Category Archives: Urban & Transport

Lantzville lawyers up in farm fight – Seeks to stop landowner from selling produce

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From the Nanaimo Daily News – June 18, 2011

by Walter Cordery

The District of Lantzville has threatened Dirk Becker with legal
action if he doesn’t stop using his 2.5-acre farm as a commercial
enterprise.

The district has hired Victoria law firm Staples,
McDannold, Stewart to help enforce its residential zoning bylaw. People
can grow food for personal consumption, but they cannot sell the food
for profit, according to the district’s bylaws.

Lantzville has
tried to accommodate Becker by bringing in a temporary use permit bylaw
but he has refused to apply for one to allow him to continue farming
on his Fernmar Road home.

“Initially we gave them 90 days to apply for a TUP and then we
extended it to 180 days,” said Lantzville administrator Twyla Graff.

“He
hasn’t applied, (so) we have no choice but to pursue litigation as
Compassion Farm is in a clear violation of our zoning bylaw.”

Becker’s
farm is zoned “residential 1” and does not allow the use of the
property for other than those permitted under the existing bylaws,
states a letter from the district’s lawyers to Becker.

“You have
been made well aware of the violations of the bylaw, which include
using the lands for agricultural and commercial purposes.”

The
law firm goes on to say “please be advised that we have been instructed
to take legal action as may be necessary for court order requiring
that the use of the lands be brought into compliance with the bylaws of
the district without delay.”

The letter warns Becker that if he
doesn’t comply with the bylaw in three weeks, the law firm will
commence legal proceedings without further notice.

“You should
be further advised that if legal steps are required to be taken, we
will seek to recover legal costs expended by the district.”

Becker has no intention of shutting down his farm nor any intention of applying for a temporary use permit.

“When
council held a public community meeting last March to discuss TUPs,
the vast majority of those in attendance were opposed to them,” said
Becker.

“The problem with TUPs is that they are just that temporary and council can revoke them whenever they want.

“Also
Nicole (Shaw) and I sought legal counsel and we were told not to apply
for one as that could legitimize them. After eight months, we are
feeling harassed and tired.”

The district’s decision to threaten litigation irked Lantzville resident Glenda Barr Allard.

A
member of the Friends of Urban Agriculture in Lantzville, Barr Allard
is furious “the district is willing to spend scarce resources to hire a
law firm to take Compassion Farm to court.”

“The district, in my
opinion, has not listened to the community and are steam rolling over
the wishes of people in Lantzville.”

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Evergreen Line Funding Impasse Frustrates Local MPs

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From the Coquitlam Now – June 10, 2011

by Jennifer McFee

Local mayors have been vocal about the fate of the long-awaited Evergreen Line. Now Tri-Cities MPs are having their say.

So
far, the federal government has contributed $417 million towards the
$1.4-billion project, while the province has added another $410
million. However, the project remains off-track due to a $574-million
shortfall, which includes a $400-million commitment from local
government that has yet to materialize.

For Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam Conservative MP James Moore, this delay is “mind-boggling.”

“For
three and a half years, we’ve set aside $417 million and it’s been
collecting dust because local governments haven’t anted up their third
of the share to build the Evergreen Line,” Moore said.

“The
province is onside. The federal government is onside. But local
governments and TransLink haven’t anted up their third of the funding
and it’s time that they did. The public is getting impatient and so am
I.”

The delay is becoming an embarrassment, Moore added.

“Three
and a half years ago we announced it, so it’s borderline embarrassing
that local levels of government have been waiting this long to figure
out how to pay for something they said was their top priority,” he
said.

“If this is the local government’s top priority — their
No. 1 priority, the most important thing — and it takes them three and
a half years to figure out how to pay for it, I think that is
mind-boggling.”

On the contrary, New Westminster-Coquitlam NDP MP
Fin Donnelly believes the federal government needs to do more to help
close the funding gap. The 2011 federal budget presented Monday did not
address transit infrastructure like the Evergreen Line, he added.

“We
see that there’s a $574-million gap in the $1.4-billion Evergreen
Line. The local government is struggling. TransLink is struggling to
commit its share of the funds. I think we need to have all levels of
government at the table trying to solve that problem, and the federal
government could have been a positive contributor to that,” Donnelly
said.

