Residents argue Vancouver council set worrying precedent on below-market rentals

Good morning,

The weather gods giveth and taketh away. While the rain wasn’t as bad this weekend, and was downright beautiful on Saturday, my friend’s wedding was hit with a full barrage on Friday from Friday’s rainstorm. Luckily, everything was inside!

From a story of weather to a storm over housing developments (now that’s what I call a transition!), we’ve got a story today from Dustin Godfrey on a neighbourhood association that’s pushing back on a development over the lack of affordable rental units.

Let’s dive in!

— Geoff Sharpe, Lookout managing editor

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WEATHER

Monday: 19 🌡️ 14 | 🌤️

Tuesday: 19 🌡️ 14 | 🌧️

Wednesday: 19 🌡️ 12 | 🌤️

THE LOOKOUT RECOMMENDS

The city’s best steakhouse?: Elisa at 1109 Hamilton certainly makes the case. Awards, including the best restaurant of 2025, can certainly tell you a lot. But it’s the individual experiences that matter. The team behind arguably Victoria’s best restaurant Marelina, has created a towering testament to quality that, in my one experience, pushed the boundary on taste and quality, both in the food and ambiance. It’s a place where the cost, while steep, is worth every penny.

Getting hitched: If you’re considering getting married, I’d recommend checking out Shaughnessy Restaurant at 5251 Oak St. My friend’s wedding went off without a hitch. The space offered a perfect balance of indoor comfort (with the rain!) and nature ambiance. As everyone knows, I do love food, and I can say it was one of the better wedding meals I’ve had. Plus, the late-night snack of burgers and fries was a real winner.

— Recommendations by Lookout managing editor Geoff Sharpe

HOUSING

Residents argue Vancouver council set worrying precedent on below-market rentals

Story by Dustin Godfrey.

What happened: The Cambie Corridor Neighbourhood Association (CCNA) has taken the City of Vancouver to court in an effort to overturn its decision to waive below-market housing requirements for a rezoning that council approved in early July.

• The development by Sightline Properties at West 29th Ave. and Ash St. would see 230 purpose-built rentals built. But none of those units would have rents set to below-market rates, despite a policy requiring it in transit-oriented areas.

What’s the problem: In a petition to the BC Supreme Court, the organization is arguing for the decision to be overturned and sent back to council for reconsideration.

The CCNA argued the decision to waive the below-market housing requirement wasn’t reasonable, and was based on a pro forma economic analysis of the development that wasn’t available for councillors or the public to scrutinize.

That analysis determined the land value lift from the increased density wasn’t enough to justify inclusionary below-market requirements. But CCNA argued a private developer’s finances were irrelevant to the point of below-market rentals.

• “If Sightline was not able to provide the minimum public benefits required by the TOA policy, it should not have been entitled to the benefits of increased height and density under that policy,” the petition reads.

“Council's decision to prefer the developer's return on investment over the city's own policies and the broader public interest, including it securing affordable housing is contrary to the TOA policy and the CAC policy and is unreasonable.”

One CCNA member raised questions in the July public hearing about whether this could set a precedent for future developments to bypass those rules.

Background: Because the site is within 800 metres of the King Edward station along the Canada Line, the city’s ability to turn down the development based on its height and density is limited by the provincial government’s transit-oriented area (TOA) legislation.

While the city can’t block the Sightline project for its height or density — at six storeys and 3.0 floor space ratio (FSR), a measure of a development’s density, it fits in the TOA legislation’s scope — the city can block projects for other reasons.

TOA policy: In response to the law, council approved its transit-oriented development policy last June, which included, among other things, a requirement for projects to include 100% secured rental housing.

• It also requires 20% of a project’s floor area to be rented out at rates 10-20% below city-wide average rents. In exchange, the policy waives community amenity contributions, which is money that goes towards amenities like community centres or parks.

The rezoning: The site was rezoned in 2018 for three-storey townhouses, according to the CCNA’s petition to the court. And the site has been empty since six single-family houses were demolished in 2023, according to a May 20 city staff report.

Sightline returned to council in July 2024 for another rezoning. Originally, the city responded to questions in an online Q&A in November last year, saying the project would be 100% secured rental and meet the requirement for 20% of floor space to be rented out at 10% below city-wide average rents.

What changed: By the time of the May 20 report, staff recommended the project be approved with no below-market housing requirements.

City staff noted in their May 20 report that a pro forma analysis found the three- to six-storey rezoning would not lift land values on the site enough to support the inclusionary below-market zoning requirement because the site was already zoned for higher density than much of its surrounding area.

The public hearing: Twelve people, including CCNA members, spoke out against the proposal at the July public hearing. On top of the below-market housing waiver, opponents also raised a number of common qualms with developments — traffic, parking and school capacity.

Coun. Sean Orr asked staff if the incremental zoning, from single-family housing to townhouses in 2018 and then its more recent rezoning, could be replicated elsewhere as a loophole.

City staff’s response didn’t address the question of whether this process could be replicated, only repeating that the current rezoning didn’t provide a land value lift that would justify below-market housing.

Orr also asked about seeing the pro forma, but staff said they can’t share that because it contains the developer’s confidential financial information.

THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

113

That’s how many years the previous rainfall record for August 15 held up before it was shattered by Friday’s rainstorm. In total, 43.2 millimetres fell Thursday evening into Friday. The previous record was 26.9 millimetres. Read more. [CBC]

THE AGENDA

✈️ Dozens of flights to and from YVR were cancelled this weekend in response to ongoing job action by Air Canada flight attendants, despite a federal back-to-work order issued on Saturday. Air Canada and Rouge customers are being contacted by the company for rebooking options and are encouraged not to go to YVR unless they have received a confirmed booking on another airline. CUPE, which represents approximately 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, says their members work approximately 38 unpaid hours per month and is inviting Air Canada back to the bargaining table. 

