A UBC researcher says the public process involved with the approval of rezoning and redevelopment of property at Granville Street and West 70th Avenue was flawed.
The project, approved by city council May 3, will see Safeway and its developer Westbank Properties proceed with the building of the new 50,000-square-foot supermarket and a 16-storey residential tower.
The report by Tate Francesca White concluded that: "The implementation of compact development proposals in southern Vancouver is encountering serious resistance. Local government actions in pursuit of higher densities are causing extreme feelings of distress and mistrust among citizens, ultimately proving detrimental to resulting development and alienating the public from underlying motivations regarding sustainability."
White wrote the report, entitled "Searching for Ecological Democracy: A Case Study of the Marpole Safeway Rezoning Process," for her masters of arts degree in the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning. "From my research, I found there were many who supported the development," she later told the Courier. "However, that does not invalidate the strong opposition."
The complex and contentious process of urban planning is itself under scrutiny. Some critics complained that renters were not fully notified of meetings, and that city planners are generally too friendly with developers.
"Of most common interest was negotiating to gain community amenities out of the significant increase in allowable density," White wrote. "Many were doubtful of how much power they carried as a community and felt distrustful of city staff, the developer and architect. Others countered this with examples from neighbourhoods in the city who mobilized their local communities and demanded amenities in return for increased density."
City director of planning Brent Toderian doesn't accept all the conclusions. "The public engagement process was a very challenging exercise, and we had more input here than usual" he said in an interview. "Many people said our process had made the project better, and they were happy with the major changes that had been made to the Safeway plan."
The report noted issues such as traffic and greenery: "Despite the involvement of the traffic specialist, many were still displeased with traffic and parking accommodations and did not think the city fully comprehended the heightened levels of congestion that will accompany such increased residential densities... The greenery added in the revised design upset attending community members more than appeased them because it is not publicly accessible."
Toderian replied that some people were happy that private greenery was added because it took pressure off public park space in the area.
Claudia Laroye, director of the Marpole Business Association and a Safeway project supporter, partially echoed the report. "This recent flurry of activity, after 30 years of very little or no major development, has caught many citizens off guard, and has made many people apprehensive about the future possible changes to the Marpole community," she wrote to the Courier. "It is clear that there is a need for greater and more intensive public discourse, community engagement, and balancing the needs of all stakeholder groups."
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