Judgment day for stadium on stilts
Jon Stovell
Province
On Tuesday night, Vancouver City Council will decide the future of Vancouver’s last piece of undeveloped waterfront land. At the centre of this decision is a proposal from the Vancouver Whitecaps to build a stadium on top of a nine-metre platform over the rail yards 3.5 metres from Gastown.
The proposal has come under heavy criticism, and a technical review commissioned by the city found the proposal “inappropriate and unworkable.” A city staff report identified fundamental flaws that could only be addressed through a comprehensive plan involving other local landowners. Still, the Whitecaps continue to push on despite these concerns and the mounting opposition of Gastown businesses and residents.
What the Whitecaps fail to understand is that the planning process in Vancouver is like participating in the World Cup. Over the past 20 years, Vancouver has set a gold standard for planning in North America, primarily through the innovative transformation of the downtown peninsula and its waterfront communities. The proposal by the Whitecaps simply does not measure up.
The Whitecaps often refer to how much faster this development would have proceeded in Toronto. Visit the Toronto waterfront sometime and you will quickly understand the benefits of proper planning and what a magnificent legacy our planning department has left the city.
While the need for a comprehensive plan cannot be disputed, city council should also begin a process to evaluate other sites, such as the False Creek Flats or Hastings Park — in the likely event the problems with the Whitecaps’ current proposal cannot be overcome. It would be in the best interests of both the city and the Whitecaps if these alternatives were studied by the city in parallel with a comprehensive plan for the central waterfront.
Of course, this is not what the Whitecaps want to hear — they want to get going now. But planning, like soccer, takes patience. In order to find the right solution, we need to keep an open mind to alternative sites while an overall plan for this area is developed.
In the end, this is the only way to ensure we score the winning goal for all the fans of this last piece of Vancouver’s waterfront.
Jon Stovell represents the Gastown Neighbourhood Coalition (www.gastowncoalition.ca).
© The Vancouver Province 2006