What are view cones and why are they a problem?

Good morning,

I just finished up a few days visiting Austin. I find it takes being in another city to appreciate the benefits of Vancouver. For example, it was practically impossible to get to the airport by transit. Many of the best transportation options were all private providers like Uber. Vancouver transit can always be better, but it’s worth putting it in context compared to other cities.

No transit stories today, but we’ve got:

• 🏢 Changes coming to Vancouver’view cones

• 🚬 Shifts in overdose deaths

• 📅 Some events to check out this week

Let’s get to it.

— Geoff Sharpe, Vancity newsletter writer

PS — You may notice more typos than normal. My colleague Robert, who reviews the newsletter, will be away for a while, so more errors than normal may slip through. We’re all part-time on the newsletter, so apologies in advance!

WEEKLY LOOKOUT

Housing in focus: The BC government says they’ll be introducing 12 new pieces of legislation to deal with the housing crisis this fall, including tackling the rise of short-term rentals, changing municipal zoning laws, speeding up permitting and increasing the allowance for basement and secondary suites. [CTV]

DEVELOPMENT

Bye-bye view cones?

What happened: Change is in the air and it may impact Vancouver’s iconic scenic views. According to the Vancouver Sun, view cones, which protect certain areas’ views of the mountains, may be changing.

• ABC Coun. Peter Meizner is introducing a motion at council to review the policy on Oct. 4, to understand how it impacts the development of new housing.

Background: View cones and view corridors are limitations placed on the height of new buildings to maintain views of the North Shore mountains. These views are concentrated in Olympic Village, False Creek and the area near Grandville and were adopted back in 1989. Council was presented with potential changes back in 2010, which they voted down.

Those in favour: View cones preserve access to Vancouver's visible beauty for residents. Former Vancouver chief planner Larry Beasley told the Sun he did not believe removing view cones would result in more affordable housing. He pointed out that even if a few buildings were impacted, that additional density lost would be sold to another developer to make up for it. Another planner noted they views like this are a public amenity.

Those opposed: Those opposed to view cones argue they limit the potential to build additional housing and contribute to the city’s being unaffordable. As Urbanized reporter Kenneth Chan noted on Twitter, the new development at the old Army & Navy spot would mean a much smaller tower.

• Meiszner noted in an interview with Urbanized that the focus would be on view cones that are no longer visible. It would also need to account for any changes from the federal government so that the city can qualify for future funding.

What’s next: Given ABC controls council, it will likely be approved. Staff will report back in late 2023 on view cones that could be removed to allow more housing. A full report would be expected next year.

VANCOUVER NUMBERS

💰 $27,000: How much a black 13-year-old was awarded after a store manager at a juice bar in South Granville confronted her about stealing money. [CBC]

🏢 11.9%: The percentage of office vacancies in the third quarter of 2023. This is the second lowest after Toronto with 11 percent. [Urbanized]

HEALTH

New trends in overdose deaths

What happened: New data shows that supervised consumption sites may be missing out on helping the majority of drug users by not providing a place to smoke, according to the Vancouver Sun.

The data: While 65 percent of overdose deaths in BC in 2023 were caused by smoking, only 15 percent involved injection. Meanwhile, only 40 percent of supervised injection sites allowed people to smoke indoors. This has increased from 29 percent of people in 2016 who died from smoking.

Recommendations: Lisa Lapointe, the province's chief coroner, did not make any formal recommendations, but noted that these users need a safe space to use drugs. Experts noted that rules around inhalation are complicated when it comes to creating more spaces.

• The main reasons why it’s harder to create these spaces, according to reporting by CTV, are stigma, lack of political interest in addressing the issue and bureaucracy. Zoning bylaws and restrictions are also a big problem.

Zoom out: According to CTV, BC is on track for a record number of deaths this year.

Why it’s important: This change in drug consumption pattern illustrates how governments, when they have a policy goal in mind, can be slow to adapt to changing circumstances, which put lives at risk.

NEW JOBS

Discover your dream job in Vancouver:

1. Director of digital marketing and digital strategy Emily Carr University

2. Associate account manager at Expedia Group

3. Executive director at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

4. Manager, proposal and grant development at YMCA

5. Director of operations at Freshslice Pizza

Local jobs are selected by the Lookout team and are not paid ads, unless specifically noted.

