Vote Vancouver on faith land: first right to buy, and help to redevelop
Vote Vancouver would pass a right-of-first-refusal bylaw giving the city the first chance to buy faith-owned land that comes up for sale, for housing, childcare and community services. Faith groups that keep their land would get a city team to help them rezone and redevelop.
HOUSING AND BELONGING · PAGE 11
Faith-Based Land Redevelopment: what the Policy Priorities says
Vote Vancouver says faith-based organizations are among the largest landholders in Canada and often hold land they do not fully use. The party describes two cases: groups that want to sell their land, and groups that want to build on it to serve their local community. It offers a plan for each. For land that is sold, the party would introduce a right-of-first-refusal bylaw. A right of first refusal means the city gets the first chance to buy a qualifying faith-owned property before private developers when it comes on the market. The land would then hold housing, childcare and community services, built with non-profit partners and with the Musqueam Indian Band, the Squamish Nation and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.
For groups that keep their land, the city would partner with them to redevelop it for housing, community services and childcare, with the land staying in the group's ownership. The party describes faith groups as community services that need help with city rules, so it would set up a city team to speed up their rezoning applications. It says it already has commitments from major faith-based landholders, and ties this work to a motion Rebecca Bligh brought as a councillor.
A city bylaw is passed by City Council, and Council also controls rezoning and the permit process. Buying land would draw on city money that Council approves through its budget and capital plan. The housing and services built on the land would depend on the non-profit and First Nations partners the platform names. Each purchase would also depend on a faith group first deciding to sell.
5 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
Right-of-first-refusal bylaw for faith-owned land
Vote Vancouver would introduce a right-of-first-refusal bylaw giving the City the first opportunity to purchase qualifying faith-based properties when they come to market, before private developers.
- Who has the power
- City Council The platform presents this as a city bylaw, and city bylaws are passed by Council.
Purchased land used for housing, childcare and services
Land the city buys this way would be used for housing, childcare and community services, developed in partnership with non-profit organizations and the Musqueam Indian Band, the Squamish Nation and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation.
- Who has the power
- City, with others The city would own the land, but the platform names non-profits and the three First Nations as development partners.
City partnership to redevelop without selling
When a faith organization wants to redevelop instead of selling, the City would partner with it to redevelop its land for housing, community services, childcare and more, while the land stays in the organization's ownership.
- Who has the power
- City, with others The land stays with the faith group, so the city can only offer help and approvals while the owner decides.
A team to streamline faith-group rezonings
The party would establish a team to streamline rezoning applications and help faith organizations work through the city's development guidelines.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council controls rezoning and decides how city staff are organized to handle applications.
Turning faith-group relationships into homes
The party says it already has commitments to work with major faith-based landholders and would turn those relationships into projects for more affordable homes, in line with Rebecca Bligh's motion from her time on City Council.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Each project depends on the faith group that owns the land agreeing to it.
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about faith-based land redevelopment
What is Vote Vancouver's right-of-first-refusal bylaw?
Vote Vancouver would pass a bylaw giving the city the first chance to buy qualifying faith-owned properties when they come up for sale, before private developers. The land would be used for housing, childcare and community services (Policy Priorities, page 11).
Would Vote Vancouver force churches to sell their land?
The platform describes a right to buy first when a faith group decides to sell. For groups that want to keep their land, the city would instead partner with them to redevelop it while the land stays in their ownership (Policy Priorities, page 11).
How would Vote Vancouver help faith groups build housing?
The party would set up a city team to streamline rezoning applications and guide faith organizations through the city's development rules. It describes faith groups as community services that need help with city rules (Policy Priorities, page 11).
Who would Vote Vancouver partner with on faith land?
Vote Vancouver names non-profit organizations and the Musqueam Indian Band, the Squamish Nation and the Tsleil-Waututh Nation as partners for developing land the city buys from faith groups (Policy Priorities, page 11).
What is Rebecca Bligh's motion on faith-based land?
The platform says Vote Vancouver would turn its relationships with major faith-based landholders into affordable homes in line with a motion Rebecca Bligh brought on City Council. The document does not give the motion's name or date (Policy Priorities, page 11).
Can Vancouver City Council pass a right-of-first-refusal bylaw?
Bylaws are passed by City Council, which also controls rezoning and city land purchases through its budget. Vote Vancouver presents the right of first refusal as a city bylaw it would introduce (Policy Priorities, page 11).
ON THE BALLOT
The Vote Vancouver candidates behind this
Sources
Every commitment on this page comes from the party's own material, marked SAYS SO ITSELF. It proves what the party says it would do. Who holds each power is our own addition, from the sources listed after it.
- Vote Vancouver Policy Priorities SAYS SO ITSELFVote Vancouver · pages 11 · checked