CD-1 (454) Text Amendment 215 West 1st Avenue – Components A to C and E

Statement Watch

Thank you. My name is Kathy Thornacroft and I'm a resident in the Olympic Village. I'm opposed to the rezoning amendment. I'm an educator with over 40 years of experience. I'm also a parent and a resident in Olympic Village. I'm speaking on behalf of a group of educators who are up there in the gallery. I am not in favor of the rezoning amendment before you.

Just one moment, Kathleen. Okay.

Kathleen, we just need you to identify at least, I think, three other people you're representing by name that are here.

Monica Pamer, Kent Campbell, and Nancy Boyle. And they're all here? Yes, they are.

Fantastic. Thank you. It's just part of our process. So I'll let you start again. Go ahead.

Okay. My name is Kathy Thorncroft. I'm an educator with over 40 years of experience. I'm a parent and a resident of Olympic or in Olympic Village. I'm not in favor of the rezoning amendment before you, but I am certainly in favor of a school. I have a great amount of empathy for the parents in this community who have waited nearly 19 years for a school, but I believe they deserve much better than what is being proposed in this rezoning amendment. I'm here today to support the original school plan of 350 students as the most responsible option for this neighborhood. I urge city council to reject this rezoning amendment. which would nearly double enrollment, creating the largest elementary school in Vancouver on the smallest site. School size is not simply a planning number. Research and capital planning practices both show that size directly affects educational suitability, site functionality, long-term utilization, and community impact. The proposed amendment departs from the original vision of Olympic Village as a complete, walkable, and sustainable community, principles reflected in the City of Vancouver policy. It also adds considerable complexity to the design process, which will inevitably delay this project. I believe this amendment is attempting to address a delayed commitment to build a school of sufficient capacity to accommodate the anticipated densification along the Broadway corridor and increase the population of Fairview slopes. This is without due consideration to the impact on quality of education, safety, access to play areas and green space, traffic congestion, and prudent management of capital resources. A larger catchment area also impedes connections that build social cohesion and healthy community dynamics. An appropriately sized neighbourhood school can mitigate these factors, particularly for our youngest citizens. A neighbourhood school invites families to congregate and connect before and after school, as well as on weekends, mitigating the effects of high-rise living. According to the BC Ministry of Education and the VSB Long Range Facilities Plan, school projects are evaluated on several key criteria. And I have been fully engaged in that process in two other school districts as an area superintendent. These criteria include demonstrated need, enrollment projections, site suitability, educational program delivery, long-term utilization, and stewardship of public funds. A neighborhood school for 350 students aligns well with this criteria, while a school of almost twice the size can be challenged on every factor. Number one, appropriate size and utilization. A high-density neighborhood with smaller residential units and a higher proportion of rentals tends to experience enrollment volatility over time. Oversizing a school risks future underutilization, as we see on Vancouver's west side, where schools have vacant spots. It is also critical to consider the need for childcare spaces, which is sadly lacking in the proposed new vision. A mid-sized school, as originally proposed for the Olympic Village, provides the flexibility to respond to demographic change without committing public resources to a facility that may exceed long-term need. In addition, a cost of $150 million significantly exceeds the normal cost of building an elementary school in Greater Vancouver. Number two, site suitability, functional design, operational and life cycle value. Olympic Village is a constrained urban site with limited outdoor space and road capacity. Ministry capital guidance is clear that school capacity must align with site conditions. An oversized school creates operational challenges such as strain on shared spaces, shortened outdoor playtime, staggered schedules, increased supervision demands, and higher long-term operating and maintenance costs. A school of 350 students avoids these compromises and ensures the facility supports rather than constrains educational programming. From a capital funding perspective, the right size school represents responsible stewardship of public assets delivering long-term value. Number three, educational suitability and inclusion. Research overwhelmingly shows that small and mid-sized elementary schools are better positioned to support diverse learners, early intervention, and inclusive practices. This directly aligns with the Vancouver School Board's stated values of learners first. At this scale, educators are more likely to know students well, deploy support services effectively, and focus on teaching and learning rather than the management of resources and facilities, as I would say, the day-to-day logistics of running a school. Number four, community integration and investment. A neighborhood-scale school supports walkability, aligns with city transportation and climate goals, taking people out of cars. and minimize traffic congestion and safety concerns. When schools exceed the scale of their community, families are more likely to rely on vehicle drop-offs, increasing congestion, and undermining the very planning principles of which Olympic Village was built upon. In conclusion, the original proposal of a 350 elementary school meets BC Ministry capital planning criteria, aligns capacity with site constraints, reflects Vancouver School Board stated values of learners first, supports inclusive, high-quality educational programming, increased family and residence engagement, reduces capital and operational risks, fits the scale and character of Olympic Village, and in this case, was going to include a much-needed daycare facility. In closing, this is a case for building better. It represents a balanced, evidence-informed, educator-endorsed choice for the community. I am personally committed to working with the parents and educators and folks to help realize this vision, and I ask if we could establish a community advisory committee to help guide the design process. I respectfully urge council to think big, not build bigger, and to honor the original vision for this neighborhood school, one that is educationally sound, financially responsible, and deeply connected to the community that it is supposed to serve. I would encourage the school board and the city to work together to get this school built. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Thank you, and good evening, councillors. I am very pleased to be here this evening. I am Ira Nadel, a resident of Olympic Village, and I'm speaking on behalf of Village Voices. Now, we support having an elementary school in Olympic Village at the scale originally approved. What we oppose is the rezoning application that nearly doubles the enrollment on what is likely... and I'll say this several times, the smallest designated school site in the entire city. This is not opposition to a school. It is opposition to a rezoning that creates foreseeable land use, safety, and livability impacts that this site cannot reasonably absorb. I will focus on four areas, site capacity, traffic and safety, governance and transparency, and alternatives. Site capacity. The original proposal, which was a three-story school for approximately 320 students, fits the site. The revised proposal certainly does not. To accommodate 650 students, the building grows vertically to six levels when mechanical floors, grade elevation for flood protection, and rooftop play space are included. Ground-level play space is absent, it's displaced, and a public green space is effectively lost. A rooftop playground accessed by elevator is not equivalent to ground-level play, and comparable schools have found such spaces underused, particularly by younger children, who have, by the way, short legs. Think of that. This design choice for the expanded school, I do not think is educationally driven. It is a response to site constraints. The rezoning asked council to approve a building form that overwhelms its context and forces operational compromises such as parking, which was not really... identified as an issue by the Vancouver School Board. But believe me, it is a big issue. So I'll turn to traffic. Olympic Village was designated as a walkable neighborhood, not as a high-volume school drop-off location. A school with 650 students with, let me repeat this, six.

