The above drawing was posted on the Shape Your City page for the Heritage Harbour rezoning application by Havn Sauna, in a brazen attempt to make something ugly look pretty, to trick people into thinking this is a great proposal when in fact this fantasy makes no sense for this location in reality!
The comment deadline on The Shape Your City link is next Tuesday March 24.
https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/1905-ogden-ave
Please take the time to submit a personal comment on how this massive barge will impact your enjoyment of Hadden Park and Heritage Harbour Marina, whether you be a boat owner, a swimmer, a park user or a neighbour.
Keep in mind the barge will have
• A floor area of 1,274.5 sq. m (13,719 sq. ft.) over three levels
• A structure height of 10.4 m (34 ft.) above the water line (equivalent to 3 storeys).
An external engineering review indicates that the low tide depth of the harbour is 7ft, much too shallow for this barge, so this small harbour will have to be dredged, not only initially but again in the future as silt piles up. (Who will pay for this?) This will not only cause a major disruption for the wooden boats in the marina, but will destroy the ecology of the harbour and in all likelihood destroy the nearby swimming beach.
Thanks to Charles Dabin for this great comment in the petition comments section:
“This proposal risks placing a large, industrial-scale commercial operation into one of Vancouver's smallest and most delicate marine environments as well as a swimming beach, disrupting one of Vancouver's waterfront jewels - a long-standing maritime community. How can such a character altering change be considered in our park and on this beach?
Where are the key impact studies-such as environmental, noise, navigation, and community effects? HAVN has tried many other places in Vancouver and has been rejected by them all. If the business fails, what is the exit plan? Given the scale of the change and the unresolved practical concerns like dredging, loss of views, out of scale infrastructure, a far more thorough, transparent review should occur before any rezoning is considered.“