VANCOUVER ~ Low-rent housing victim as Victoria axes North Park Bee The provincial government’s unilateral cancellation of a proposed development for the northeastern part of the Expo 86 lands constitutes a betrayal of Vancouver resi- dents and a waste of millions of taxpayers dollars. So says Vancouver alderman Libby Davies regarding the Social Credit cabinet’s scrapping of the North Park development. But others are equally outraged. Tenant activists and community organiz- ers also have slammed the move since it squelches a plan that would have provided desperately needed low-cost housing — all the more necessary since city council has decided to crack down on illegal suites. They were all responding to the announcement by Economic Development Minister Grace McCarthy to businessmen April 9 that the North Park project was dead. In its place, said the minister, was a new “process” by which private developers will apply to the new B.C. Enterprise Corp. In doing so, McCarthy slammed the door on a process of consultation and co- operation that had existed for the past three years between the city and the now-defunct Crown corporation, B.C. Place. That co-operation was marked by the joint development of the residential- commercial plan, for Expo lands adjacent to Chinatown, that was unanimously endorsed by city council and won wide- spread approval from community groups, A key feature of the plan, the result of three years of negotiations with the corpo- ration, was the 20 per cent social housing set aside for low-income people. Agreements like that showed a marked difference from the bad old days when the corporation was created and its plans were imposed on the city of Vancouver. From 1982 to 1984 city staff were fre- quently at odds with the corporation over its proposed densities — including plans for multi-storied office towers and high-rent condominiums — which stood in marked contrast to the city’s lighter density, more affordable housing plans. Things changed for the better with the appointment of architect Stanley Kwok as chair of the B.C. Place corporation. With city representatives the corporation agreed to parcel up the land and develop it piece- ° meal. North Park, slated to go between Beatty and Main streets, running from Pender Street to slightly south of the Geor- gia Street viaduct, was the first project. It was to go to tender shortly after the closure of Expo 86. That was thwarted when McCarthy imposed a moratorium on all development at the beginning of 1987. The moratorium ended with her announcement that the pro- ject was scrapped in favor of an unknown process that would be “economically via- ble.” “I think that’s just baloney,” said Davies. “The project wouldn’t have gone out to the public if it didn’t meet certain economic objectives,” she said. “We worked in good faith with the cor- poration and now the provincial govern- ment has totally sold us out. It can only make the people of Vancouver more suspi- cious about government intentions.” Stephen Learey of the Downtown East- side Residents Association said people in need of social housing face a “double whammy” from the project’s cancellation. “When Expo was built, the government cut services to pay for it. Now that there’s a debt from the fair, the poor are facing more cuts to pay for that,” he said. Fellow DERA worker Sue Harris said her involvement in the project as a DERA representative and as a parks commissioner convinced her North Park was a people- oriented proposal. _ B.C. Place, in the early 1980s ushered in — along with Transpo 86, Expo’s forerunner — by a Socred government obsessed with megaprojects has created mainly headaches for city administration and staff. In 1982 the late Alvin Narod, then B.C. Place chairman, was pressuring the city to adopt the Crown corporation’s high- density, high-rent, commercial-and-resid- ential scheme for the lands along the north shore of False Creek then being cleared for Expo. B.C. Place wanted almost eight million square feet of office space. The city wanted ~ to hold the line at three million. The corpo- ration envisioned 12,000 units of high- priced housing. City staff said 7,000 would do, with some emphasis on non-profit and socially subsidized accommodations. Corporation planners called for a bit more than seven acres of park land. The city wanted 50 acres. And so on. City council eventually caved in. In the spring of 1982 three aldermen from the 2 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, APRIL 22, 1987 B.C. Place: twists and turns of Socred policy Committee of Progressive Electors and Mayor Mike Harcourt did not constitute a progressive majority, and on a crucial vote to hold public meetings to promote the od position, the vote was 5-4 to scrap the idea. In 1984, another crucial vote opposing B.C. Plans to build several high-rise hotels and offices on the “southeast Granville slopes” — the area between the Burrard and Granville street bridges — was lost when Harcourt and colleague Ald. Bill Yee joined the then right-wing minority in accepting the scheme. City planning department head Ray Spaxman had urged council to reject it, saying acceptance would see a flood of demands for high-density zoning. Late in 1984 architect Stanley Kwok was appointed to head the corporation. Under Kwok’s leadership the city and the corpora- tion found they could work together and, through a series of public meetings, opened the door to community unput on the pro- posal that was dubbed “North Park.” Leaflet criticizes Renfrew streets is occupied. ~ Kerkhoff project COFELIAY: RESECT KERMHOFF ae \JNION Vancouver east residents Sue Lockhart (I) and Pat Wilson were two members of anew concerned citizens committee to leaflet Safeway customers protest- ing the food conglomerate’s decision to build its new east end store with non-union labor hired by the notorious anti-union contractor, J.C. Kerkhoff and Sons. Some 900 leaflets were handed out at the company’s Nanaimo and Charles street store, slated to be closed once the new store at First and ai Zs It involved 2,600 units of housing, with 20 per cent social housing, of which 45 per cent was destined for families. North Park involved some 13 acres of park land, includ- ing a large central park, was waterfront accessible and contained a junior-sized department store and an elementary school, she noted. She said that while the process around North Park was “surprisingly public,” there are no guarantees the Socreds will be so open to the community with whatever new process is in the works. Harris also feared that developers would only be interested in “luxury accommoda- tion for rich people” which would “gen- trify” the downtown eastside” and create office space “which we certainly don’t need more of.” She said the loss of social housing in Vancouver will be félt all the harder with the city’s closure of the Red Door housing agency. Dave Lane of the B.C. Tenants Rights Coalition called the cancellation of the pro- ject a “travesty” and noted it comes when the city is cracking down on illegal suites. “We have 40,000 people living in illegal suites in this city, which means that for low income people we have a major housing crisis on our hands. Tenants have been shafted again,” he charged. Lane also accused Mayor Gordon Campbell of “sitting idly by while the pro- vince once again walks all over the city’s interests.” “Campbell’s response has been totally wimpish,” Davies agreed. “It shows we need a mayor who has the guts to stick up for the city,” she said. Campbell was quoted in the Vancouver Sun as saying, “Rather than getting upset ... we Should just look at it as a fact of life’ and get on with it and try to get a develop- ment opportunity created there as quickly as we can....” Future development will by handled by the new B.C. Enterprise Corp., which repla- ces B.C. Place and other crown corpora- tions. Kwok has resigned his chairmanship of B.C. Place, denying it has anything to do with the scrapping of the North Park pro- ject. Davies said the city has a legal agreement with the former Crown corporation for the NORTH PARK SITE ... Project can- celled. project, including the stipulation for social housing. She said it is unknown as to whether the new corporation is bound by the contract, and whether the city’s special zoning for the area — CD-I — is still in effect. But she noted that senior govern- ments do not have to respect municipal zoning laws. The alderman with the Committee of Progressive Electors — part of an alliance that controlled city council until the victory by the right-wing Non-Partisan Association last fall — said it is likely the “hidden debts” of Expo that has the government — scrambling to find new sources of revenue is behind the cancelling of North Park. “For seven years, we’ve heard one grand announcement after another about what the government is going to do about the B.C. Place lands. And they’ve spent millions of taxpayers’ dollars to produce a series of wasted plans,” Davies charged. “I don’t think anyone has much confi- dence in the provincial government any- more.”