BURST
Vancouver city council heard from speakers opposed and in favour of a three-tower development supported by city staff at the Safeway site at Broadway and Commercial on Thursday night.
However, as 10 p.m. neared, council voted in favour of hearing later from the rest of the speakers. City staff suggested May 27 and 28, however, on those dates there were would be too many councillors absent. So the date of June 10 was settled on.
Mayor Ken Sim wanted the meeting to end on time because of an important announcement being made on Friday morning related to public event safety after the Lapu Lapu Day tragedy on April 26 in which 11 people were killed in south Vancouver.
Earlier in the evening, council heard from the developers Westbank Corp. and Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust, explaining the three rental towers would be 37 storeys, 38 storeys and 44 storeys tall.
Speakers on the night were equally opposed and in favour of the development, with a comic tone introduced by a speaker who used an accordion and sang a two minute song.
Those opposed pointed to the disproportionate size of the development compared to the rest of the neighbourhood and cited concerns about the affordability of the 1,040 units.