THE AGENDA

⚖️ As the great song by Kenney Rogers goes, you gotta know when to fold em’. Someone may want to tell this to the Kitsilano Point Residents Association, after their petition to the courts to stop the Senakw development was denied. The court ruled there was no wrongdoing in how the city developed a service agreement with the Squamish First Nations. [Urbanized]

🧑‍⚖️ BC’s criminal justice system and the rules around probation and releases, are making it easier for those charged with a crime to return to being homeless. Following one case in particular, the Globe and Mail was unable to confirm if the man they tracked had actually followed his 13 conditions of probation. [Globe and Mail]

❌ It’s not a stinky mess yet, but Metro Vancouver has created a task force to understand what options are available for the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, which does not have a contractor developing the project. [CityNews]

🏠 Is Vancouver actually cracking down on illegal Airbnbs? In response to a litany of examples of fake licenses shared by an online researcher, councillor Lenny Zhou took to Twitter to address the concerns, saying all listings identified have been forwarded to staff. He acknowledged that the city needs to do a better job of enforcement. [Twitter]

🍄 Your access to more adventurous mushrooms may soon be tougher… The city is cracking down on mushroom dispensaries, by taking them to court in order to remove their business licenses. There is also a public hearing in December to determine if a few of these businesses will lose their licences for selling illicit substances. [Urbanized]

🛻 The whereabouts of a driver who crashed a semi-truck into an overpass in North Vancouver is still unknown after almost two weeks after the crash. The company was fined $3,500 and only had its license suspension removed on Sept. 27. [CityNews]

🔍 The promised BC government 60-bed navigation centre, which provides more in-depth care to homeless patients, has still not been built even though it was promised back in 2020. BC Housing has said they have identified a location. [Vancouver is Awesome]

EVENTS

Harvest Days | VanDusen Botanical Garden | Oct. 7-29, 9 am | The maze and veggie garden will be transformed into an entertainment spot with food, activities and entertainment | Free

Vancouver International Film Festival | Various spots around town | Now until Oct. 8 | Vancouver’s biggest film festival is back, with some films for everyone | Tickets at various prices

Star Wars: A New Hope In Concert | Vancouver Symphony Orchestra | Oct. 5-6, 7 pm | Come see A New Hope with a live orchestra | Tickets start at $21

Fright Night | PNE | Oct. 6-31, 6 pm to 11 pm | Come see the terrifying haunted houses, rides and performances | Tickets $35

Discover Japan | Pacific Arts Market | Oct. 7, 1 pm-5 pm | An interactive workshop, including origami, calligraphy and language lessons | Tickets $11

Nightmare Before Christmas Market | Croatian Cultural Center | Oct 7-8, 11 am-4 pm | Tickets

Koozai Cirque du Soleil | Under the Big Top, Concord Pacific Place | Oct. 21-31 | Clows plus the art of acrobatics, what’s not to love? | Tickets $55

ABRA Cadabra - Tribute to Music & Magic of Abba | River Rock Casino Resort | Oct. 23, 7 pm | Celebrate the music and magic of Abba’s music performed by a popular cover band | Ticket $67

HISTORY

Here’s a shot of a train crossing Broadway and Arbutus in the late 70s from user PhilipKFry95.

SPORTS

🏈 The Lions beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 33-26 and have secured a home spot for their first playoff game. [CTV]

🏒 The Canucks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in a pre-season game on Saturday.

🏒 In some bad news for the Canucks, their first found pick Vasily Podkolzin who is in their third year with the team was demoted to the AHL and has struggled to perform. [The Province]

⚽ The Whitecaps tied D.C United on Saturday 2-2. Their next game is Wednesday against St. Louis City SC.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• In recognition of Truth and Reconciliation Day, here are eight different local murals to check out by Indigenous artists. [Urbanized]

• Congrats to Angie and Alex Walker from North Vancouver who were drafted into the Canadian National Pickleball League. [CTV]

• The BBC interviewed people from Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto about why so many Canadian cities are ranked the most livable. [BBC]

• A dance group in Vancouver is the first of its kind. What makes them unique? They all have Parkinson’s disease. [CityNews]

• Now that’s a weird thing to see on a motorbike. [Reddit]

• These washrooms have the best vibes in Vancouver. [Georgia Straight]

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

These are lovely disposable camera shots of Vancouver. You can see the rest here.

QUIZ

Today’s news quiz question — what year were view cones brought in? Reply with your answer and your name to be featured in the newsletter.