St John’s Church, 1401 Comox Street at Broughton.
On June 11, 2012 there will be a public hearing for this 22-storey tower.
Westbank Projects Corp (CEO Ian Gillespie), Peterson Investment Group (CEO Ben Yeung) and Henriquez Partners Architects (Gregory Henriquez) are the proponents of the application. Originally they and City of Vancouver staff apparently expected this rezoning and development application to get quickly and quietly approved in March 2010. Instead it has attracted attention and controversy, setting off a major backlash in the West End and across the City regarding projects of this sort — and related policies. The project and underlying policies have city-wide implications and significance.
Over the next several days, we will add information and tips for people who wish to prepare and speak to City Council at the public hearing.
Official City website on this rezoning application is here.
- 100+ year chronology is here.
Chronology of events of the past couple years
June 11, 2012. This is to be the first night of the public hearing. Concerned residents are encouraged to write publichearing@vancouver.ca to say you’d like to speak, and ask for your speaker number.
May 15, 2012. City Council accepts staff report as-is, ignores WEN letter about errors/omissions/misrepresentation of fact, and refers the application to go to public hearing.
February 12, 2012. Third Open House by Westbank Projects Corp and partners is held. The essential facts (height and density) are virtually unchanged since the initial application in 2009, but space for Gordon Neighbourhood House and Qmunity has been quietly removed from the plan. The night before the open house, Westbank suddenly adds proposal for a mini-park to close Broughton St. beside the proposed tower.
April 16, 2011. WEN Walk and neighbourhood rally at St John’s Church.
April 11, 2011. Demolition work begins inside the church. More details are here. After major disruptions in the community, the demolition ended in June.
April 7, 2011. City issues demolition permit for St. John’s Church.
March 2, 2011. In January, the owner of the property at 1401 Comox Street (St. John’s Church) applied to the City to demolish the building. The City is currently processing this application for a demolition permit. Previously the developer had indicated to the city that he did not intend to proceed with demolition of the building until the rezoning application was considered by City Council at a Public Hearing. The developer has since decided to proceed with the demolition. In late February, the property owner removed the stained glass windows from the building and left these window openings boarded-up. West End Neighbours has forwarded a proposal to the City and the property owner requesting a delay of the demolition until the City or Park Board can explore opportunities to purchase the site and make it available for community use. [Footnote: As of April 16, WEN had received no responses (not even acknowledgment) from the Mayor, Council, or Parks Board.] Further information on WEN’s proposal is located here. Contact for Westbank Corporation to request that they delay the demolition of the church until after the Public Hearing on the rezoning application: Westbank at: 604-685-8986, ting@westbankcorp.com. Also, phone and e-mail the Mayor and City Councilors and request they explore options to allow the church to be re-purposed as a community facility.
Call the City at: 604-873-7621
Email the City at: mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca
February 10, 2011. The fire department was called to the church to discover a ritual fire ceremony taking place inside the church. Described by Ian Gillespie as a fire hazard, it has caused great concern in the community and with neighbours that Gillespie allowed this fire on his property without a permit from the city and without water or a functioning sprinkler system in the building. Local residents’ lives and property were jeopardized by this act. Westbank Corp., the Peterson Group and Henriquez Partners architects continue to ignore the community and have placed the safety of the surrounding neighbours at risk for their own purposes. The Fire Department is currently investigating the situation. [As of April 16, no report has been issued publicly, despite requests.]
For the full story, see Fire department called to 1401 Comox, discover ceremony ablaze
February 6, 2011. On January 25th, WEN learned from the West Ender that Westbank Corp. had applied to the city for a permit application to demolish St. John’s Church at 1401 Comox Street.
Previously the developer had indicated to the city that they did not intend to proceed with demolition of the building until the rezoning application was considered by Council at Public Hearing. The developer decided that they would proceed with the demolition to minimize their insurance risk, exposure and liability.
This decision follows a chronology of neglect and betrayal where Westbank has failed to secure the church since it purchased the property and is now citing fire hazards and vanalism as a cause for this hasty reversal of its commitment to the community.
The community is on high alert as efforts are being made to find creative solutions to saving the church so it can be restored as a community resource for West End residents.
See Save the Church to see what you can do.
December 3, 2010. This application is temporarily on hold, but Henriquez Partners Architects and public relations firm Pottinger & Associates (working for Westbank and Peterson) continue working to manufacture consent for the rezoning, with private meetings, a new website, systematic misinformation and misrepresentation. The controversial Stratcom phone survey conducted in the West End a few weeks ago, apparently commissioned by Westbank, appears to have stopped.
