Help is coming to Chinatown: Vancouver City Council to order urgent relief

A storefront in Vancouver's Chinatown damaged by graffiti and fire. (@lorrainelowe_/Twitter)

The need to provide immediate attention and relief for Vancouver’s historic Chinatown district and its struggling businesses and cultural organizations was a key platform promise made by the ABC Vancouver party during the civic election campaign.

Accordingly, near-term initiatives and strategies to support Chinatown are amongst ABC Vancouver’s key policies up for consideration on Tuesday, when the new Vancouver City Council convenes for its first public meeting for policy and business.

Some of the directions outlined in ABC councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung’s member motion were requests previously made by business and community stakeholders for years, but they failed to receive the sufficient traction needed by the majority makeup of the previous City Council, who were largely lukewarm in their support and response for Chinatown’s call for help.

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Kirby-Yung’s new motion directs City staff to report back by the first public meeting in January 2023 with a draft action plan to support “urgent measures to uplift Chinatown.” Potential measures could entail “enhanced support” from City crews for street, laneway, and sidewalk cleaning, and garbage and needle pick-up, as well as new graffiti removal strategies, placemaking, new public art murals.

For the purpose of guiding City staff’s work in creating the draft action plan, she specifically brings attention to the need for City staff to engage with the Vancouver Police Department and community leaders who were part of a joint Vancouver delegation that visited San Francisco in late Summer 2022. They learned about how effective measures turned the tide in the similar crisis that was faced by San Francisco’s Chinatown.

City staff were invited to be part of the delegation, but did not attend.

“The findings the delegation identified highlighted the fact that the success in addressing the problems of San Francisco’s Chinatown was built on strong partnerships between local community groups, the San Francisco Police Department, and the City of San Francisco Public Works department, as well as through the establishment of clearly defined programs, communications protocols, and resource allocation,” reads Kirby-Yung’s motion.

Other specific directions outlined by Kirby-Yung’s motion include establishing a satellite City office in Chinatown to provide Mayor Ken Sim and City Council with the ability to work from the space and meet with community members.

“The reason for this City Hall office in Chinatown is that we want our elected officials to go down there on a regular basis. We truly believe that if you want to solve the problem, you need to walk the shop floor to understand what the residents, businesses, and community stakeholders are going through,” Sim told Daily Hive Urbanized in an interview after the election.

Her motion also directs City staff to set aside funding from the 2023 budget for the various initiatives and strategies to help Chinatown, and identify potential bylaw changes to remove or waive fines to property owners and businesses that are repeat victims of nuisance and damaging graffiti. Currently, these property owners and businesses are being financially punished — both in City fines and cost for repairs — for social issues and public disorder that all levels of government have been unable to contain and rectify, including the Hastings Street homeless encampment on Chinatown’s northern border.

“The economic survival and vibrancy of the Chinatown community is being hindered by these issues that are not being suitably addressed, and the impacts are being felt by area residents, small businesses, cultural organizations, locals, and visitors alike,” continues her motion.

“Vancouver’s Chinatown is a cultural gem under siege. Rectifying the situation requires immediate leadership from Vancouver City Hall in partnership with the local community to invest in and support uplifting Chinatown to help return vibrancy to this important neighbourhood.”

With an ABC super majority in City Council, the motion by Kirby-Yung is likely to be approved. Sim previously stated ABC will offer short-, medium, and long-term measures to support Chinatown.

The previous City Council also approved a motion in April 2022 directing City staff to work with businesses and the community to address Chinatown’s challenges, but the motion’s original intent was watered down. City staff were directed to consider a six-month pilot project to lower Chinatown’s parking fees as a way to attract more customers to support businesses, instead of implementing free parking.

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