Pete Fry

For Vancouver

Tag: Archive

  • Molson Brewery site allows plenty of development opportunities

    Molson Brewery site allows plenty of development opportunities

    Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Concord Pacific has had a pretty profound impact on our city. In just thirty years, the Li-Ka Shing founded company has gone on to develop large scale master planned communities across the country, but their (ongoing) development of the old Expo 86 site on north False Creek has been nothing short of transformative for our city and region.

    That’s why the incredulity that greeted last week’s announcement that residential-build-focused Concord paid over three times the assessed value for the protected industrially-zoned Molson Brewery site at the southeast end of the Burrard Bridge needs a bit of circumspection. You don’t get to be one of BC’s largest new home developers by making cavalier and reckless business moves, so at the request of Vancouver Green councillor Adriane Carr, I looked a little deeper.

    First, let’s get the idea of influence-for-donations out of the way. Yes, as Alan Garr reports Concord have donated a lot to the ruling Vision Vancouver council over successive elections (over $100,000 if you consider the donations of Concord Pacific and subsidiaries over the last two campaign periods). But Concord’s purchase is not predicated by some notion of nefarious influence peddling that will guarantee a rezoning, in fact their investment is quite sound, based on existing but obscure planning policies already on the books.

    When Vision councillor Geoff Meggs suggests the Concord proposal “is a big hill to climb and I am skeptical that council will climb that hill with them.” I would counter that hill is the proverbial molehill not a mountain, though it likely won’t be a climb made during this term. Indeed, as councillor Meggs is still stickhandling the removal of the Viaducts and negotiations with residents and senior government to actualize the last of Concord’s vision for North East False Creek, I’m guessing the idea of a new big and potentially controversial Concord project would be as welcome as a root canal.

    The notion that the Molson site is protected as industrial land references local zoning, but also Metro Vancouver’s 2013 Regional Context Statement. The Regional Context strategy aims to preserve Metro’s dwindling supply of industrial land, and would require a ⅔ vote of GVRD directors to amend, as most commentary on this deal have aleady alluded. Page 28 of the statement, item 6 specifically references the exclusion of residential development in industrial zones, but with ONE exception — a specific planning district, referenced in the City’s Burrard Slopes IC District Rezoning Policy (2010).

    The Burrard Slopes District, unsurprisingly includes the Molson property and Seaforth Armory — it’s that area just east of Burrard and north of Fourth. The policy precludes stand-alone residential development or any residential within 25’ of the bridge ramps, but allows mixed use development including things like artist live-work and residential development on top of light industrial. Interestingly, the policy specifically precludes non-market housing as a requirement (though will offer bonus density for non-market development). The policy further mandates that floor space for residential use must equal industrial use.

    The idea of building on top of industrial isn’t too far fetched, in fact it was one of 12 More Affordable Housing Ideas presented at a recent SFU lecture by planner/developer Michael Geller. Throughout North America, increased urbanization is seeing the confluence of mixed use residential-commercial-industrial development. Now, with high-tech as Vancouver’s fastest-growing industry, the city is grappling with the question of what industrial zoning is on a fundamental level. Light industry is increasingly the hum of the computers not the din of the factory floor, and manufacturing software or games is eclipsing the tool and die makers of yesterday.Referencing the 2015 City of Vancouver’s Zoning Map, we can see that Concord’s recent three hectare purchase is zoned for M-2 industrial (it might be helpful to understand the prefixes used: M- is industrial, and I-, IC- is light industrial). Most experts agree the reality is that no major M-2 zoned industrial operation would feasibly take over a site which no longer has access to the CPR rail line (recently sold to the City as part of the Arbutus Corridor deal) in a central-city site in a city plagued with housing affordability issues. The rezoning of the M- industrial site to a light industrial IC- site would be a Vancouver City Council decision and wouldn’t have to trigger a GVRD vote as it still falls within the Regional Context outlined permissions and protections for “a wide range of industrial uses (from light to heavy industrial) and associated accessory uses”.

    The current lease agreement with Concord Pacific will see Molson continue operations on the site until 2018, so any decision on the future of the site likely won’t be presented before city council until after the next civic election. Concord have issued a statement indicating they are planning a mixed-use development and intend to work with the community, city and region on their plans for the site. There’s a tremendous opportunity with this particular site to build a vibrant and green mixed use community supportive of industry, the arts, and affordable housing — so let’s start thinking about what we want to see now, and ensure the conversation about that future is transparent and accurate.

  • The Mount Pleasant by-election candidates on rising rents and legalized pot

    What can we do about the impact of rising rental rates in a neighbourhood whose incomes are increasingly unable to support them?

    We need to be ensuring that we are not relying entirely on the market to supply affordable rental housing. I have long advocated that we need to extract more value from the property transfer tax system and the commodification of our local real estate and start investing that. Right now, $1.4 billion in property taxes from last year alone is going into general revenue, but I would like to see it going into housing. I’d like to see property transfer taxes tweaked to address speculators, foreign corporate investors, luxury properties and enhance that revenue by putting it into building new housing and subsidize the building of new public housing and rental housing.

    I would also like to see us start looking towards the model that we see in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba with the renters tax credit. In those provinces, and increasingly in the U.S., renters who are paying high rents can actually declare their rents on their income tax and receive some kind of credit or rebate at tax time. What we see in Vancouver Mount-Pleasant where we have three-quarters of the riding in rent is that an extremely high proportion of them are paying more than 50 percent of their income when the benchmark is supposed to be 30 percent. Obviously there is a disconnect, and we need to insure that housing affordability is made available to the people that live and work here because it is vital to our quality of life and local economy. Vancouverites need to actually be able to afford to live where they work.

    Marijuana Dispensaries abound in the riding. What can be done to integrate them more successfully into the community?

     I’m not sure what you mean by “integrate them more successfully into the community.” I mean, they are what they are, and in the end it’s a business model. I don’t think we can look at how we necessarily integrate businesses like pharmacies or any kind of special dispensaries; they are just a very specialized market. I think that we should enhance and protect bubble zones around vulnerable populations, so I don’t think we should have dispensaries too close to schools or community centers. Of course they should be operating within the scope of the law, and I know that there have been some really top-drawer operations and some that are a little bit shady and we need to regulate, tax and monitor these with the utmost discretion. It is a controlled substance and there is the risk of criminality or whatever might come with it, so I think we need to be on top of that. Otherwise, I would not want to see them more integrated into normal society. I think it is probably fine the way it is, as far as integration goes.

    What is the one policy change you would push for as the MLA for the riding?

    Aggressive movement on housing affordability. That is 100 percent the biggest issue for me. We have a lot of pressure coming on to this riding in particular, a lot of big projects happening, and these things combined bring about a lot of change that risks a lot of displacement. We have the viaducts removal, we have the new St. Paul’s Hospital, we have the Broadway Subway, and all three of those projects are massive game changers for this riding that are going to bring a lot of development and money. We really need to be on top of this housing affordability issue as we embrace these new changes, because if we don’t we are going to displace a lot of people. We will only see our homeless numbers go up, we will see more stress and family dysfunction, and it will compromise the health and well being of Vancouverites. It’s important that we have communities where everybody can live and thrive and socioeconomic diversity is a big part of that, which housing is at the root of.


    Read Full Article: http://vanmag.com/city/mount-pleasant-by-election-candidates/

  • Conservation, Wildlife, and Animal Welfare

    Conservation, Wildlife, and Animal Welfare

    As Greens, how we treat our planet and its inhabitants reflect our fundamental values. 
    As a Green MLA, I will fight to push those values into provincial decisions and lend my voice to those who have none.

    An Endangered Species Act for B.C.
    Currently, our conservation efforts here in B.C. are woefully inadequate, and reflect a last-century mindset towards resource extraction and the environment. Our current provincial Wildlife Act is too weak — B.C. has the greatest biodiversity in the country, yet we have no stand-alone law to protect endangered wildlife. Along with Alberta, B.C. stands alone as the only province without an Endangered Species Act. Limited federal protection applies to only 210 of the approximately 1900 species of flora and fauna at risk in our province. As MLA I will join biologists, ecologists, and environmentalists in calling for an Endangered Species Act for B.C.

