There are so many issues wrapped up in the Northeast False Creek plan — which is supposed to become a neighbourhood of 10-12,000 people, with a jazzy new waterfront, a new park, 1,800 units of affordable housing in the 20-per-cent requirement for same, historic redress for the Chinese, black, and Indigenous communities — it’s hard to know where to start.
The plan was approved by the Vision councillors Tuesday, with the Green Party’s Adriane Carr voting in favour of some pieces of it, but not the overall plan, and the NPA councillors more or less opposed (though voting in favour of some of the multiple amendments that emerged Tuesday.)
One of the more contentious issues is over three tall towers proposed in the plan for the foot of Georgia, which planners say should be allowed to go into one of Vancouver’s many view cones.
There’s been a lot of noise about this, although city planners insist that this has been supported by two international panels in the city over the past years and also note that the exact same thing has been allowed at the Granville and Burrard entries to the city.
For I don’t know what reason, no one seems to have objected to that when it happened, unless I missed something?
At any rate, it has provoked a debate about the value of the view cones and whether there are alternatives to these tall towers that planners could have come up with.
3 responses so far ↓
1 R. Roelofsen // Feb 15, 2018 at 11:38 am
Here is the answer that will please the green, real estate, construction, foreign investment, development, skyline, and planning concerns.
Build a 400 storey high rise with a 1million square foot footprint to hold a million Vancouverites. The rest of the town will be a park with food farms, foot and bicycle paths, doggie parks, built on top of the required infrastructure.
There will be no other skyline like it anywhere.
2 Ralph Segal // Feb 19, 2018 at 11:47 am
Yes, there is much more to come through implementation of the NEFC Plan vision for this prominently located but presently derelict area. With its true potential finally unlocked through Council’s decision to remove the viaducts, the needed further detailed work can proceed.
The background missing on the tall towers/Cambie view cone matter is Council’s approval in January, 2011 to amend the General Policy For Higher Buildings, allowing for consideration of additional height (beyond the zoned 300 or 450 ft.) on 7 specific sites in the downtown, based on carefully articulated urban design parameters. This further amendment to the Higher Building Policy for three towers in NEFC at the foot of Georgia St. would be the 8th location.
The urban design intent in identifying these specific sites is to visually mark on our downtown skyline at particular locations our most prominent streets (Georgia & Burrard) and “gateway” entry points to the downtown peninsula not only through very carefully determined height increases that would preserve the pre-eminence of the mountain backdrop by avoiding established view corridors (note: the NEFC towers would intrude into the Cambie view cone) but also by creating a higher standard of excellence in architectural design. And yes, one more thing, the additional density potential of as much as 900,000 s.f. beyond that zoned would fund public benefits such as affordable housing, day cares, parks, etc. through CAC’s.
In the case of the view from Cambie St. between 10th & 12th Ave., while the proposed maximum height of 425 ft. would exceed the horizontal “red line” height limit prescribed by this view corridor by approx. 45 ft., the extent of the intrusion does not interrupt
the mountain outline. The outcry over this fairly modest intrusion is overstated – the overall quality of this view will remain intact and we can expect (require!) through forthcoming rezoning applications that the shaping, sculpting, even reducing of the massing of these tower tops does not diminish the quality of this eastern portion of this view. The fear of creating a dangerous precedent bringing about the demise of the view corridors is not warranted as this occurrence is entirely contained under the Higher Building Policy with its very specific site, urban design and other prescriptions.
For those skeptics who dismiss the Higher Building Policy’s intent of highlighting downtown “gateways” or creating special opportunities for architectural verve, I recommend they drive, cycle or walk across the Granville Bridge to downtown, observe “Vancouver House”, at 497 ft. height, nearing completion on the bridge’s west side, and judge for themselves whether they find this tower’s architecture intriguing, possibly unnerving (we do trust their structural engineers!) or otherwise. Included in this development are the soon to come distinctive low rise buildings between the bridge and on/off ramps that will transform this bleak under-bridge area into an active retail commercial hub for the neighbourhood. With 95 rental units and a substantial CAC package funding other public benefits, this development is a worthy demonstration of the array of objectives/requirements prescribed in the Higher Building Policy. We should expect a comparable quality of development and design in NEFC for the three towers that will highlight on Vancouver’s skyline what will be a unique public gathering place at the foot of Georgia St. on the to-be-reconfigured False Creek waterfront.
3 Ralph Segal // Feb 20, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Yes, there is much more to come through implementation of the NEFC Plan vision for this prominently located but presently derelict area. With its true potential finally unlocked through Council’s decision to remove the viaducts, the needed further detailed work can proceed.
The background missing on the tall towers/Cambie view cone matter is Council’s approval in January, 2011 to amend the General Policy For Higher Buildings, allowing for additional height (beyond zoned 300 or 450 ft.) on 7 specific sites in the downtown, based on well articulated urban design parameters. This further Higher Building Policy amendment for these NEFC towers at the foot of Georgia St. would be the 8th specific location.
The urban design intent in identifying these specific sites is to visually mark on our downtown skyline our most prominent streets (Georgia & Burrard) and “gateway” entry points to the downtown peninsula not only through very carefully determined height increases that would preserve the pre-eminence of the mountain backdrop by avoiding established view corridors (note: the NEFC towers would intrude into the Cambie view cone) but also by creating a higher standard of excellence in architectural design at these strategic, prominent locations. And yes, one more thing, the cumulative added density, potentially as much as 900,000 s.f. beyond that zoned, would fund public benefits (affordable housing, day cares, parks, etc.) through CAC’s.
In the case of the view from Cambie St. between 12th & 10th Ave., while the proposed maximum height of 425 ft. would exceed the height limit prescribed by this view corridor by up to 125 ft., the intrusion would not interrupt the mountain silhouette nor obstruct the view to Grouse or Mt. Fromme. The outcry over this intrusion is overstated – the overall quality of this view will remain intact and we can expect through forthcoming rezoning applications that the shaping, sculpting, even reduction in the massing of these tower tops does not diminish the overall quality of this eastern portion of this view. The fear of creating a dangerous precedent bringing about the demise of the view corridors is not warranted as this occurrence is entirely contained under the Higher Building Policy with its very specific site, urban design and other prescriptions.
For those who dismiss the Higher Building Policy’s intent of highlighting downtown “gateways” or creating special opportunities for architectural verve, I recommend they drive, cycle or walk across the Granville Bridge to downtown, observe “Vancouver House”, at 497 ft. height, nearing completion on the bridge’s west side, and judge for themselves whether they find this tower’s architecture intriguing, possibly unnerving (we do trust their structural engineers!) or otherwise. Included in this development are the soon to come distinctive low rise buildings between the bridge and on/off ramps that will transform this bleak under-bridge area into an active retail commercial hub for the neighbourhood. With 95 rental units included and a substantial CAC package funding other public benefits, this development is a worthy demonstration of the array of objectives/requirements prescribed in the Higher Building Policy. We should expect a comparable quality of development and design in NEFC for the three towers that will mark on Vancouver’s built skyline the “Georgia Gateway”, a unique public gathering place at the foot of Georgia St. on the to-be-reconfigured False Creek waterfront.