With the cost of living so high in Vancouver, public space has never before been so important.  But it seems that almost every day we are at risk of losing the public forests, lands, and parks that made Vancouver so special.

And now our public waterways are at risk too?

The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club is trying to take over a critical part of a public waterway in Coal Harbour, and restrict its usage to wealthy yacht owners alone.  This would allow them to build new berths for 47 additional luxury yachts… and sell them off for up to $150,000 each.  If this is allowed to happen, we will see public space that is currently used by people of all ages and incomes become inaccessible to all but the wealthiest few.

More luxury yachts in Coal Harbour means more pollution, noise, and social inequality in Vancouver.  It represents the commercialization of Stanley Park – something nobody wants.

And the project would narrow an already-busy public waterway, making it dangerous for all users of these waters. It may ultimately lead to the demise of the Vancouver Rowing Club, which has been here since 1886.

Perhaps worst of all are the motivations behind this project.  The Yacht Club’s existing docks are old, they need to upgrade them, and it appears they would rather appropriate public space to raise funds than pass along the true cost of moorage to yacht owners.**

The Yacht Club’s expansion plan is against the public interest.  And it runs contrary to the Park Board’s recently-passed “On Water, Vancouver’s Non-motorized Watercraft Recreation Strategy.”

The Vancouver Rowing Club strongly opposes the Yacht Club’s expansion plan and is mounting a public campaign to fight it... but we need help.  The Port of Vancouver is the decision-maker on this project, and we need them to hear loudly that this project is not wanted by the public

You can learn more at https://savestanleyparkwaters.ca where you will find additional information, a video, and links to supporting documentation.

**This is the opinion of Vancouver Rowing Club based on RVYC correspondence to its members (which can be viewed in the video linked to https://savestanleyparkwaters.ca).