Vancouver British Columbia - The city of Vancouver has voted in favour of a decision that would allow Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) to buy back .62 hectares of the Arbutus Greenway for $1.
 
Council voted on Wednesday night 6-2 in favour of the proposal.
 
Councillors Adriane Carr and Melissa De Genova voted against the proposal, while Mayor Gregor Robertson, and councillors Andrea Reimer and Elizabeth Ball were absent, city staff confirmed.
 
Staff say the decision is a required step in the city's $55 million purchase in 2016 of an unused railway from CP.
 
That agreement included an agreement for CP to buy that section of land for $1 if the city removed them from the official development plan.
 
Staff say in a report that the lands are not required for light rail, walking, or cycling use, due to engineering and safety constraints.
 
If CP decides to buy back the land, it will have to put it back up for sale, according to the purchase agreement.
 
Jerry Evans, the city's director of real estate services, told Postmedia the buyer would likely be a developer.
 
A portion of the revenue would go to the city.
 
The .62 hectares is located south of False Creek from West 1st Avenue to West 5th Avenue, at the north end of the nine kilometre Arbutus Greenway.
 
Tiffany Crawford.