    In our province, interference from industry has weakened protection for species at risk, while habitat destruction and irresponsible resource extraction has led us to the point that we are struggling to protect critically threatened populations like the Southern Selkirk caribou herd.

    The price for our mismanagement of the South Selkirk? Wolf packs in the area will be slaughtered by aerial gunning, neck snares and poison. The caribou survival is far from guaranteed though, as their herbivorous diet destroyed by logging won’t recover anytime soon. A failure on all counts, that deserves a more proactive method of wildlife management and environmental stewardship.

    Compassionate Conservation
    As MLA, I will champion the emerging school of wildlife and habitat management known as Compassionate Conservation — ostensibly a program that offers less cruelty and more protection to wildlife than our practices currently afford. Compassionate Conservation recognizes the value of animals beyond just resources to exploit or control, as well as our own role in climate change and habitat destruction.

    In British Columbia, eco-tourism has far greater revenue generating potential than trophy hunting, yet the latter continues in the form of the annual grizzly bear hunt despite its relatively negligible economic benefits. There exists a reasonable economic argument to support enhancing our conservation efforts in support of the billion-dollar eco-tourism. Rather than our current direction of decreasing the number of conservation officers, an updated conservation service could provide good opportunities for stewardship employment, particularly in First Nations communities.

    Environmental protection must include wildlife
    British Columbians might be shocked to learn that when we talk about “made-in-BC-solutions” and “world class spill response” in the context of proposed pipelines, oiled wildlife aren’t considered. In fact, there is no clearly defined legal fiscal responsibility for oiled wildlife response in British Columbia. Furthermore, we don’t have the response capacity, funding or facilities. Any oiled wildlife rescue would be completely downloaded to private rehabilitators. Resource extractors must consider wildlife in any official disaster response planning.

    Mounting evidence is pointing to the indiscriminate use of pesticides in agriculture as the cause for massive bee colony collapse. I believe that B.C. needs to follow Ontario’s example and take a much more proactive approach to the issue of neonicotinoids impact on wild bee and pollinator populations.

    The Five Freedoms
    British Columbia has done a reasonably good job of updating its Animal Cruelty legislation in recent years (The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act) — we still have a ways to go, and these things do take time. As MLA I will offer support to industry and animal welfare advocates in continuing to update and improve the National Farm Animal Care Council codes.

    Concerning animal welfare, I fundamentally support the “Five Freedoms” as a foundation for care of animals under human control.

    1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
    2. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
    3. Freedom from distress
    4. Freedom from discomfort
    5. Freedom to express behaviours that promote well-being.

  • I promise big change in the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant by-election

    I promise big change in the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant by-election

    On Tuesday (February 2), voters in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant will head to the polls and mandate a big change for our riding.

    The big change coming to Vancouver-Mount Pleasant isn’t just the replacing of Jenny Kwan’s 20-year career as MLA since she stepped aside six months ago.

    The big change will be electing me as Vancouver’s first Green MLA, and sending a strong signal that East Van is ready to do things differently.

    There are other changes coming like the removal of the viaducts, the relocation of St. Paul’s Hospital, Broadway Subway, eastern expansion of downtown Vancouver, vanishing Chinatown, or even the ever-increasing property values that threaten to displace many long-time residents.

    I’ve lived here in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant for close to 30 years now, and for the last nine months I’ve been knocking on doors, chatting in grocery stores, and talking on the streets with thousands of our neighbours about the changes that are coming-and the changes they want to see.

    When I ran for City Council in 2014 I topped the polls around here, and my volunteers and I are hearing echoes of that support in the community. Then as now, I’ve been offering a local perspective on the issues we are hearing people are concerned about: affordability, poverty and homelessness, good quality transit, jobs, public education, our environment, and climate change. We are also hearing a lot of frustration: that the NDP have taken our riding for granted for too long.

    The idea that Vancouver-Mount Pleasant is a “safe NDP seat” hasn’t served our riding very well. It’s been 15 years since the NDP have formed government, and since that time, our riding has been treated as a vehicle for personal and political ambition, rather than given the strong local representation it deserves. The fact that the NDP brass pushed aside local nominees to run a Burnaby resident as their candidate is perhaps the most cynically symbolic representation of this notion.

    Voters are telling me that they don’t want a candidate who lives in Burnaby and answers to Victoria; they want an MLA who lives here and answers to the people of Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.

    As a Green, I’m obliged first and foremost to our riding, even ahead of the party-that principle is a foundation of what it means to be a Green.

    I’m a stereotypical East Ender: an immigrant of mixed ethnicity, I’m self-employed in the arts, volunteer in the community, ride a bike, walk my dog, enjoy craft beer and buying local, love my ‘hood, and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

    I’ve been especially active in urban issues like planning, development, and housing-issues that have a lot of jurisdictional crossover with provincial politics. I’ve been outspoken on issues surrounding the commodification of housing in our city, how we develop, and for whom. These are issues that I campaigned on in 2014, that I’ve written about here in the Straight and elsewhere, and that need to be brought to the legislature.

    Since this is a by-election, it won’t unseat the government and it won’t unelect Christy Clark, so it’s a great opportunity to send a clear signal about the kind of change we want to see.

    People sometimes ask what kind of difference one or two Greens can make, and I point to the relentless advocacy of elected local Greens like MP Elizabeth May, Coun. Adriane Carr, and B.C. Green leader MLA Andrew Weaver as proof positive.

    Weaver was the only MLA to appear as an intervenor in the National Energy Board hearings for the Kinder Morgan pipeline, and the Greens are the only party eschewing the others’ wishy-washy language about “made in B.C. solutions” or “world class spill response” to call for an outright moratorium on the shipments of diluted bitumen on our coast.

    Even more evidence of Greens leading the way-in the last week alone, Weaver’s long standing push to see MSP premiums rolled into income tax has seen the NDP take a long overdue position supporting the same, and the premier is now talking about some relief for single-parent families in the next budget. Even as an unelected, after months of talking up the idea of a renter’s tax credit on the doorstep (I wrote about it here in the Straight), the NDP candidate is now considering bringing the idea to that party’s caucus.

    We know that as Greens we can be the change that we want to see in the world, and this February 2, I ask you to be a part of that change and vote for me as your next MLA.

    Pete Fry is the B.C. Green party candidate in the February 2nd by-election for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.
    Originally published in the Georgia Straight

  • Broadway Subway and Public Transit

    Broadway Subway and Public Transit

    Vancouver is a growing city with worsening congestion, affordability challenges, and a finite amount of developable land — investing in good transit now is an absolute necessity if we want to keep our local economy robust and our region livable.

    The Broadway Subway to Arbutus is largely a done deal. At this point it’s not a question of “if” or “where” as much as a question of “when” and “who’s going to pay for what?”.

    The BC Liberal candidate has made a great show in this by-election about his support for building a Broadway Subway. His support, of course, belies the fact that his party have so thoroughly failed the people of Greater Vancouver on public transit.

    The premier’s decision to defer the question of transit spending to public referendum was an absolute abdication of leadership, and certainly not a sign of “support” for transit infrastructure. The BC Liberals have absolutely zero credibility as advocates for public transit, and their candidate’s support for the subway now is the worst kind of political hypocrisy.

    Quality public transit is a critical underpinning of our economy, livability, and greenhouse gas reduction efforts. While one of the most egregious examples of our transit needs can be exemplified by the Broadway B-Line waits, we need better transit system-wide.

    Let’s not make a Broadway Subway our only ask for better transit.

    Having said that the Broadway Subway is a done deal, my concern is how the deal is done. With the Canada Line, we have seen that a lot of (planner-speak) transit-oriented development has come at the expense of housing affordability and led to extreme property speculation, even in advance of actual city re-zonings. It is critical that the Broadway Subway development is not a trigger for massive displacement, and that transit-oriented development is concurrent with senior government investments in publicly owned housing stock.