“They’re certainly commended to have provided over $400
million to the project, but obviously with a $574-million gap, there
still needs to be a role for the federal government to close that gap
and build the Evergreen Line.

“We’re so close, so we need the feds and the province and the local government working together.”

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Gateway’s United Boulevard extension cancelled to applause in New Westminster

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From the Georgia Straight online – May 20, 2011

by Eric Doherty

On Thursday (May 19), a large and determined group of New Westminster residents gathered to find out what design TransLink would be pushing for the first section of theNorth Fraser Perimeter Road. Instead, the crowd burst into boisterous applause when Sany Zein, TransLink’s director of roads, announced that TransLink would cancel the North Fraser Perimeter Road portion of the Gateway Program because local residents and New Westminster council would not support it.

New Westminster residents have proved a force to be reckoned with. Mayor Wayne Wright referred to the first NFPR open house as “a donnybrook”—slang for a mass brawl. It was this outspoken opposition that forced provincially controlled TransLink to back off on the United Boulevard extension, the first phase of the NFPR in New Westminster. If they had proceeded it would have cost about $175 million for a short stub of freeway and an overpass that would feed more traffic onto the already congested New Westminster street network.

“This is an example of what is possible when you get citizens involved in important issues. Now is the time to go back and focus on public transit,” said Andrew Murray, a member of the Council of Canadians’ New Westminster chapter. “We also need to fix the dysfunctional way TransLink operates; this needs to be an issue in the upcoming provincial election.”

Roadway expansion is one of the main drivers of increasing greenhouse gas emissions in B.C. and globally. While our provincial politicians talk about cutting carbon emissions, the reality is that they are often spending our money to increase the emissions that threaten the stability of our climate.

Until recently, the NFPR and the whole Gateway freeway megaproject looked unstoppable. Work is continuing on the $3-billion Highway 1 freeway widening which includes the replacement for the Port Mann Bridge. Despite vigorous resistance by local residents and legal action by the Burns Bog Conservation Society, work on the $2-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road freeway continues in Surrey and Delta. However, as the price of gas soars and concern about global warming mounts, spending billions on roadway expansions may no longer look like such a great way for politicians to get re-elected.

The people of New Westminster have shown that “unstoppable” projects can be stopped with determined resistance. Now it is time to stand up and demand an end to the Gateway freeway megaproject. Our limited resources should be invested in thing like electric trains and public transit, not on making global warming worse by spending billions on freeways.

Eric Doherty is a member of the Council of Canadians’ Vancouver-Burnaby chapterand StopThePave.org.

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Towers on Cambie: Vancouver’s Top Planner Explains

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From The Tyee – May 13, 2011

by Erick Villagomez

Vancouver is well-known for its approach to urbanism,
and using densification towards creating a more liveable city. In
reality, however, this popularity is focused on the relatively small
area of Vancouver’s downtown core and the neighbourhoods immediately
surrounding it. Moreover, emphasis is often placed on the city’s
podium-towers as the future of sustainable urbanism.

The vote Tuesday by city council to approve
the Cambie Corridor Plan, allowing mid-rise towers of up to 12 stories
along that key artery — and taller towers at Marine Drive and Oakridge
intersections — shows a different version of what the future may hold.
More recent developments in Vancouver outside the downtown core, such as
Olympic Village, have successfully deployed a mid-rise urbanism, and
the Cambie Corridor Plan builds off many of the lessons learned from
such projects, instead of the renowned downtown peninsula.

Recently, I conversed with Vancouver’s
director of planning, Brent Toderian, about the Cambie Corridor Plan,
and what it means for the future of Vancouver and the City’s approach to
urban planning. Here is a condensed version of that discussion (with a
longer version found here.)

Erik Villagomez: This is the first
time since 1928 that a large area of the city, spanning multiple
neighbourhoods, is attempting to be planned comprehensively. Can you
talk about how it differs from past approaches that focus more on
developing small pockets of the city individually?

Brent Toderian: “It’s
true, the Cambie Corridor work represents the largest and most complex
area planning exercise — crossing several neighbourhoods and involving a
significant intended transformation over time — that we’ve ever
undertaken outside of the central area. I’ve also suggested that the
corridor will eventually become the third most significant area of
complex urbanism in the city, after the downtown and the Broadway
Corridor.