Six.

Drop-off spaces hardly suits on-site staff parking. It has no space for buses or delivery areas. It creates predictable congestion. And the proposed one-way street changes funnel traffic onto Manitoba Street. limiting access not only for parents, but for emergency vehicles, deliveries, waste removal, and local businesses. This must be rethought. Even under optimistic assumptions about walking and cycling, daily pickup and drop-off congestion is unavoidable. particularly for kindergarten and primary students who require supervision and often, frequently, if not always, accompaniment to their classroom and certainly to the school. six parking drop-off locations. This is not simply inconvenient. It creates safety risks, rushed drop-offs, illegal stopping, double parking, and conflicts, should I say, with cyclists and pedestrians. These are not hypothetical concerns. There are documented patterns at other high-density schools. Council is being asked to accept... what I would call a hope-based traffic scenario rather than a comprehensive... school transportation safety plan. But let's talk about governance and transparency. There are unresolved questions that matter to a rezoning decision. Enrollment across Vancouver schools has generally been declining, and we understand the primary pressure on the system is seismic upgrading. There are also unanswered questions about funding. The amount is $150 million. There is no transparency on how that money is going to be used. I will close because I see the little flashing lights. I normally don't pay attention to them. I lecture at UBC, so you know we don't have to pay attention. I can see a smile. I'm suggesting that there be another consideration for a site. I think it's been mentioned. And of course, that is on First Avenue.

We do have three hours of more speakers.

Ira, thank you for speaking. We do have to respect the time because we're giving everyone up to five minutes and some groups up to eight minutes. So thank you very much for your comments.

