Vancouver city council to stop holding public hearings for most housing proposals

Vancouver city council will soon have to stop holding public hearings for most residential development proposals.

The ruling comes as part of the province’s Bill 18, which amends the Vancouver Charter and prohibits council from holding public hearings for projects that fall within density guidelines.

Coun. Adrianne Carr says the change is provincially mandated but also in line with what the city has heard from residents in the last three years.

Carr said she’s a proponent of the democratic process, but she’s “quite confident” that the council followed the public’s direction on the decision.

“I really see the importance of those public hearings, and in general, even on the issue of us removing that right and putting in community plans that would increase density,” said Carr.

“So that opportunity, for people to hear how Council debates something, and for them to be heard by Council has not gone away. It’s gone away, to some extent, on a lot-by-lot, basis, but it will always be there on the bigger issues, and on larger projects.” 

The city is planning on combining the province’s Bill 18, which amends the Vancouver Charter to allow for these changes, with its own ‘Vancouver Plan’  — which Carr put forward a few years ago.

She says it will be the first time the city will have an official development plan.