“Originally, the planning department had
conceived the work program along Cambie Street as a series of station
area plans, and that would have taken a long time — six to eight years
in total — to do one at a time. Not only was that approach lengthy and
time consuming, it also, to my mind, thought about the street and
transit line in the wrong way. It didn’t think about the corridor as a
corridor, but saw the corridor as a series of individual areas. And it
didn’t necessarily think about change along the corridor in the areas in
between the stations. From my perspective, you don’t have to choose one
or the other, you can do a corridor approach that recognizes the
transit-related commonalities and consistent principles along its
length, but also recognizes the unique identity of the station areas.

“And that’s what we’ve done — a corridor
approach that also breaks the corridor into distinct neighbourhood
areas, each with their unique identity.”

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Car2Go: New car-rental service comes to Vancouver

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From the Vancouver Sun – April 27, 2011

By Gillian Shaw

Starting today, Vancouver becomes the first city in Canada to become
host to Daimler’s car2go, a car-sharing service that makes Smart Cars
available at rental rates that start per minute.

The launch, which
comes after a limited trial last fall among some Vancouver businesses
and non-profit organizations, marks car2go’s second foray into North
America after the company expanded its service from Europe to Austin,
Texas, in late 2009.

Unlike services such as Zipcar or Vancouver’s
Modo – The Car Co-op, which offer rentals by the hour after which cars
must be returned to their pickup location, car2go lets users take
one-way trips. For example in Austin, cars can be reserved ahead of time
or picked up on the spot and dropped off somewhere else, as long as its
within the program’s operating area.

Car2go is seen by some in
the industry more as an alternative to taxis or bike-sharing programs
than to traditional car sharing. But in a city where there’s more cachet
in talking about the car you don’t own than boasting about the one
taking up space in your driveway or parking garage, demand for
car-sharing services is growing.

“I think Vancouver is a great
choice for car2go and I’m eager to see how it does,” said Beth Breisnes,
who with her husband Jon Breisnes gave up car ownership two years ago
and instead uses Modo cars through their membership with that co-op. “I
think there is definitely room for a service like that, a one-way
service,” said Breisnes, who is a director of Modo.

Mary-Beth
Kellenberger, Frost & Sullivan automotive and transportation global
program manager, said in choosing Vancouver, car2go is coming into an
area where there is already a strong base and an awareness of car
sharing.

“You don’t have to grow it from scratch,” she said.

The
popularity of car sharing is growing, said Kellenberger, fuelled by a
number of factors including the cost of car ownership and for Vancouver
and Toronto the cost of real estate, which is more of a priority for
many than car buying.

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South Fraser Perimeter Road protesters say it’s not too late to stop construction

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From The Province – April 26, 2011

by Frank Luba

Protesters blocking construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road continued their camp-out Tuesday below River Road in Delta.

They
have food and shelter and some of them are determined to stay on the
site until the $1 billion project is shelved or they are removed.

The
camp, which was established Friday, was busy Tuesday. But except for
one truck that showed up early in the morning there has been no sign of
anyone attempting construction — or confrontation.

There were more than a dozen people camped on the site after 11 p.m. when Eric Doherty showed up Monday night.

Doherty is with StopThePave.org, one of the organizers of the occupation along with the Council of Canadians.

The
SFPR project, which connects Deltaport to the TransCanada Highway with a
four-lane highway, is more than 25 per cent of the way to its 2013
completion date.

But Doherty said Tuesday he doesn’t think it’s too late to stop it.

“Lots
of freeways have been stopped after they started pouring concrete,”
said Doherty, who pointed to a prominent Vancouver landmark as an
example.

The Georgia Viaduct is a remnant of the freeway that was
proposed for the city and which would have bulldozed through Chinatown
had citizens not fought against the plan for more paving.

Now, the
Vancouver civic government is musing about whether the viaducts should
be taken down at some point to return what was roadway to residents.

But
the situation in Delta is a little different because the SFPR has been
on the drawing board for a long time and is now a vital part of the
provincial Gateway strategy.

