Mayor makes last-minute proposal for renter protections in Vancouver's 30-year plan
The long-awaited Vancouver Plan is set to go before council on Wednesday after almost four years of work – and Mayor Kennedy Stewart is adding a last-minute amendment.
On Tuesday, Stewart held a news conference to announce he wants to include renter protections in the plan, the same that were built into the Broadway Plan.
“Housing is one of the most personal things in our lives, the places we live are usually the places we keep most of our valuable possessions,” Stewart said at the beginning of the news conference. “Today I’m announcing my plan to extend these renter protections city-wide through the Vancouver Plan.”
Stewart’s plan would focus on renters displaced by redevelopment. Tenants would have the first right of refusal to return to the newly developed property at the same, or lower rent, and builders would also front relocation costs – an idea, the mayor admitted, that made some builders nervous.
“I did meet with builders yesterday and we brought up what happened in the Broadway Plan, you could see there’s a lot of chewing on the bottom of the lip,” he said, adding the protections will make building costs more expensive and could force towers to go higher.
“(The builders) show us their proformas and say, ‘We’ll need this much more density if we’re going to make this happen,’ and that’s something we’ll have to consider,” Stewart said.
At least three councilors CTV News reached out to said they were unaware the mayor was making the announcement Tuesday.
The concept of looking forward to Vancouver 2050 was first passed by council back in November 2018, just after Kennedy Stewart had been elected as mayor. Since then it’s gone through several stages of planning and public feedback, some of which was slowed by the pandemic.
Last week, staff released new concept sketches to show what the proposed areas of the city would look like.
Karis Hiebert is manager of the Vancouver Plan project, and said staff hadn’t looked at details such as renter protections yet.
“The Vancouver Plan is a higher level plan so we haven’t gotten into the specifics, but we can definitely look into (that) for the implementation phase,” Hiebert said, adding that even if the plan is passed by council it won’t be implemented for some time.
“The scope of work that we have in the report estimates that we have between two, two-and-a-half years before we would have a land use development plan,” she said.
The plan goes before council on Wednesday and as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, 53 speakers were signed up.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.