Proposal for new height limits in Chinatown goes to vote Tuesday

Vancouver City Council is set to vote on a set of proposed zoning changes for one of Vancouver’s oldest neighborhoods.

But a former city councillor says Chinatown is likely to change in the coming years, whether people like it or not.

“It’s a hot button issue,” said Gordon Price, formerly an NPA member of Vancouver City Council and now an urban planner and professor at Simon Fraser University. “Advocates want to preserve Chinatown’s heritage and developers want to build as high as possible.”

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He adds that change is inevitable, especially with a new hospital in the works next door.

“That’s the new replacement for St. Paul’s,” Price said. “When a hospital goes in, the whole ecology makes it one of the most powerful economic generators in the region. On the other side, there’s going to be whole new neighborhoods. That absolutely guarantees that Chinatown is going to go into a new phase.”

The city is proposing to limit building heights and restrict storefront sizes.

Councillors are scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon.