Dunbar News

By Carol Volkart

Now is your chance to tell the city what you think of its plans for reshaping Dunbar – along with the rest of Vancouver – over the next three decades.

You’ve got until Oct. 29 to weigh in on the Official Development Plan, which will guide how the city grows and changes over the next 30 years and beyond. The city’s development plan map shows, almost down to the lot level, what’s planned for every part of the city.

Generally, the more intense the colour on the map, the greater the density. Dunbar is largely a light yellow (multiplexes), with strips of darker yellow (six-storey apartments) along main corridors. The only red (towers) is at the 41^st and Dunbar bus exchange. By comparison, Jericho Lands, where massive high-rise density is planned, is mostly shades of red and deeper red. (Click on the map below to expand.)

Why should you care about the Official Development Plan? Because it will increase density everywhere, affecting your home, your street, and your neighbourhood. And because once city council approves it, which has to happen by June of 2026, there will be no more public hearings for most residential developments.

It will also mean residents get less information about projects, will see it later, and have less time to comment, according CityHallWatch, the online site that closely monitors city issues.

“A decades-long process of centralizing decision-making at city hall – and reducing opportunities for direct public input in decisions that affect residents of Vancouver – is at its final stages,” the CityHallWatch site says of the plan.

In an email message this week, Randy Helten of the CityHallWatch Media Foundation urged residents to get informed and provide their input while they have a chance. “Major changes to height, density, and neighbourhood character are set to be locked in, but many residents remain unaware of what’s coming to their own blocks, their own community.”

He said the whole premise for an Official Development Plan eliminating the need for most public hearings is that the public is fully informed and supports the plan. “But that’s a farce. Most people don’t even know this is happening.”

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Attend an event, either in-person or virtually. For Dunbar, the nearest in-person open house is Thursday, Oct. 23, (6-8 pm) at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House, 2305 West 7^th Ave. There are only two more open houses after that, and one virtual event.

• Read a brief summary of the draft ODP 

• • Review the open house information boards 
  • Read the full ODP plan
  • Share your comments until Wednesday, Oct. 29