Save Our Diverse Kitsilano Neighbourhood

NO to Apartment Building Rezonings on Sidestreets in Kits!

From West Kitsilano Residents Association

The City’s proposed Rental Incentives Policy will result in irrevocable change to our community. We oppose rezoning which would allow four-storey market rental apartment buildings to be built along local side streets in RT7 and RT8 areas, including both sides of West 3rd, West 5th and West 8th from Larch and Vine to Alma St., as well as along Macdonald St., and a block on either side of Macdonald.

Our reasons:

•     West Kitsilano’s houses, many already divided into 3 or 4 suites, provide owners and renters alike with a variety of affordable housing options. These are ‘Missing Middle’ ground-level and family-oriented housing units that contribute to the City’s diversity of housing choices.

•     Existing affordable rental units will be at risk of demolition, leading to evictions of current residents, land assemblies, and the creation of uncertainty leading to less maintenance and discouraging renovation of the existing housing stock.

•     Heritage and character houses and heritage streetscapes will be vulnerable to destruction and loss.

•     New apartment blocks will overshadow existing houses and reduce sunlight, green space, permeable surface area, and trees.

•     Biased approval process will favour developers over homeowners

•     A geographically equitable distribution of density should consider other sources of rental units such as Senak’w, the Jericho Lands, and additional housing in our shopping areas.

•     We want to be part of the solution to housing affordability in the city. Other alternatives that fit into the fabric and context of our neighbourhood should be considered in order to help meet the City’s housing goals.

•     City-wide zoning changes such as the Rental Incentive Policy for Low Density areas do not adequately consider the unique qualities and needs of neighbourhoods, especially a diverse community such as Kitsilano.

This petition requests that the City of Vancouver exempt the RT7 and RT8 character areas of West Kitsilano from Policy 2.4 of the Secured Rental Policy, Rezoning in Low Density Transition Areas.

 

 

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