The two NPA politicians on city council voted Tuesday against a $2-million greenest city fund because half of the money is coming from revenues generated from parking lots owned by the city.
Councillors George Affleck and Elizabeth Ball said their rejection of creating the fund should not be interpreted as opposition to the citys goal to become the greenest city in the world by 2020.
If were not going to use that parking reserve fund for what it was intended to be used for, then, to me, that should be a totally separate discussion, Affleck told council. Im wondering why that didnt happen and why were making two decisions today about the money and how to spend that money.
The $28-million parking sites reserve fund is generated from money collected via the citys parking lots operated by EasyPark. Historically, the money was used to buy property and fund construction of parking lots. Some money was used to create a legacy fund for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
City council, which approved the initiative, has the discretion to decide how money from the parking fund can be spent. But city manager Penny Ballem said the new greenest city fund, which will have the citys $1-million contribution matched by the Vancouver Foundation, aligns with the environmentally friendly direction of the city. We are going through a major transformation of our sustainable transportation initiatives and we dont see, in the long term future, that buying and building new parking lots is going to be a prominent feature of our transportation planning, she said.
Ball echoed Afflecks comments about the NPA supporting the citys greenest city goals but said any time she hears from anybody over 50 years old, the complaint is about a lack of parking downtown. Im hoping that before we get this kind of request again that we will have a robust discussion about the needs of parking for tourism, for seniors, for the disabled in the city in downtown Vancouver before we try to take away the funds, she said. So I do think that its possible to do both but it would be nice to have the cart come before the horse.
Over the next fours years, the greenest city fund aims to support youth-led initiatives, neighbourhood-based projects created by residents and environmental programs developed by charitable organizations. The city and the Vancouver Foundation will establish the criteria and both bodies will review the progress of the projects every six months to ensure they are advancing environmental goals of the city. Goals include increasing local food supply, reducing energy use, environmentally friendly transportation, increasing composting and recycling, conserving drinking water and supporting the so-called green economy.
Vision Coun. Andrea Reimer, who voted for the greenest city fund, said she had no problem spending $1 million from the parking fund, knowing that Vancouver is not focused on building more parking lots. Im quite pleased to see that money re-purposed for a future that will serve the needs of Vancouverites a little better than it might as parking spots, Reimer said.
The new fund will officially launch April 25.
Twitter: @Howellings