🐟 A first-of-its-kind study conducted by researchers from the səl̓ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation and UBC found that colonization destroyed nearly all of the food sources in the Burrard Inlet ecosystem. Read more. [CBC]

👮 VPD are looking for witnesses and dashcam footage after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a taxi at Smithe and Cambie on Friday night. Read more. [VPD]

🏀 The Seattle Storm beat the Atlanta Dream 80-78 at Rogers Arena in the first regular-season WNBA game played outside the United States. Read more. [CBC]

🔥 Metro Vancouver residents must register their wood-burning fireplaces or stoves by September 15. Read more. [City News]

👩‍⚕️ A B.C. nurse was suspended for a month and directed to pay more than $90k in costs for making discriminatory and derogatory statements about transgender people. Amy Hamm, who also previously paid for a billboard in Vancouver supporting anti-trans author JK Rowling, was found by the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives to have committed professional misconduct. In response, Hamm has filed an appeal with the B.C. Supreme Court. Read more. [CBC]

🚂 In what shouldn’t need to be said, but apparently does, the RCMP are reminding people not to crawl under trains after parents and children were seen going underneath stopped trains rather than using the Balsam Street train track crossing in White Rock. Read more. [City News]

🆗 EV drivers are no longer required to have an ‘OK’ decal to use HOV lanes, following a new directive by B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation. Eliminating the need for the decals is anticipated to save taxpayers $70k annually and will allow out-of-province EVs to use HOV lanes. Read more. [City News]

EVENT GUIDE

Summer Pop-Up Concerts with Music on Main | Mount Pleasant Park, Vancouver | Aug. 18 at 6:30 pm | Outdoor concerts featuring diverse musical styles in relaxed community setting | Free

Granville Block Party | Granville & Robson intersection | August 23 & 24, 1-7 PM | Presented by Downtown Van, this free, family-friendly, two-day festival brings together live music, market vendors, kid-friendly fun, and the businesses that make Granville Street a vibrant destination year-round. | Learn more [Sponsored]

4x4’s & Live Music | Red Truck Beer, Vancouver | Aug. 22 at 4:30 pm | Off-road rigs, live music, and craft beer gathering | Free

Summer Night Concerts: Mother Mother | Pacific Coliseum, 100 Renfrew Street N, Vancouver | Aug. 21 at 7:30 pm | Mother Mother live at PNE Summer Night Concert series | Tickets $45+

The Play That Goes Wrong | Granville Island Stage | Aug. 20 at 7:30 pm | Hilarious farce blending physical comedy with a murder mystery twist | Tickets $39+

Disney’s The Lion King  | Queen Elizabeth theatre | Until Sept. 14 | Broadway’s award-winning musical phenomenon returns to the Vancouver stage | $40–$160

Soul Veg – The Market | Creekside Park | Aug. 23 at 11 am | Plant-based market with food trucks, yoga, inflatables, and family fun | Free

Vancouver Vintage Motorcycle Show & Shine | 1875 Boundary Rd. | Aug. 23 at 11 am | Classic motorcycle showcase with rides, restorations, and community gathering | Free

Marianas Trench | Pacific Coliseum | Aug. 24 at 7:30 pm | Pop-rock band headlines PNE Summer Night Concerts with chart-topping hits | Tickets $55+

VIFF Live: Tribute to Big Mama Thornton | Vancouver International Film Festival | Aug. 24 at 5 pm | Blues concert celebrating pioneering women with top Vancouver musicians | Tickets

Summer Open House 2025 | Bill Reid Gallery | Aug. 23 at 12 pm | Free Indigenous art showcase with live performances, weaving, and storytelling | Free

UBC Thunderbirds Soccer vs TWU Spartans | Thunderbird Stadium | Aug. 23 at 5 pm | Women’s and men’s doubleheader home matches at Thunderbird Stadium | Tickets $17.50+

Plenty and Collage Collage: Mini Mini Market | Plenty, 2803 West Broadway | Aug. 23 at 11 am | Kid vendors sell handmade crafts, art, cookies and more | Free

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COMMENT CORNER

Lookout readers respond to laneway housing

Last month we wrote a story on city council’s plan to make it easier to subdivide laneway homes. Here’s what Lookout readers had to say about the issue

NEW VANCOUVER JOBS

Discover your new dream job in Vancouver:

• Chief information officer, Langara College

• Brand director, Scribd

• Policy impact lead, Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions

• Associate director, student life, BCIT

• Senior events manager, BC Place

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Mark your calendars: Aritzia will host its 2025 Warehouse Sale at the end of the month at the Vancouver Convention Centre West. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Here are 20 newly-opened restaurants and cafes to check out this month. [Daily Hive]

• You can, apparently, rent cheap kayaks and canoes in Vancouver. [Daily Hive]

• You might not have the world’s only 24K gold Labubu, but you can go to the Labubu rave. [Curiocity] 

• Tis the season! Spirit Halloween opened at 1740 West Broadway on Friday. [Daily Hive]

VANCOUVER NEWS QUIZ

PHOTO OF THE DAY

It’s always fun discovering new parks in the city. On a walk with friends this weekend, we stumbled upon a little multi-level park called Choklit Park, at Spruce and W 7th Ave. While there’s not much to do in it, there’s something lovely about a beautiful space to move through in the hustle and bustle of the city.

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