NEWS RELEASE, January 12, 2024

Jericho Coalition releases new video comparing its alternative low-rise Jericho Lands housing plan to developers’ massive 60 high-rises of up to 49-storeys; calls again for Vancouver City Council to delay vote on proposal set for January 24 due to missing critical hydrogeological study

VANCOUVER – A grassroots community group today released a new video that contrasts the developers’ massive proposal for 60 high-rise concrete towers with its own plan for the Jericho Lands. The Coalition’s plan, developed by architects and planners, delivers the “excellence in urban design” that the developers’ plan claims to deliver but conspicuously does not.
“It would be hard to find a more stark contrast than that between our low-rise, environmentally sensitive proposal for affordable, livable housing on a human scale and the enormous tower development proposed by the MST Development Corporation and the Canada Lands Company,” says Susan Fisher, a Jericho Coalition spokesperson. The video is online at: www.JerichoCoalition.org
“It’s unacceptable that Vancouver City Council is scheduled to consider approving this plan,, overwhelmingly opposed by local communities and indeed across the city, on January 24 – and without a critical report on the aquifer under those proposed towers,” Fisher said. “At a very minimum, Council should push the pause button until that hydrogeological report is received and studied and citizens have a chance to understand this huge development project.”
Fisher said that’s why the Jericho Coalition has commissioned a new video comparing the 13,000 unit high-rise project proposed by MST and CLC with its own alternative low-rise plan that still would create 7,200 units for about 16,000 people. A low- to medium-rise development could be built with much less risk of puncturing the aquifer.
“This video could easily be titled “Night and Day” because our low-rise, environmentally sensitive plan is so different from the nightmarish size, height and density of the developers’ proposal,” Fisher said. “We believe – and polling confirms – that Vancouver doesn’t want to see a development with more density than Hong Kong City towering over Jericho Beach and indeed, all of the city.”
Murray Hendren, a retired environmental engineer and Coalition member, says the missing hydrogeological report could determine that the entire proposed project is literally on shaky ground and would have to be completely redesigned due to groundwater issues.
“Digging into a confined aquifer for the foundation of even one of the 60 high-rise towers planned for the site could cause a major release of the artesian groundwater, which could in turn result in erosion, sinkholes, and ground subsidence,” Hendren says.

Hendren notes that the city’s draft policy statement itself acknowledges that groundwater conditions will be crucial to the proposed development:
The detailed findings on groundwater conditions and its interactions and subsequent analysis may significantly impact various elements of the site development including: water management systems, ecological functioning (on and off-site), built form and open space design, subsurface parking and circulation, the alignment of the proposed UBCx SkyTrain upfront and lifecycle costs of the project and sustainability. (p. 148)
“Why would City Council consider approving a developers’ plan that has so many unknowns?” Hendren asked. “What is the rush when so much essential information is missing?”
Fisher said the Jericho Coalition wrote to all Council members, including Mayor Ken Sim, in December asking that the January 24 hearing date be delayed pending receipt of a report and time to consider the implications, but it has yet to even get a response to its letter.
“This isn’t a minor consideration – it potentially changes the entire development project,” Fisher said. “City Council should be conducting due diligence and then consulting Vancouver residents before considering approval of a huge high-rise housing project – and we intend to keep pushing for a delay.”

NEWS RELEASE,  January 4, 2023

Draft report to Vancouver City Council missing critical hydrogeological study – Jericho Coalition calls on City to delay discussing report set for January 24 as massive project may be dramatically impacted by groundwater concerns

VANCOUVER – A draft policy statement sent to Vancouver City Council regarding a massive, proposed development of the Jericho Lands is missing a critical hydrogeological study and the city should delay plans to discuss the report on January 24 until the study is completed and made publicly available, says the Jericho Coalition, a group of concerned citizens opposing the current proposal.
“Without the critical hydrogeological study that covers the potentially serious groundwater issues, the draft policy statement is woefully incomplete – because the whole Jericho Lands project could have to be changed entirely,” says Murray Hendren, a Coalition spokesperson who is a retired environmental engineer.

Jericho is particularly sensitive as previous groundwater drillers reported that the groundwater aquifer under at least part of the site is confined and under pressure. Digging into a confined aquifer for the foundation of even one of the 60 high-rise towers planned for the site could cause a major release of the artesian groundwater, which could in turn result in erosion, sinkholes, and ground subsidence.

Hendren notes that the city’s draft policy statement itself acknowledges that groundwater conditions will be crucial to the proposed development:
The detailed findings on groundwater conditions and its interactions and subsequent analysis may significantly impact various elements of the site development including: water management systems, ecological functioning (on and off-site), built form and open space design, subsurface parking and circulation, the alignment of the proposed UBCx SkyTrain upfront and lifecycle costs of the project and sustainability. (p. 148)
“In other words, all aspects of the development could change, depending on groundwater conditions. The final project may look nothing like that shown in the current plan,” said Hendren. “Why would City Council discuss and ask for comments on a draft policy statement that may prove to be completely unrealistic?”
Hydrogeological (groundwater) data are usually required only at the zoning stage for individual structures, but given the size and complexity of the site, the size and numbers of proposed high-rise towers, the proximity to Jericho Park and major infrastructure and a suspected artesian aquifer, a comprehensive hydrogeological study is needed at the policy statement stage to assess the feasibility of the proposed project.

