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Vancouver city council has decisively rejected an ambitious but controversial plan that would have reshaped the growth of the city for decades to come.
The villages plan envisioned developing the city in 17 distinct “village” areas as denser, walkable neighbourhoods.
It would have included significant rezoning to allow a variety of housing options, including apartments of up to six storeys, and more ground-level retail.
But the proposal became a major flashpoint, attracting more than 1,000 written submissions and more than 300 speakers at a public hearing, the majority of whom were opposed.
“We directed staff to cancel the plan full-stop. It will not move ahead,” ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said after Tuesday’s meeting.
“We really heard a tsunami, a landslide of opposition, there was no social licence to move this plan forward.”
Opponents to the proposal raised a variety of concerns, including about neigbhourhood character, lack of infrastructure, restrictions on property owners and loss of tree coverage.
Supporters argued it would have allowed significant increases in new housing throughout the city, not just on busy arterial roads.
After loud public pushback, Vancouver city council has rejected the proposed Villages plan. As the CBC’s Renée Lukacs reports, the plan would have seen 17 locations across the city — currently dominated by detached homes — be rezoned to allow for more low-rise housing.
Ultimately, council voted 10-1 to reject the proposal, with three opposition councillors voting along with Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC majority.
OneCity’s Lucy Maloney, the sole councillor to vote for the plan, called the multi-year process a “pretty messy waste of taxpayers money.”
Maloney proposed amendments that would have sent the plan back for “deep consultation” or to be piloted in five villages, both of which were voted down.
“With regards to my colleagues’ speeches saying this is a one-size-fits-all approach, our current zoning is a one-size fits all approach,” Maloney told council.
“But it doesn’t actually fit all people, it fits people who can afford to buy incredibly expensive homes and it doesn’t fit everyone else.”
On The Coast10:42Vancouver’s ‘Villages’ upzoning plan goes before Council Tuesday
There has been pressure for Vancouver council members to cancel a ‘Villages’ plan that would see 17 neighbourhoods across the city allow more dense housing and retail space. Danny Oleksiuk, Director of Abundant Housing Vancouver, argues this is the type of plan that would benefit the city.
Green Councillor and mayoral candidate Pete Fry, who voted against the proposal, blamed the outcome on politics.
“Coming this close to the election it was doomed, I think because there was so much public opposition and there was so much political churn around this particular project,” he said.
“What it does represent is a tremendous amount of staff work, a lot of good will, a lot of resources, and I think they are all sort of wasted.”
On The Coast10:23Former chief planner opposes Vancouver’s Villages program
Larry Beasley is a founding principal of Beasley & Associates and a former chief planner for the City of Vancouver.
The rejection is a marked turnaround for the mayor, who had initiated the villages planning process.
In 2023, Sim brought a motion to council directing staff to prioritize new housing construction, allow for increased density near transit hubs, and to speed up a plan for 26 villages.
“We have heard loud and clear that while many supported the objective of creating more housing, they also raised thoughtful concerns about the scale of the proposed changes,” Sim said on Tuesday of his vote to oppose the plan.
While council rejected the villages proposal, they did pass one regulatory change on Tuesday.
Councillors voted to allow small single-staircase apartments on residential lots in some parts of the city.