Signs at the occupation camp dub it
‘Falcon’s Folly’ because it was introduced by former Transportation
Minister Kevin Falcon, now the finance minister, after his failed bid to
become leader of the provincial Liberal party and the Premier.

Protesters are at the SFPR site for varying periods but they plan to keep a constant presence there.

Carmen Mills, an organizer with StopThePave.org, was helping in the camp’s makeshift kitchen Tuesday morning.

She
said people have been coming by with donations of food, including one
woman who brought a freshly-cooked turkey on Easter Monday.

That type of support gave Mills hope.

“I’m definitely planning on being here as much as I can,” said the East Vancouver resident.

“We’re
here until we feel we’ve made significant progress in waking people up
to what’s going on here, and stopping the highway, or they carry us
out,” she said.

Delta police are monitoring the protest, which they said they expect will extend into next week.

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Video & Story: Direct Action Opposing South Fraser Freeway

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From W2TV – April 24, 2011

by Sid Tan

On April 22 (Earth Day) 2011, a tent city was established to oppose the
South Fraser Freeway. Entry is located at 10749 and 10739 River Road in
Delta.

In this “day after” report, three directors (Harold Lavender, Dave
Murray and Sid Tan) of the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council
departed to the action site after a four hour Board development meeting.

More people are needed to camp overnight as there is safety in numbers.
Show your solidarity by dropping by. Donations of food and firewood
needed.

www.stopthepave.org
www.gatewaysucks.org

More details at http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/story/putting-barricades-back-earth-day/7033

W2TV: Direct Action Opposing South Fraser Freeway from Sid Tan on Vimeo.

The video:
The Times They Are a-Changing written and performed by Bob Dylan. Shot
on a Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder by Sid Tan who edited with AVS Editor
on HP dv6622ca laptop, also used to upload.

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Just in Time for Earth Day: Report Urges Shift from Freeways to Transit

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Shifting spending from freeways to transit will not only reduce
BC’s greenhouse gas emissions, but lead to healthier, safer communities for all
British Columbians. This is the conclusion of a new study which I co-authored with
Patrick Condon, Kari Dow, Marc Lee and Gordon Price.

Transportation Transformation: Building Complete
Communities and a Zero-Emission Transportation System in BC
, co-published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and
the Wilderness Committee, sets out key strategies for urban, suburban and rural
areas that will improve transportation and quality of life at the same time.

“Instead of allocating billions of precious tax dollars on
wider roads and bigger bridges, like we’re doing now, we need to build a
province-wide zero-carbon public transportation system,” says co-author Patrick
Condon, UBC chair in Landscape and Livable Environments and a leading figure in
sustainable design.

The study proposes an annual investment of $2 billion over
the next ten years, much of it re-allocated from roadway expansion, with the goal
of creating a zero-emission transportation system by 2040. As we point out,
“Spending public funds on highway expansion and low carbon transportation is
analogous to applying a car’s accelerator and brake at the same time.” The
likely result, whether for a car or society, is a breakdown.

In our report, we argue that investments in electric public
transit need to lead land use changes to create complete communities. Changes
in transportation systems can be made quickly, while land use changes often
take longer and are largely determined by transportation spending decisions.
You can’t create true transit oriented development without good transit
service.

To get to zero emissions, the study envisions a province of
“complete communities” – in which residents do not have to travel far to meet their
day-to-day needs. Instead, they would be able to walk, bike or use electric
public transit for most trips, and use shared electric vehicles. Complete
communities have a mix of housing types (including affordable options), decent
jobs, public services, parks and other public spaces, and commercial districts
with restaurants, offices and retail outlets. The exact mix of transportation
modes will depend on whether a community is urban, suburban or rural.

Economist Marc Lee, a co-author of the study, points out
that transportation of people and goods accounts for about 40 per cent of BC’s
greenhouse gas emissions. He proposes that transforming transportation is the
logical next step in BC’s climate action agenda.

“If we think of the carbon tax as the stick, then a new
transportation system is the carrot,” says Lee. “Many British Columbians who
live in suburban and rural areas resent paying the carbon tax, and with good
reason: they’ve been penalized for driving, but they aren’t provided with any
alternatives. And that’s what we’re laying out here: an effective, doable
alternative.”