Hendren said he will be meeting with city engineers next week to discuss the hydrogeologic situation. But he has been advised that the City is unable to answer detailed questions about the site. If there were simple solutions, they would already be in the Draft Policy Statement”, Hendren said.

Susan Fisher notes that members of the Jericho Lands Working Group have asked repeatedly for the hydrogeological study report over the last two years. It now appears that the study wasn’t done as the necessary anthropological permits were never issued.

“The hydrogeological report is hugely important because a project with 60 high-rise towers up to 49-storeys for a total of 13,000 units for 28,000 people will require significant excavation for foundations and infrastructure,” Hendren said. “For the City to potentially approve such a massive development in principle, thereby signing off on the proposed density, without that hydrogeological report is simply unacceptable.”

“The location of all of the proposed buildings, including three huge 49-storey towers, may be completely untenable because of underground conditions that we simply have no information about to date,” said Hendren.

“If the hydrogeological conditions prove unfavourable, then the overall site density will have to be revised downwards,” Susan Fisher added.

NEWS RELEASE,   November 3, 2023

New poll shows nearly 72% of Vancouverites oppose Jericho Lands’ luxury high-rise project based on density 3 times Hong Kong’s, up to 49-storey towers and 13,000 units

VANCOUVER – A new Vancouver-wide public opinion poll shows that 72 per cent of respondents want City Council to reject a proposed Jericho Lands high-rise development with density three times greater than that of Hong Kong and multiple towers up to 49 storeys, with 13,000 units for 28,000 residents.

The poll for the Jericho Coalition, a group of concerned citizens opposing the current proposals for the Jericho Lands, was conducted by Forum Research and found that the density, height and environmental impact of the high-rise project were all reasons for strong opposition to the proposal. Vancouver Council is expected to debate the proposal this fall.

And the poll also showed equally strong support for the Jericho Coalition’s alternative low-rise vision that allows for significant new missing middle affordable housing without the huge drawbacks of skyscrapers.

“This massive luxury high-rise tower development is too big, too high, too dense and too environmentally damaging,” says Murray Hendren, a spokesperson for the Jericho Coalition. “Vancouverites want to see more affordable housing in a low- to mid-rise alternative that can still be profitable for the developers.”

The random poll completed in late September found that 71.8 per cent of 401 respondents in a telephone Interactive Voice Response survey agreed that the high-rise proposal’s extreme density was a good reason for Vancouver City Council to reject it (60.3 per cent strongly agreeing and another 11.5 per cent somewhat agreeing).

It also showed that 70.1 per cent of respondents feel the proposal – which has a total of 60 high-rise towers – is too tall for the Jericho Lands area, which borders on several of Vancouver’s best-loved beaches, including Jericho, Locarno and Spanish Banks.

And 68.3% of respondents said they want to see more affordable housing for local middle-income people in the project—more than the minimum 30% social and below-market rental housing required by the city, while 64.6 per cent said Vancouver City Council should reject the proposal because of its negative environmental impacts.

The Jericho Coalition alternative plan with low and medium-rise buildings constructed with wood and mass timber was supported by 71.8 per cent of respondents over the current proposal of 60 mostly concrete and steel towers. The alternative would see 7,200 units in courtyard buildings for about 16,000 people at a human scale with more green space, says Susan Fisher, another Jericho Coalition spokesperson.

“This poll shows that Vancouverites want to see more lower-rise livable housing built in a way that is environmentally sustainable and that is affordable – not high-rise condos that will change the city landscape negatively forever,” Fisher says. “Despite a very strong negative community response to the original proposal, the developers came back with even more towers and higher density. That is not what Vancouverites want.”

The poll also found that 75.6 per cent of respondents said the Jericho Lands high-rise tower proposal, which is majority-owned by the MST Development Corporation, a partnership of the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations, should not be treated differently because it is indigenous-owned and should be considered in the same way as any other developer in Vancouver. The MST Development Corporation is one of the city’s biggest developers. About 25 per cent of the Jericho Lands is also owned by the Canada Lands Company, a federal agency.

“The Jericho Coalition is fully supportive of the creation of new livable and affordable housing on the Jericho Lands but the City has to be responsive to Vancouver residents’ concerns and ensure this developer meets the requirements of all development proposals,” said Hendren. “We would welcome discussing the alternative proposal we have put forward.

The Jericho Coalition says the poll shows that Vancouver residents support demands for low-rise, affordable, environmentally sustainable and livable housing at a human scale on the Jericho Lands, not high-rise concrete towers.

Forum Research is one of the country’s leading survey research firms, with offices across Canada and worldwide. Website: www.forumresearch.com