Chinatown condo vote postponed until June 26
Posted June 12, 2023 10:39 pm.
Last Updated June 12, 2023 11:14 pm.
A hearing to determine the fate of a controversial condo project proposed for Vancouver’s Chinatown has ended without a vote after hearing from nearly 100 speakers.
The meeting of the city’s development permit board about whether to approve the nine-storey building at 105 Keefer Street ended at 10 p.m. Monday with a decision to postpone the vote until June 26.
Critics of the proposal for 111 residential and commercial units on what is now a parking lot say it ignores the needs of the neighbourhood because it contains only market-rate condos and no social housing units.
The City of Vancouver says 76 people signed up to speak at the last hearing on May 30, but the board was only able to hear from 48 before time ran out.
The rest were given the chance to speak at Monday’s hearing, in addition to another 68 who signed up.
Outside the hearing at City Hall, there was a carnival atmosphere, with a jazz band playing to a crowd of protesters.