Statement Watch

Go ahead. Seeing Mayor Domenato and city councillors. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Myrna Leslie. I am a resident owner in the village of Falls Creek, otherwise known as Olympic Village, and I've been there for almost 14 years. I am here because I believe approving this text amendment will have serious and permanent consequences to the character and livability of our award-winning community, and I respectfully oppose this application. I have long been an advocate for green space. And after consulting with urban and city planners, I fundamentally believe this site should not be developed at all. Next picture, please. This parcel is the only level usable green space in the village now and in the foreseeable future. It has direct access to the water, views of the city, sea, and mountains, and it sits on a flood plain beside an ecologically sensitive wetland and creek. In a village of concrete, it has functioned as our community's backyard for 15 years. Over time, amendments to the original Southeast Falls Creek Plan have increased density without adding green space. This site must be preserved. Once it's gone, it cannot be replaced. Next piece. I am presenting a petition, 2,119 signatures, requesting that this site remain part of Hinge Park. I urge council to give serious weight to this level of voter response, particularly in light of our Greenest City commitments. I want to be very clear. I support a school. It grounds and completes our community. We need one, and we have waited a long time. However, I believe this site was never appropriate for a school, and it's certainly not appropriate for a school of this magnitude. The Ministry of Education's own area standards indicate that a school of this scale requires approximately 12,000 square meters of play space. Even with rooftop play areas and adjacent park space are included, this site provides only about 25 or 30% of that requirement. Next, please. This proposal would create the largest elementary school on the smallest footprint in the city. The building would cover the entire site, with no setbacks and no meaningful ground-level green space for free play. Small children thrive in accessible, unstructured outdoor environments. Rooftop play areas are limiting, not available after school hours, and not accessible to the public. In effect, our community park disappears into the shadows of this very large structure. As growth continues under the official Vancouver Plan, we should be planning a school that serves the future, not forcing an oversized school onto an undersized site. More appropriate alternatives exist within or near the community, including the parking lot west of Hinge Park on First Avenue. It could be a site in East Park Plan, or a location such as Seventh and Columbia. These options would allow for safer access, appropriate scale and the preservation of much needed green space. Finally, this rezoning application came as a complete surprise to residents. Despite stated commitments to consultation and transparency, the community was not meaningfully engaged and many residents received inconsistent or conflicting information from all levels of government. This has eroded trust in the process. Our children and our community deserve better. Children's health and well-being depend on thoughtful school design, and a vertical campus with limited access to green space for our youngest of students moves us in the wrong direction. Yes, land is valuable, but so is our children's school life experience. We need a school that supports our community, not one built at its expense. I'm asking the city to reject this rezoning application and to immediately begin working with Vancouver School Board, the province, and a community advisory group to identify a more appropriate site that we can work together. I believe if there is a will, there is a way.

Statement Watch

Hello. Good evening, councillors. My name's Ravine. I live in Olympic Village, and I support the rezoning application. I've lived here with my now husband and our small dog, Bailey, since 2019. In 2022, we welcomed our son, Mason, and we love living in Olympic Village. Like many of our neighbors, we chose to start our family here believing, perhaps a little naively, that this dense, thoughtfully planned... walkable community would be matched by the public infrastructure that families depend on. Childcare, community programs, and ultimately a neighborhood elementary school. What we've come to realize is that the reality is far more complicated. in one of Vancouver's most densely populated neighborhoods, access to these services often comes down to chance. Chance in securing a daycare spot, chance in registering for swim lessons before they fill up within minutes, and most surprisingly of all, chance in accessing a public elementary school in the community where we live. It wasn't until after Mason was born that I realized our designated catchment school, Fraser, is about a 25-minute walk away from home. And that's 25 minutes for me, not for my soon-to-be five-year-old child. I only recently learned that placement for that catchment school isn't guaranteed. It's determined by lottery. Neighboring schools are also under severe enrollment pressure, and families are routinely displaced from their communities in search of a public school spot. now we don't know where Mason will land for kindergarten so we can't plan ahead to secure before and after school care nor can we make any concrete plans with respect to our jobs and routines to plan our pickups and drop-offs and we will 100% have to drive him to school because that's the only practical option for our family And that matters to us because our daily life is otherwise entirely walkable. We walk Mason to daycare, we walk to work, and the absence of a nearby school forces us to depend on our car. We were very fortunate that Mason secured a spot at the daycare in Olympic Village. It's been a wonderful experience. We're building strong relationships with the families whose children attend there. We support each other, rely on each other, and these kids are growing up together in this community. It'll be incredibly sad to see them scattered across different schools simply because there isn't enough capacity at the local school. I'm looking ahead to 2029 when Mason would be entering grade two, and I'm hopeful about the possibility of a school within walking distance of our home. I'm encouraged by the thoughtful design, especially the rooftop playground, which is so similar to the one he enjoys at daycare now. I worry, though, that if capacity isn't sufficient, that we're going to end up on a wait list. And sorry, it's kind of... crazy that we're going to end up going to a school that's not the one that's across the street from where we live. I support an elementary school that is truly accessible to all of the children in our community. And this proposal seems to be the only plan on the table that will give us a school by 2030. I'm asking you to approve it. Doing so would give present and future children in Olympic Village a safe, accessible elementary school within their own community, and that would align with our neighborhood's infrastructure and with the families who call it home. Thank you for your time.

