Category — Environment and Sustainability

Vancouver City Council today finally brought an end, with a split vote,  to one of the most contentious development battles in the city’s recent history, approving the form of development for 1450 McRae Ave. on the northeast corner of Shaughnessy at Granville at 16th.

But an amendment proposed by Mayor Gregor Robertson won unanimous support. It seeks options from staff to slam the door on any repeat of the fiasco, which saw the mobilization of hundreds of Shaughnessy residents in opposition to the unprecedented townhouse development.

Why the anger? There were many reasons, but one stood out. Despite the FSD’s openness to increased density through infill housing, it very clearly rules out townhouses. The McRae project entails the destruction of many trees, the construction of 14 townhouses with 49 underground parking spots, and the restoration of a heritage home.

Despite strong advice from the city’s legal staff that council had little option but to approve the form of development — the very last in a line of decisions which is normally a purely formal rubber stamp  — Councillors George Chow and David Cadman voted no. (NPA councillor Susan Anton was absent on civic business. )

The Mayor, along with councillors Jang, Louie, Stevenson, Deal, Reimer, Woodsworth and I, voted yes, aware that the mayor’s amendment was next. [Read more →]

Final crop? This Mount Pleasant apple tree at 6th and Alberta, next to two homes marked for demolition, is loaded with fruit.

Just  blocks from the Olympic Village Canada Line station and the Olympic Village itself, an apple tree that may date from the early days of one of the city’s oldest neighbourhood is groaning with fruit — perhaps for the last time.

Development began in Mount Pleasant before the turn of the last century as logging ended and retail businesses sprang up at Kingsway and Main, where the waters of Brewery Creek were being turned into beer.

By the early 1900s, homes were rising closer to Cambie, where a bridge had been built across False Creek in 1891. In the 1950s, homes gave way to light industry. The area bounded by Broadway, Cambie and Main supports  thousands of jobs in the diverse businesses it takes to make the city run: laundries, garages, print shops, studios, metal shops and much more.

Somehow, two homes survived at 6th and Alberta. Now boarded up, they seem headed at last for demolition.

But the very old and beautiful apple tree in the front yard is defiantly offering up an abundant and perhaps final harvest. Is there a rescue organization for heritage trees?

Yesterday’s VPD plea to motorists to evacuate the downtown core in the face of the Critical Mass bike ride — as if they needed urging on a hot Friday night — has provided a welcome new “critical mess” story line for media hounds to bay at.

But the outcry is no surprise to those in close touch with the mood of drivers and cyclists.

Friction is growing between drivers and cyclists. It can boil over at events like the Critical Mass ride, which is growing much faster than its organizers can manage. Last month’s massive 1,000-cycle ride nearly triggered fisticuffs between fuming drivers and a handful of taunting cyclists trailing the main pack.

The risk that poses to improved cycling in the city was clear at a meeting I facilitated Tuesday at City Hall with the assistance of Kari Hewett, chair of the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee. It was attended by eight cycling advocates, including two from the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition, and representatives of VPD, ICBC and city Engineering.

[Read more →]

On the evening before the Burrard Bridge opens to cyclists — creating what some motorists believe will be hell in a very small space — these two photos from a recent trip to Italy seek to explain in graphic form why experts favour separation of pedestrians, cyclists and cars:

RECOMMENDED APPROACH: separate lanes for cars, cyclists and pedestrians as seen last week in Torino, host city for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. Orderly, calm, fun for all. Much of the old downtown core is car-free.

NOT RECOMMENDED: Shared sidewalk on Via Della Greca, near the Aventine Hills in Rome, requires curve around sign post while missing nun. Remember: cars do not yield to anyone or anything. Cyclists seen in 12-hour period? Fewer than 10.