8 May 2008
Arbutus Club Expansion Draws Ire of Local Residents
Vancouver British Columbia - The swanky Arbutus Club is
proposing to build a temporary parking lot for 119 vehicles on the Arbutus Corridor while it expands its building.
The plan would create a gravel lot along the CPR tracks both north and south of Nanton Ave. for the 15 months of construction, but some
area residents don't like the plan and are intensifying opposition.
The city's official development plan for the old Canadian Pacific Railway right of way sets the area aside for use as a public
thoroughfare for walking, cycling, and public transit, but specifically excludes motor vehicles and housing.
Area residents use the area as a greenway and to gain access to nearby Quilchena Park and they are incensed that the club wants to
create a large gravel parking lot on their strolling path.
"We don't oppose the expansion," said resident Eric Patel, who is circulating a letter to Mayor Sam Sullivan and other
councillors opposing the parking lot. He said the letter will be hand-delivered today.
"The club held a public meeting and there was a big objection to the parking lot," he said. "We feel that once they put
down gravel it will be very hard to recover the greenway."
"Over two years of construction they will compact that stuff way into the ground."
The expansion, which started 23 Apr 2008, will add 14,000 square feet to the club, including 357 underground parking
spaces, according to Arbutus Club CEO Brent Elkington.
"My sense from the neighbourhood is that they are opposed to the parking lot on the CPR land," Elkington said. "If that
is the case we will probably withdraw it; we were just waiting for that input."
"There has always been a problem with parking in this neighbourhood, but this expansion should solve that."
Area residents have a long history of defending the sanctity of their neighbourhood and mounted a fierce campaign of resistance when
the corridor was being considered as a route for the Canada Line SkyTrain route. CPR stopped using the tracks in 2001.
"That area is used by people walking their dogs, kids riding their bikes, people out strolling, joggers use it all the time,"
said Patel. "The entry to the dog park is through the greenway."
The gravel lot would bring cars onto the greenway and create a bottleneck for the pedestrians and cyclists who use it, Patel said.
The city planning department has received a "large number" of negative responses to the plan, according to city official
Lizette Berdahl, who is collating public reaction to a notification letter sent out last week.
The city fought all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada last year to preserve its right to control use of the land after the CPR
sought to develop condominiums on the land. The court sided with the city, effectively killing the development plan, but left open the
possibility that the track could be returned to use for rail freight.
Sullivan said at the time: "Preserving the corridor for the benefit of Vancouver residents has been a
long-standing council policy and contributes to the livability of the city."
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