Press Release: Residents take Vancouver to court over approval of Holborn’s proposed supertall tower project
VANCOUVER, BC – Five Metro Vancouver residents are taking the city and Holborn Group to court, seeking to quash Vancouver City Council’s recent approval of Holborn’s proposed multi-block downtown development project.
The group filed a petition in BC Supreme Court seeking judicial review of Council’s decision to approve the rezoning application for the project, which includes two 68-storey residential towers, a 79-storey hotel, and a related social housing project.
The petitioners, Robert Bader, Luis Antonio Cervera Bojorquez, Gulzar Grewal, Kabir Madan, and George Temple, had each registered to speak against the project’s rezoning at the city’s public hearing. They are challenging Council’s decision on the basis that the public hearing process failed to provide residents with a meaningful opportunity to participate. The petition also contests the city’s failure to disclose NAV Canada’s concerns that the proposed 1,034-foot hotel tower interferes with airspace or provide a rational for why the project departed from the city’s social housing policies.
“Residents deserve a fair chance to be heard before Council makes a decision of this magnitude. We deserve to know the facts, respond to the information before Council, and to know that our concerns have been genuinely considered,” said Robert Bader, a Vancouver resident and co-petitioner.
Petitioners argue that the hearing procedure on July 23 deprived residents of a meaningful opportunity to make their case, as the Charter and the City’s own procedures intend. Council unexpectedly skipped people on the speakers’ list without explanation, and the hearing was pushed until nearly 1:00 a.m. on a weeknight, rather than adjourned to a time when the public would be reasonably available to speak.
They also argue the city failed to provide material information in advance of the public hearing. It was only during the hearing that city staff revealed NAV Canada’s concerns that the project interferes with federal airspace and could require an 88-foot height reduction to the tallest tower. The developer acknowledged that this could require substantive changes to plans for the project.
The group is also challenging unexplained departures from the city’s established affordable-housing policies. They allege the application reduced the proposed social-housing floor area well below the city’s 20% targets under its Transit-Oriented Areas and Sustainable Large Developments policies, without justification for the departure.
Mayor Ken Sim and ABC councilors approved the proposed supertall tower project rather than send the project back to staff. Councilors Sean Orr, Pete Fry and Lucy Maloney voted in opposition.
The petitioners are asking the court to quash Council’s July 27 decision and to send the matter back to the city for reconsideration.
Contact: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785