Vancouver council has approved rezoning for controversial social housing development in Kitsilano that will create 129 single-occupancy units for single homeless people.
Council voted Tuesday night in favour of rezoning a city-owned site on Arbutus Street between 7th and 8th Avenue to permit a 13-storey building with 129 one-person social housing units offering mental health and other supports. The project site is next to the planned Arbutus subway station.
The final vote was 8-3, with councillors Melissa De Genova, Colleen Hardwick and Sarah Kirby-Yung against. Mayor Kennedy Stewart backs the project.
“As more and more neighbours are pushed to the streets due to a lack of supportive housing, this project provides hope of a better way forward,” Stewart said in a statement. “129 residents will soon have their own place to call home, with wraparound services which will ensure they are well supported.”
