The Barn At 1st & Victoria Is Approved

The immense and ugly barn-like structure that Grandview Calvary Baptist has proposed to build at 1st and Victoria — and which I spoke against the other night — has been approved this morning at City Council. The vote was unanimous.

Councilor Reimer, who lives in Grandview, made the motion to approve with a couple of minor amendments that the design be “more reflective of the neighbourhood” and that a “community advisory committee” be formed.

It is a great shame that they could not get the building down to a size that is closer to Rt-5 zoning.  We can only hope that this does not become a precedent-setting decision.

Talking To City Hall

This evening I am on the speakers’ list to talk with City Council about a proposal from Grandview Calvary Baptist Church to redevelop their property at 1st and Victoria as an “intentional community” housing individuals who are hard to house elsewhere.  Grandview Woodlands Area Council has the documents on this proposal.

The Church wants to put up a huge barn-like 4-storey structure that will dwarf surrounding houses (see image below).  Not only that, but their design includes nothing that comes even close to reflecting the neighbourhood’s historic and current buildings.  It will, almost literally, stick out like an enormous sore thumb on one of our major intersections.

My position tonight will have three parts:

a)  I fully approve the development of this site.  It is currently used as a private car park for the Church (which is further up First Avenue) and looks shabby.  My personal preference is that the site become a pocket park.  However, that seems to be a pipe dream and so I am content that a good building will improve the look of the intersection;

b) I don’t know enough about the Church and its programs and so cannot comment specifically (although I have read a number of comments from neighbours that question the Church’s ability to control previous programs.)  However, I am in favour generally of creating housing opportunities for the hard to house in our neighbourhood; and so I am in principle in support of the Church’s proposed use;

c) The design is so overwhelming and out of character with the neighbourhood that it must be changed. I will ask that Council send the proposal back for re-design before granting approval. My suggestion would be that the design eliminate certain uses that are not relevant to the primary use (see below), and that the design be spread over a larger footprint on the site.  These changes should allow the design to be scaled down from four storeys to three at most and, hopefully, two.

I have attended a couple of public presentations by the proposers and their architects, and their response to our concerns over the design were less than helpful.  In fact, on both occasions they essentially refused to discuss the design, saying that their “programming and business plan” required the size and style proposed.  However, their “business plan” includes offices for rent and a large community kitchen, neither of which seem essential to the proposed use.

Finally, I want to note that I assume their programming is designed to meet all Federal and Provincial regulations for such things; and I assume their financing and accounting set ups are designed to meet all necessary regulations for non-profits and churches.  Why then, should their building design not be obliged to meet current zoning regulations?  Why should it be that the one part of their proposal that directly affects the neighbourhood (and will for a generation at least) should be subject to the whims of their “business plan”?

 

The Worst Airport In The World

I’ll write more about my latest travels as soon as I work through the current sleep deficit. However, there is one thing about which I am absolutely clear already.

I have lived a long time with the mistaken impression that Heathrow was the worst major airport for passengers in the world.  I was wrong.  Toronto’s Pearson airport actively works hard to earn the title.  If ever I needed another reason not to visit Toronto, Pearson would be it!

Just for a little balance, I shall mention that Montreal Airport was a dream!

Losar 2012

Today is Tibetan New Year, or Losar. I can only hope and wish that 2012 is a better year for that sad occupied land.

Port Traffic in Grandview

I have written here and here about the problem of trucks on Nanaimo Street and on other residential streets in our neighbourhood.

I just heard that Jerry Dobrovolny, City Transportation Director, will present the City’s plan on this issue to the City Finances and Services Standing Committee tomorrow (January 17th) at 1:30pm at City Hall.   Citizens are welcome.

To get on the speakers’ list email lori.iseld@vancouver.ca ASAP.

Thanks to GWAC for the heads up.

Tree At Garry Point #1

Barcelona Balconies

Windy?

I went out shopping on the Drive today and had trouble making my way against the extraordinary wind.  If you have ever been to Skagway, you’ll understand why I thought I was back there!

Sundays At The Library

I spend a lot of time at the Central Library, all day for at least two and sometimes three days a week. And more or less I have been doing that for a couple of years. Up on the seventh floor where I do my work there are the occasional busy flashes but generally it is pretty quiet up there.

I have tried to keep weekends as free as possible and so I haven’t been visiting the Library at those times.  However, because my gal has been traveling for the last couple of weeks, I have found myself doing full days there for the last two Sundays. And wow! — the place has been packed both days; seriously busy with nearly every table and work space being used.

