New council may rescind majority vote for duplexes in Vancouver

Let’s go back to that vote Sept. 19 at city hall that saw Mayor Gregor Robertson, his five Vision colleagues and Coun. Hector Bremner vote in favour of allowing duplexes in most single-family neighbourhoods. Remember how controversial that was?

Well, Robertson and those six councillors are gone now, but two of the councillors who voted against that “quick start” in the city’s new Making Room housing program were re-elected. That would be Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr and NPA Coun. Melissa De Genova.

And, as I reported last week, both Carr and De Genova wanted to make that point known for a second time in voting against the enactment of the bylaw that would put the new duplex zoning amendment in motion.

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Carr told me Monday that she plans to introduce a motion “as soon as possible” to rescind the vote on duplexes. She is still checking on the “legal language” of her motion but hadn’t heard back from staff at the time of her speaking to the Courier.

“I’m in limbo without clear direction on how to proceed, but I do expect that information will come to me,” she said. “The goal, all the way along, was to not pass that particular bylaw or motion because there was really insufficient public consultation on it — especially at a time when people yearn to be engaged in a discussion on how the city is going to develop and accommodate growth.”