To all of our supporters,

Thank you! We are so encouraged by the incredible support both on-line and on the street in our community.  In addition to our petition list, we have received 34 letters of support including key support from the Mount Pleasant BIA and Heritage Vancouver Society.

On 09/16/2020 we sent the petition to date (over 700 signatures) and letters of support to City Hall.  The letter we sent is below. Subsequently, we have had 2 virtual meetings with members of the City of Vancouver planning department and Broadway Plan group.  We are looking forward to additional meetings with the city and neighbourhood stakeholders this year.

The loss of two 100 year + old buildings in the Heritage Heart to an arson fire in October was disheartening.  Along with the physical buildings that were lost, 5 small business owners lost their shops and livelihoods and several residents lost their affordable rental homes and all their possessions (including a beloved pet cat).  This leaves a hole in the heart but is also an opportunity to strengthen our cherished heart with a new building befitting of the area.  We will be closely following any future developments at this site.

Heritage Week is fast approaching: February 15 to 21st. It is a great opportunity for us all to renew our commitment to the Heritage Heart of Mount Pleasant. Keep an eye out for our celebratory announcement.

Please continue to share our petition; we are within reaching distance to get to over 1,000 signatures!

The Mount Pleasant Heritage Group.

“Our Letter to the City of Vancouver on 16/09/2021”

Dear City of Vancouver Mayor, Councillors, and Gil Kelley, General Manager – Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability,

In a recent CBC competition to find Metro Vancouver’s Best Neighbourhood, Mount Pleasant was voted Vancouver’s Best Neighbourhood and the second best neighbourhood in Metro Vancouver! The neighbourhood is changing, it is inevitable, however the Mount Pleasant Heritage Group (MPHG) and the community want to make sure what everyone loves about Mount Pleasant not only survives these changes but also thrives!

Outlined below is the background information and proactive steps for future City of Vancouver staff conversations on strengthening Mount Pleasant’s ‘Heart’. Also find a link (at bottom of this email) to a PDF package documenting the support of the community. This package contains over 30 signed letters of support from community stakeholders and a petition of over 700 (and growing) signatures and comments from supporters. We invite you to read through these letters of support to understand what protecting the Heart of Mount Pleasant means to a cross-section of:

Local small business owners like Theresa Frazao of Rath Art Supplies, Colette Griffiths and Chris Allen of The Federal Store, and Jeff Knowlton and Laura Frederick of Dandelion Records & Emporium;

The Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Area (MPBIA) Executive Director, Neil Wyles;

Community organizations like Adrian Sinclair of Vancouver Mural Festival, Emily Carr University Alumni Association, Hank Bull, Western Front;

Heritage and planning advocates like Bill Yuen of Heritage Vancouver Society, Bruce MacDonald, author of Vancouver: A Visual History, and Scot Hein, Adjunct/Sessional Professor of Urban Design, UBC;

Established and emerging artists and creators like Joe Haag, Japhy Hunt, and James Lloyd;

And local residents.

Our community vision? When transit users emerge from the future Main Street Broadway Subway station, they will arrive at Mount Pleasant’s vibrant and distinct ‘Heritage Heart’, not a generic “could-be-anywhere” intersection.

Building on the Mount Pleasant Community’s contribution to the relatively recent Mount Pleasant Community Plan (November 18, 2010), and the supporting Implementation Plan (October 23, 2013) which included an Urban Design Framework, a Public Realm Plan and a Public Benefits Strategy, residents, community organizations, and business owners are interested to re-engage to further develop and strengthen the necessary regulatory tools, practices and financial strategies to realize the intention of the MPCP. This action would align with the recently approved (March 10, 2020) Vancouver Heritage Program and its ‘Historic Urban Landscape’ planning model Our aim is to ensure thoughtful retention in balance with revitalization. 

There are several contextual considerations that motivate the immediate need to re-engage including:

The new transit infrastructure (Broadway Subway);

A desire by the community to better understand staff’s views on how transit investment could support the MPCP and its implementation;

The potential to introduce additional regulatory strategies to strengthen the MPCP;

An awareness of on-going speculation, and related future development enquiry;

The high pace of redevelopment currently underway made available by the 2010 MPCP;

The perceived vulnerability of specific precious heritage assets, as well as related companion “older fabric” near the Main, Broadway and Kingsway ”Heart”;

The potential to declare a unique heritage conservation area in association with anticipated transit oriented patronage and;

A desire for greater regulatory clarity, and associated tools, towards development potential certainty.

Given these considerations among others, Mount Pleasant residents, community groups, and business owners, including the BIA, would appreciate engaging with senior staff to proactively explore new ideas that could be considered towards amendments to the MPCP, and companion to new policies being considered under the Broadway Plan. 

Here are 7 ideas to work on together:

1)   The establishment of a Mount Pleasant Conservation Area (MPCA) and companion Context/Purpose Statement;

2)    Introduction of new policies, tools, grants and related in support of a MPCA;

3)    Introduction of appropriate local governance, as with Chinatown (CHAPC) and Gastown (GHAPC), with the working acronym of MPHAPC (Mount Pleasant Heritage Area Planning Committee);

4)    An Economic Development Strategy that supports a MPCA including a related “heritage bank account” that supports heritage retention/conservation and small business/land owners through more localised density transfer, and specific opportunities for senior levels of government to contribute support;

5)   Implementation strategies for previously identified, more specific public realm intentions including the yet-to-be-realized Main and Broadway Mount Pleasant public plaza (city-owned parking lot) an obligation under the council approved 2013 Implementation Plan and in support of implementation strategies/investment.

6)   Preparation of a Statement of Significance (SOS) specifically focussed on the MPCA that substantively declares physical, social, commercial, experiential and intrinsic/narrative assets. Further, a declared appreciation for the area’s “Living Heritage” and human scaled fabric;

7)   An updated, and more focussed, Implementation Strategy that supports the SOS while declaring how new economic wealth, generated by transit oriented investment, may be attributed to community needs and programming.

In light of the imminent start of Broadway Subway construction and the upcoming Broadway Plan, we’d suggest scheduling a meeting with Senior Planning staff and neighbourhood stakeholders, as soon as possible, to discuss the points and ideas presented above.

We look forward to working together with the City, Heritage Organizations (like VHS), and local stakeholders in this matter.

Sincerely,

Mount Pleasant Heritage Group

Christine Hagemoen, Danielle Peacock, Jennifer Chernecki, and Alyssa Myshok.