Critics of the draft Marpole Community Plan are demanding city hall extend consultation by six months.
Along with the six-month consultation extension, the group, which calls itself the Marpole Coalition, wants results of the open house discussions posted immediately on the citys Marpole Community Plan webpage and a detailed consultation with the community on the land use plan that will go into the report that will be submitted to council.
Spokesperson Mike Burdick dropped findings from a neighbourhood survey that members conducted at city hall last Friday, a few days after the July 7 deadline for public feedback.
The coalition also sent an email to the media, Mayor Gregor Robertson and council earlier this week outlining its requests. The email included this comment directed to Robertson: The Marpole Community Plan has created a great deal of anxiety in our once-peaceful neighbourhood and induced stress in the lives of countless families. Many of us come from countries where our voices are not heard, and we thought that by coming to Canada, our voice has some meaning. Unfortunately, the way in which the city has conducted this planning exercise and the lack of follow-up in addressing our requests by both the city staff and the council lead us to believe otherwise.
Marpole coalition members want a response from the city by Aug. 1.
Residents showed up en masse to the final open house for the draft plan June 26, at which time a petition with 190 signatures was delivered to city staff requesting more time for consultation. Opposition developed after the city proposed to turn a portion of Ash Street into a so-called thin street. The city dropped that idea, but it called attention to the overall plan.
In particular, many residents are worried about the proposed rezoning of some single-family areas to allow for uses such as stacked townhouses and low-rise apartment buildings.
They say they didnt know the city was updating the neighbourhood plan even though workshops and open houses have been held over the past year.
Since the June 26 open house, Marpole coalition members have visited 533 houses in the neighbourhood for their survey. According to the group, 497 families rejected the proposed rezoning, while 12 families supported it. Twenty four had no comment.
Burdick has lived in Marpole since 1980 and also runs a business in the neighbourhood. Like other critics, Burdick said he only learned the city was updating the plan as a result of the thin street controversy.
Coalition members are meeting later this week to finalize other strategies aimed at addressing what they call the forced rezoning of single-family homes.
Burdick said lawn signs are being printed and a formal petition is being organized.
Well be going door-to-door throughout the Marpole community with lawn signs and the petition, he said.
Burdick said arguments hes heard in favour of densification are based on lower property taxes and the creation of affordable housing.
Nobody has explained to me how thats going to happen and I dont see it. In any other part of the city when they build highrises and they put all these extra townhouses and condominiums in, prices dont go down. I have children that live in Vancouver. Ive talked to a lot of people [and asked], What do you consider affordable housing? and its a far cry from the $500,000 to $700,000 that a lot of these places are going for, he said. So if somebody could guarantee if we densify there would be affordable housing and it would lower property taxes, yes. But city hall cant guarantee that.
The citys communication department told the Courier the city has received the information from the Marpole Coalition and it will be reviewing it and the remainder of the community plan schedule over the next couple of weeks.
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