The Battle of the Barge Spa is not over even though Council voted unanimously in favour!
Although unbelievably Council voted unanimously in favour, in principle, the Battle of the Barge is not over (see below). In the meantime, please continue to share this petition, currently at 2504 signatures.
It was obviously, a foregone conclusion, with Council looking bored and merely going through the motions to pass MOTION 4. CD-1 Rezoning: 1905 Ogden Ave. It was shocking however to see the cultural and non-profit cabal, hand-in-glove with their chief benefactor City Council, turn out to support the Motion, including the Space Centre and the Museum of Vancouver, both with a vested interest. What what business is it of the Vancouver Fringe Festival whether this goes ahead or not? They are not a stakeholder. Who cares what they think? It appears that these very biased opinions mean more to Council than the over 2500 people who signed the petition. Then, at the end, Council was celebrating their “victory”, all cozy with MMV and Havn, with Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung who spearheaded this misguided development, hugging David Jordan, Executive Director of the MMV. What happened to at least the appearance of impartiality?
THIS IS NOT OVER: HAVN have many expensive hoops to jump through and there are still many questions and issues to be resolved:
- The Breach of Trust issue ;
- The dredging requirement and its impact on Teetotaler Beach;
- The Navigable Waters Act and the required public consultation for a MAJOR work, as this will have to be, given the dredging; TRANSPORT CANADA DREDGING REGULATIONS.
- Environmental concerns;
- Ocean and Fisheries approval;
- Engineering, wave and wind studies.
- The lease agreement whereby a private company stands to make millions a year but is only paying the MMV $250K.
- What happens if the spa is a failure and/or HAVN go broke?
- Finally, there’s an election coming up and this Motion was only an approval in principle.
A couple of articles about the decision. Of course the media treat it as a done deal.
My in person remarks at the Hearing, Speaker 7! At approximately the 7:50pm mark
Good evening Mayor and Council;
Thanks for the opportunity to speak today. I’m OPPOSED to this Motion.
I’m a long time resident of Kitsilano, founder of Keep Kits Beach Wild and the starter of the Petition “Protect Heritage Harbour Marina: Say NO To A Massive 150 Barge Spa” now at 2502 signatures. Of those, approximately 50% live in Vancouver and 930 in the Lower Mainland. Only 29 are from outside of Canada. Interestingly 52 are from Victoria, where HAVN’s current barge spa is located in a busy working industrial harbour, not a small heritage wooden boat harbour in a public park.
I’m not disputing that the spa experience of a sauna, hot pool and cold plunge isn’t a great experience. I have spent many happy hours in hot springs that mix hot and cold mineral water therapy. I was a frequent visitor to Harrison Hot Springs until I developed an allergy to chlorine. I now swim in the ocean at Jericho Beach. I also frequent a local fitness centre with a sauna and a cold shower, that costs only a few dollars, not $95 to $100 for a 2–3 hour visit. A new sauna cold plunge facility just opened up on 4th Ave in West Kits.
Fundamentally, a vessel of such a massive size is simply not a good fit for this small marina, as anyone familiar with the marina should realize. At 150ft long by 34ft high, it will block and privatize public views. It will extend well beyond the current dock, displacing several small boats already moored there. Many of the small boats and the False Creek Ferry regularly run aground on the sand bars at low tide, so contrary to the MM claims, the harbour will need to be dredged to accommodate the barge and remain a navigable channel. This will require a MAJOR works application under the Canada Navigable Waters Act with many hoops to jump through. Under that same act there are criteria for swimming beaches that will likely mean Teetotaler Beach will no longer be a swimming beach as the new navigation channel will be too close to the beach to allow swimming for safety reasons. How does this square with the claim that the barge spa won’t impact park use? Surely a free public swimming beach is much more of a public health necessity than a “wellness” centre for the affluent who can go anywhere these days for a sauna and cold plunge. Surely the dredging question needs to be clarified prior to proceeding any further?
If this barge spa is allowed to go ahead it will cause considerable disruption to the surrounding park and neighbourhood while being “installed” and while in operation from 8am to 11pm — and beyond for deliveries. It will also cause both short and long term damage to the marine life, the fragile eco system and the environment.
In spite of claims of the barge being securely “moored” and offering protection for the harbour from storms, there is no proof of that. It’s very possible that during the next big king tide the barge could destroy the small boats and docks. Where are the wind and wave studies to demonstrate what HAVN and the VMM are claiming?
Apparently the Maritime Museum will get a moorage fee of $250,000 a year for a 19 years. Where’s the revenue sharing in that deal? If the barge is the great success that HAVN claims it will be, revenues could be in excess of $6 million a year. And the Maritime Museum would only get $250,000? Not only is this lousy deal a “sell-out” of public park waterfront space, it’s not even to the highest bidder.
In the end though, regardless of the deal and other considerations, there’s the elephant in the room — the breach of trust question so eloquently addressed by the KPRA. The City, as Trustee of the water lots, has an obligation to the public, not to the Maritime Museum or a private enterprise. Surely it would be a dereliction of duty and a breach of trust for the City as Trustee, and thereby City Council, to proceed with this rezoning prior to obtaining both internal and external legal opinions and making them available to the public. Thank you! "
July 28, Public Hearing Video Item starts at approx 7:05pm
I published a story on my Medium site today with a recap of the issue, photos, links etc. "The Battle of the Barge Spa: The Many vs The Money!" . Please share this as well as the petition.
Stay tuned and thanks again for your support.
Elvira Lount,