And after numerous requests, the public feedback to the City on this project is now online, showing 78% opposed at the developer’s April open house, and 71% opposed from among 536 letters (while one asks how many of those in favour result from the proponent’s misinformation campaign…). We are glad staff posted this at last, but have some concerns about how even its style of reporting can mislead readers (e.g., erroneous “opinions” are presented as if they are fact, and the statistics used can mislead people ). For more detail, see the Public Consultation Summary.
The Mayor’s West End Advisory Committee is to meet with the developer in early 2011.
October 8, 2010. The City has just issued a permit to Westbank Projects Corp and Peterson Group for “selective removal of building components such as stained glass and monuments.” A “gentleman’s understanding” is in place with Ian Gillespie, CEO of Westbank, that the Church is not to be demolished until after rezoning is approved.
We are concerned about the fine line between “selective removal” and “demolition,” and hope that he and Ben Yeung (Peterson) will act in good faith. Already the owners have apparently violated two bylaws, first by placing a fence encroaching on public property around the church, and second, by putting up a sign (which happens to contain serious misinformation — more about that later) in violation of the City’s sign bylaws. Our “Bulldozer Brigade” is being placed on high alert immediately, in case there is a need to bear witness and prevent the destruction of this church before a fair and open process has been completed.
September 9, 2010. On August 31, the Mayor announced that this application for a 22 storey tower with 500% increase in floor space will NOT go to Public Hearing for a while, to allow for more consultation. This is good news and we look forward to a full public discussion on the STIR program used to justify this rezoning, the benefits and costs to the community (and in fact, all Vancouver taxpayers) if this rezoning is approved, as well as a review of the actual process of consultation and public involvement to this point.
The metal fence (see alert below) has been moved back as a result of a public outcry after the owner apparently violated bylaws by putting the fence up on public property. We are attempting to confirm that Westbank and Peterson Group will uphold their declared intent NOT to demolish the church until after the rezoning. Meanwhile, the bulldozer brigade is on 24-hour alert.
August 12, 2010 The City of Vancouver website reports that the rezoning and development permit for 1401 Comox is delayed. Westbank, Peterson and Henriquez have “indicated that they intend to proceed with further design exploration. It is anticipated that a revised application will be resubmitted in Fall 2010, at which time more information will be shared with the community.” For more information, see theRezoning Centre.
August 5, 2010: Workers put up fencing around St John’s Church this morning. What does this mean? We will inquire and report. The Public Hearing is still supposed to be months away. If you see any workers around the church you can report if there are problems. See Take Action to stir it up.
What if it were restored to community use? A West End Arts and Cultural Centre? Solar-powered, geothermal heated…green space with performance spaces, offices, meeting rooms, a composting centre…
A temple for the soul…
“St. John’s is a great example of contemporary West Coast architecture – enriching in experience, well executed in materials, and environmentally sensitive.
The large windows, cedar siding, and exposed wood …beams are all common features of the Pacific Northwest Regionalism style of architecture.
St John’s is a more humane type of architecture, it reminds us all of our relationship with nature, culture and our inner selves. In turn, this evokes the eternal question of our place in time and space. St. John’s is designed as a temple for the soul.” John Russow, Architect
Instead residents are anticipating St. John’s nightmare.
Status in July 2010
On July 15, selected residents began receiving yellow cards in the mail announcing a third Open House on a 22-storey tower proposed under the STIR program, to be held on July 29. By the evening of July 15, the City’s website announced that the Open House had been cancelled by the applicant. Inquiries to staff found that the developers had cancelled it to do further work on the submission.
Citizens are continuing their efforts to save this site, sold by the United Church of Canada last April to Westbank Projects Corp. and Peterson Investment Group. The latest word from Planning Department is that the City staff recommendation letter will go to Council in September and a public hearing will be held in October, but it appears this timing could still change.
Rezoning Application for 1401 Comox Street
Henriquez Partners Architects have submitted a revised concurrent rezoning and development permit application.The proposal is to rezone this site from RM-5 (Multiple Residential) District to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) district to allow the construction of a 22–storey market rental residential tower, with townhouses and a community facility at grade. The purpose of the rezoning to CD-1 is:
- To increase the density from the RM-5 maximum floor space ration (FSR) of 1.5 to 7.4 FSR (i.e. the total building floor area permitted would be equal to 7.4 times the site area instead of 1.5 times); and
- To increase the height from the RM-5 maximum discretionary height of 58 m (190 ft.) to 66 m (216.5 ft.) as measured to the top of the parapet of the rooftop amenity area.
Changes from the original submission include:
- expansion of the southernmost freestanding townhouse to provide a 3500 sq. ft. community facility (proposed for use by the queer resource centre ‘Qmunity’ and Gordon Neighbourhood House);
- provision of six SAFER (seniors subsidized housing) units within the building for a period of five years; and,
- modifications to the architectural character of the building.
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