Maybe half the crowd are ethnically-oriental students doing language homework or some such in a quiet space. The other half are actively looking up stuff from directories, old newspapers and the massively-multiple volumes of historic Vancouver photographs.

On my walks around the Library every floor seemed to be equally busy.

It is wonderful to see such a special building be so well used.

Fleet In Fog

Two Windows

This beautiful architectural and social detail was taken in Nelson, BC. one summer some years since.

Corner Suites

 

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Ghadaffi is dead.  More than forty years after he seized power, and just months since he was enjoying the luxury of his palace in Tripoli, he died in a drain.

He had already lost power and so his death was just a bonus.  It probably means a great deal to the Libyans he suppressed for so long; but it should mean even more to those bastard dictators that still thrive in our world — Belorussia, the ‘Stans, the Egyptian generals, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and the feudal SOBs in Saudi Arabia.

Everyone who cares should flood those countries’ emails with photos of the dead Ghadaffi. With a message: “You are next!”

 

Wall With Window

This wondrous wall in Vancouver no longer exists unfortunately.

 

Better Transit

As regular readers will know, I am a big booster for Vancouver’s transit system.  I use it almost every day at least once, and have done now for more than twenty years since I last owned a car.

But it is certainly not perfect and could stand some improvements.

For example, under the current governance structures (i.e. government run), Translink should make all transit fare-free.  If the government is going to monopolize a business using our tax money, then we should at least get the service free.  Besides, in today’s world, freedom of movement must be a human right.

But I am sure there are smaller changes we could make while the transition to free is agreed.  And COPE councilman nominee Tim Louis has some interesting ideas that help ignite the conversation — if only for the length of the municipal campaign.

“[Louis] said the transportation company could make “small” changes that would improve ridership, such as freezing fares and putting even bigger buses on crowded routes along the Broadway line.

“A COPE increase on council will do everything possible to democratize TransLink, to see that the TransLink board is accountable to the taxpayer,” he said. “The TransLink board is currently accountable to only one person and that is the transportation minister in Victoria. A new TransLink board would begin working in the best interests of passengers, taxpayers and workers …”

TransLink should equip all its buses with special transponders that he said would keep “stale green” lights green when a bus approaches, essentially speeding up service. “The ideas we’re putting forth today are very cost-effective with very small capital costs which would make enormous improvements for you and I when we [ride] the bus,” he said. “No more red lights.”Louis also believes TransLink should buy special “bi-articulated buses” or essentially larger versions of the current articulated buses with an extra coach. “It would cost about 30 per cent more, but would carry 50 per cent more people, making it much more efficient,” he said.

On an even more quotidian level, Translink better do a better job of clarifying their rules about baby carriages on buses. I have written about this before but I witnessed a perfect example from the weekend: seniors being forced to move out of the front seats to make way for baby carriages.  This is simply nonesense and must stop!

 

Pathway In Fall

 

Yes To Transit Improvements

Bravo to the Lower Mainland mayors who today voted for a 2 cents gas tax increase to pay for the Evergreen Line and other transit improvements!  Approving a tax increase just weeks before each of them faces the voters was the right thing to do, but brave nonetheless.

For Richmond’s Brodie and Burnaby’s Corrigan — both representing municipalties particularly well served by transit already — to vote against improvements elsewhere showed no class at all.

Serrated Slab

“Serrated Slab,” a building on Burrard Street, Vancouver, represents all the buildings that funny money has created to litter our cities; and thus I offer this in support of all the Occupyxxxx folks who are on the streets tonight. And soon to be in Vancouver!

Fog At Sunset

“Fog At Sunset”, Steveston.

World Class Library?

The last week or so I have been heads-down doing serious final work on the next book. That means hours and hours spent up in the seventh floor of the VPL Central Library. I love being there, but getting upstairs is becoming a genuine pain.

There are two public elevators serving the seven floors of the library. One of the elevators has been out of service for three weeks — THREE WEEKS!  I was told today that the staff elevator was also broken.  So two out of the three elevators servicing seven floors are not available.

This morning, I waited the usual three or four minutes for the one elevator to get back to the main floor.  It was packed, of course. We stopped at each floor — a milk run! — until we got to the sixth floor at which point the up arrow turned down and we returned to the main floor without visiting the floor I needed.  In the end, it took me nine minutes to get from the main floor to the seventh.

How can anyone think that is acceptable for a major public building in a world-class city like Vancouver?  It is not!  Doesn’t the City have proper maintenance budgets for this?