SUPREME COURT: Business groups worry ruling gives city approval to override property rights
JOHN BERMINGHAM
Province
Brandon Norman of Kerrisdale wants the Arbutus corridor turned into a streetcar line with early-period train stations. SAM LEUNG — THE PROVINCE
A streetcar is his desire.
Kerrisdale resident Brandon Norman wants a trolley line along the Arbutus rail corridor after Canada’s top court ensured it will be protected for future public use.
The Supreme Court of Canada yesterday upheld the City of Vancouver’s right to use the 11-kilometre-long Arbutus rail line for transit and greenway uses.
“It’s a place that time forgot. It’s like I’m back in time,” said Norman, 28, who lives next to the tracks and walks the line daily.
Norman would like to see a historic streetcar with heritage-style train stations along the Arbutus route.
“It’s an important heritage piece, and it should be preserved as much as possible the way it is,” he said.
Five years ago, the city passed a bylaw limiting uses on the Arbutus corridor to rail and transit, with a cyclist path and pedestrian greenway.
“We strongly believe the Arbutus corridor should be preserved as a whole, to be used in the future for transportation and greenway uses,” said Mayor Sam Sullivan in a statement from Turin yesterday.
COPE Coun. David Cadman wants it turned into a public transportation route.
“It is now time for the CPR to sit down with the city and start the process of turning the corridor into a public amenity that could include pedestrian and cycling paths, community gardens, greenways and transit,” he said. But business groups are worried the court ruling gives the City of Vancouver the green light to override private-property rights.
“This is now going to be a red flag to investment,” said Maureen Enser of the Urban Development Institute, a property developers’ group. Enser said it means the city can pass a bylaw and designate private land public without negotiating purchase of the land.
Business groups want property rights enshrined in the Charter so governments would have to negotiate fairly with private landowners.
CP Rail spokesman Paul Clark said the court decision doesn’t alter the fact that CPR still owns the land.
“It’s private property. It’s a freight-rail corridor, and the decision does not provide for the corridor to become public land,” he said.
“Any change in the freight-rail use will require purchase of the land from CPR.”
CPR wants to sell the property, not develop it. Clark wouldn’t put a price tag on the 18-hectare parcel, which runs from Marpole to Granville Island and is only 20 metres wide at some points.
The line has been owned by CP since 1886, but was closed in 1999.
The city’s victory doesn’t mean it’s going to buy the property or do anything more for the forseeable future. Any development has to conform to the city’s bylaw.
A streetcar route could connect the Arbutus corridor to downtown, through Gastown, Chinatown, False Creek and west to Stanley Park. No money has been approved for a streetcar route in the city’s three-year capital plan.