By Stephen Quinn, on November 10, 2017
More surprising than the news that the City of Vancouver’s Development Permit Board rejected the proposal for a nine-storey condo building at 105 Keefer St. in Chinatown is the fact that the news was met with such shock.
Imagine – a developer turned down by the City of Vancouver. That simply doesn’t happen here. In fact, it’s the first time in 11 years that the board has rejected an application.
Is it possible that the voices of a neighbourhood may have actually been heard? Is there a slim chance that the development permit process might be something more than a rubber stamp weighted heavily – almost without exception – in favour of developers?
It is, judging by the reaction, an outcome that no one expected.
Certainly, the Chinatown group that rallied opposition to the project was flabbergasted.
“We were shocked. We were in the room looking at each other and were just – mouths agape,” said Nathanel Lowe, an organizer with the Chinatown Action Group that opposed the Beedie Group development. Mr. Lowe credited the hundreds of people who turned out at every stage of the proposal for the panel’s rejection of the project.
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