Kitsilano residents file court petition against Arbutus supportive housing

Kitsilano residents file court petition against approved Arbutus supportive housing project

2022 revised concept of the supportive housing tower at 2086-2098 West 7th Avenue and 2091 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (BC Housing)

The fight over BC Housing’s project to build a supportive housing building next to SkyTrain’s future Arbutus Station is not quite over.

A group representing residents of the Kitsilano neighbourhood filed a petition today to the Supreme Court of British Columbia seeking a judicial review of Vancouver City Council’s controversial decision on June 26 to approve the rezoning application for the project.

City Council’s 8-3 vote in support — with TEAM councillor Colleen Hardwick, NPA councillor Melissa De Genova, and ABC councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung opposed — was made after a marathon public hearing spanning six meeting dates on this project.

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Kitsilano Coalition claims there were “significant failures” by the municipal government to ensure transparency, fairness, and disclosure of key information in its decision.

They have asked the court to rescind City Council’s decision to approve the rezoning application, and require a re-do of the rezoning process leading to a new public hearing.

2086-2098 West 7th Avenue 2091 West 8th Avenue Vancouver

Site of the homeless supportive housing project at 2086-2098 West 7th Avenue and 2091 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

The group is zeroing in on Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s decision on the first day of the public hearing as the basis for their complaint, accusing him of restricting the ability of city councillors to ask questions of the proponents, and refusing to provide another opportunity for city councillors to ask their questions after the City’s legal advisors explained the scope of the public hearing and the types of questions permitted.

They assert this amounts to City Council and the public being “deprived” of key information about the application, and for City Council to be able to make a fully informed decision.

Kitsilano Coalition also takes issue with the memorandum of understanding between the project’s partners — BC Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and the City of Vancouver — not being released to the public during the consultation process.

“A fundamental principle governing the conduct of public hearings is that members of the public are provided with an opportunity to make submissions to Council, and that they are provided with all the information that Council has before when making its decision,” said Karen Finnan, a spokesperson for Kitsilano Coalition, in a statement.

“The public hearing revealed troubling issues at the City concerning governance and the democratic process that have implications far beyond the 7th/8th and Arbutus rezoning. Council must ensure transparency in its process, listen to the feedback of the community, and make decisions based on accurate information that is equally available to Council and the community. This did not occur at the 7th/8th and Arbutus public hearing, and the resulting decision was not in the best interest of the community or proposed residents of the building and cannot stand.”

2086-2098 West 7th Avenue 2091 West 8th Avenue Vancouver BC Housing Supportive Housing 2022

2022 revised concept of the supportive housing tower at 2086-2098 West 7th Avenue and 2091 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (BC Housing)

The project at 2086-2098 West 7th Avenue and 2091 West 8th Avenue calls for a 13-storey permanent modular supportive housing tower with 129 single-occupancy units for individuals at risk of homelessness, with many facing mental health and addiction challenges.

During the public consultation process and public hearing, residents expressed immense concern over crime, public safety, and public disorder issues resulting from the supportive housing building, based on the conditions of other similar buildings and facilities elsewhere in the city.

Just weeks prior on June 14, City Council also approved BC Housing’s separate rezoning application for a similar 14-storey supportive housing tower at 1406-1410 East King Edward Avenue in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage neighbourhood.

Following the Arbutus supportive housing project’s rezoning approval, a development permit application has yet to be submitted, but it is expected before the end of 2022. Construction could begin in 2023 based on current timelines.

Earlier this month, another group of Kitsilano residents, the Kits Point Residents Association, also filed a court petition against Squamish First Nation’s Senakw rental housing project on their reserve. In their filing to the court, the group has taken aim at the City of Vancouver’s services agreement reached with the First Nation, which outlines the utilities, transportation infrastructure, and fire and police services that the municipal government will provide to Senakw. The residents are against the size and scope of Senakw.

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