Ben West, the Wilderness Committee’s lead climate
campaigner, is not waiting long to translate this new report into action. He is helping a youth group to organize
an Earth Day Parade, concert and info fair this Friday, April 22 – a central
message of this event is the need to shift transportation spending from roads
to transit. The Earth Day Parade starts
at 11am at the Broadway and Commercial SkyTrain station.

Other groups are not waiting either. Lower Mainland Council
of Canadians chapters have teamed up with StopThePave.org
for an Earth Day Mass Direct Action to stop freeway expansion and shift funding
to transit. The action starts at 2pm at the Annieville Supermarket in North
Delta, 10996 River Road, Delt
a. People can go to both events: at the end of the
Earth Day Parade a group
bicycle ride
will leave for the Delta action. People who want to stay at
the concert and info fair longer can take free buses directly to the action,
starting at about 2pm. More details can be found at StopThePave.org.

This is one report that is not gathering any dust. In the
Lower Mainland, the Transportation Transformation starts this Friday.

So get out there and take part if you can – it’s the
perfect way to celebrate Earth Day.

The full report is
available from www.policyalternatives.ca/transportationtransformation.
A slide show based on the report will be available at the same web page soon.

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Fall of Vancouver’s Viaducts Could Aid Rise of Eastside

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From The Tyee – April 11, 2011

by Christopher Pollon

The demolition and removal of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts could
begin in as little as five years, opening a wide swath of virgin land
to public space and development — and forming the eastern core of
Vancouver’s new 21st-century downtown.

The early results of a feasibility study
unveiled Friday, April 7 at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre
show that three “viaduct removal concepts” are currently being
considered by the City of Vancouver, ranging from removing 20 per cent
of the structures in five years to complete removal in 20 years.

The viaducts, which connect Vancouver’s
eastside to the downtown via raised concrete “bridges,” are the only
major pieces of Vancouver’s abandoned 1970s freeway design ever built —
a plan that would have destroyed much of present-day Strathcona and
Chinatown. At the time, a funding shortfall and an extremely effective
grassroots protest ensured that the rest of Vancouver’s freeway vision
never materialized.

Now almost 40 years old, the viaducts have
created an unusual opportunity, one which has city planners and
developers collectively salivating: land equivalent to about five city
blocks underlies the structures, which would reappear as if by magic if
the viaducts disappear.

“Let’s make a bold decision to get rid of
the viaducts,” said Vancouver’s visionary former co-director of
planning, Larry Beasley, one of five speakers at the capacity-filled event
presented by SFU’s City Program. “Then, convene a great international
urban design competition to design the eastern part of the core. Let’s
decide to design our city.”

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New Car Engine Sends Shock Waves Through Auto Industry

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From Discover News – April 6, 2011

by Nic Halverson

Despite shifting into higher gear within the consumer’s green
conscience, hybrid vehicles are still tethered to the gas pump via a
fuel-thirsty 100-year-old invention: the internal combustion engine.

However, researchers at Michigan State University
have built a prototype gasoline engine that requires no transmission,
crankshaft, pistons, valves, fuel compression, cooling systems or
fluids. Their so-called Wave Disk Generator could greatly improve the
efficiency of gas-electric hybrid automobiles and potentially decrease
auto emissions up to 90 percent when compared with conventional
combustion engines.

The engine has a rotor that’s equipped with wave-like channels that
trap and mix oxygen and fuel as the rotor spins. These central inlets
are blocked off, building pressure within the chamber, causing a shock
wave that ignites the compressed air and fuel to transmit energy.

The Wave Disk Generator uses 60 percent of its fuel for propulsion;
standard car engines use just 15 percent. As a result, the generator is
3.5 times more fuel efficient than typical combustion engines.

Researchers estimate the new model could shave almost 1,000 pounds
off a car’s weight currently taken up by conventional engine systems.

Last week, the prototype was presented to the energy division of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is backing the Michigan State University Engine Research Laboratory with $2.5 million in funding.

Michigan State’s team of engineers hope to have a car-sized 25-kilowatt version of the prototype ready by the end of the year.

Read original article with illustrations and video here

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