Column: Proposed Jericho Lands undertaking might produce houses for as many as 24,000 residents, together with new retail, workplace and cultural house, a neighborhood centre, public faculty, parks, and different public facilities
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A proposal to construct a dense neighbourhood on Vancouver’s west facet faces opposition from residents of the encircling space, however new polling suggests residents citywide take a extra beneficial view.
Subsequent week marks the most recent step within the years-long planning course of for the 1,300-home Jericho Lands growth, with metropolis workers in search of council approval for the subsequent phases of planning and technical research.
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A neighbourhood group opposing the proposed high-density growth is looking for metropolis corridor to place the brakes on the planning course of for a 12 months, to attend for these technical research.
No last choices are coming any time quickly on the Jericho redevelopment, a three way partnership of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, collectively generally known as the MST Partnership, and the Canada Lands Firm. That is the most recent step in planning that has been underway for nearly 5 years.
However Wednesday’s council assembly represents “a vital milestone,” stated Matt Shillito, Vancouver’s interim director of planning.
Metropolis workers will current council with what they name a “coverage assertion” or framework for the proposed redevelopment of Jericho website that takes up a few third of a sq. kilometre stretching from West 4th Avenue south to eighth, from Highbury Avenue west to Trimble Park.
Employees are in search of council’s approval to embark on the subsequent, extra detailed part of planning — an official growth plan — and to make sure “all vital technical research, together with substantive groundwater research for the whole website, are supplied to the town” earlier than any rezoning is taken into account.
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If council provides its go-ahead subsequent week, the event plan may very well be accomplished by the top of 2024, estimates Shillito.
That plan might be influenced by planning to increase SkyTrain’s Millennium line to the College of B.C., from the under-construction Broadway subway’s terminus at Arbutus Avenue. The work on that extension is anticipated to be full this 12 months and can determine the areas of all stations, together with one serving the Jericho Lands.
The report going to council contains outcomes of two current surveys on the Jericho proposal, with vastly totally different responses.
One survey sought public views by way of Vancouver’s ShapeYourCity.ca web site. It discovered nearly half of respondents dislike or actually dislike the proposal, and solely 38 per cent like or actually prefer it.
A second survey, by a market analysis firm, discovered greater than twice as many respondents — or 65 per cent — preferred or actually preferred the proposal, and solely 9 per cent disliked or actually disliked it.
The variations could also be defined by the totally different swimming pools of respondents, Shillito stated.
The ShapeYourCity survey, which discovered widespread opposition to the proposal, was crammed out by a “self-selected” pool of respondents, Shillito stated. Primarily based on their postal codes, they largely dwell within the West Level Gray neighbourhood round Jericho.
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The second survey was by Sentis, an organization contracted to do what the town report described as consultant public opinion analysis, with outcomes weighted to replicate Vancouver’s complete grownup inhabitants.
A gaggle of neighbourhood residents, calling themselves the Jericho Coalition, has organized to oppose the high-density undertaking.
Coalition spokesperson Murray Hendren stated “everybody within the space is anxious” concerning the proposed growth’s dimension and scale. Hendren stated he believes the town and developer ought to pause planning work till they get the outcomes of the hydrogeological work and transportation research.
“Why the push?” Hendren requested.
“This may very well be the worst-planned undertaking for the reason that Italians constructed the leaning tower, we simply don’t know,” he stated.
“Or as soon as we’ve got every little thing down, and we’ve got a very good understanding of all these items, it may be a world-class growth, and I hope it’s.”
Hendren identified that final 12 months, the Jericho Coalition commissioned their very own polling on the MST Partnership’s proposed growth. That ballot, carried out by Discussion board Analysis, discovered 72 per cent of respondents opposing the undertaking.
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Shillito, the town planner, stated it’s regular on a big undertaking for metropolis workers to proceed with detailed planning whereas the developer hires professionals to finish technical work similar to hydrogeological research.
The coverage assertion into consideration now could be “a framework, not a blueprint,” Shillito stated, and future planning will reply to the outcomes of technical research earlier than any last choices are made or constructing permits are issued, which may very well be a few years away.
The timing might change resulting from a variety of components. However it’s anticipated that development might start by 2027, and the whole undertaking, which might finally be dwelling to 24,000 folks together with new retail, workplace and cultural house, a neighborhood centre, public faculty, parks, and different public facilities, might take 25 or 30 years to construct.
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