal critics of high-density developments and the municipal government’s dependence on market residential development-driven revenue. They have also challenged what they view as top-down planning by municipal and provincial governments, including provincial housing-related legislation, arguing that local communities have not been adequately consulted.

When it comes to City policies, this past summer, TEAM announced that if elected, they would repeal various plans created by the municipal government, including the new Vancouver Official Development Plan, Vancouver Plan, Broadway Plan, Jericho Lands Official Development Plan, and the Rupert & Renfrew Villages Plan. They were also opposed to the proposed Villages Plan, which was rejected by the current makeup of City Council this past summer.

Instead, the City’s previous neighbourhood plans would be revisited as part of a broader approach to restore community-based planning.

TEAM would also introduce new design prescriptions and stipulations to require multiplex building forms to be “more neighbourly in form.”

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