Statement Watch

Thank you. Good evening, Acting Mayor and Councillors. My name is Jonathan Berkowitz. My wife and I have lived in Olympic Village since 2012, and I am speaking against the text amendment to increase the size of the proposed school. Now, I am in support of an elementary school in the village, but with three floors. A fourth floor? Well, that's another story. I hope I made you smile. It is getting late. I'm a statistician. For over four decades, I've taught statistics and analyzed data, and there are many lessons I've learned. Here are three. First, if you can only see one way to interpret the data, you are probably wrong. Second, prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. And third, if the answer doesn't feel right, It probably isn't right, so take another look. Let's start with enrollment. The VSB, from their own report, says, we've seen a decline in enrollment since 1997, leading to thousands of empty seats. And even in their enrollment projections update, June 2025, they write, quote, the consistently smaller cohort of annual births from 2019 to 2024 is expected to be a major factor putting downward pressure on enrollment levels in the school district in future years. End quote. That's their data. The data show that. Now, the same report lists factors that decrease enrollment. Low and declining birth rates. Yep. Cost of living. Undoubtedly. Outmigration. Also, yes. Reduced immigration of families. Absolutely. Economic uncertainty. No kidding. They're already happening. Another is low student yields from new development. Who will the new condo buyers be? What percentage will have school-aged children? We don't have those data. So enrollment data don't support the text amendment claim that space is needed for 630 students. The enrollment data do support the original plan for 350 students. The proposed fourth floor will likely be empty for a very long time. Now, transportation and parking. The amendment says, quote, reduced parking is not a concern, giving the sites excellent walkability and strong connections to local pedestrian and cycling networks, end quote. Olympic Village is a tourist attraction. Where will the visitors park, especially the older generation? Not everybody will be able to walk or cycle. Plans for the school call for 32 covered bicycle stalls. That's only enough for 5% of the proposed 630 students. So much for cycling to school. Are teachers and staff expected to cycle too? They don't live in the neighborhood. Now, the traffic study predicts that transportation to the school will be 83% walking and cycling, 13% car, and 4% transit. But there are other studies. Those numbers contradict hands-up surveys that are done of students, which show less than 60% of students actually walk to school, east side or west side of the city. Where are reliable data on walking versus driving, especially nowadays with public safety top of mind? Now supposedly three quarters of the 630 students would be from in catchment and one quarter, that's 158, from out of catchment. the latter are much more likely to be driven than to walk or cycle. Well, that contradicts the 83% walking or cycling prediction. Was Vancouver weather ever taken into consideration? How about differences in behavior between the lower grades and the upper grades? Was that considered? Here's another prediction they make. Of the 472 in catchment, the three quarters, Nearly everyone, they say, will regularly walk, roll, or cycle to school. That includes 15% who live between one kilometer and two kilometers away. We know that a two-kilometer walk is at least 20 minutes on adult legs, obviously a lot longer on children's shorter legs. Let's do just some tiny bit of arithmetic here. 15% of 472, 71. Add a large fraction of the 158 who are out-of-catchment students, and you find somewhere between 100 and 200 students being driven to school. Remember, that's a prediction. We don't know how good predictions are. Pretty close. The report claims there is minimal likelihood of significant out-of-catchment enrollment triggering elevated auto use. Really? These predictions don't feel right at all. There's one more startling claim in the transportation and parking. Quote, no significant issues are anticipated with curbside parking for on-street pickup and drop-off, end quote. With only six spaces, as you've heard, does that claim actually seem reasonable? What about students, teachers, and parents with accessibility issues? Good luck to any resident wanting to leave Olympic Village during those times. I'm glad I'm semi-retired. Traffic. The traffic study notes that opening a new school would not have significant adverse impacts on the four existing signalized intersections. But it says, quote, modifications under the City of Vancouver's assumed scenario are expected to increase... traffic volumes on Manitoba Street. The intersection of Columbia and West First may experience significant active transportation volume and heightened collision risks following the opening of a new school, end quote. A bigger school combined with the city's road network plans are a disaster waiting to happen. Now, Mayor Sim has identified public safety as a key priority. That should include safe neighborhoods, safe schools, and safe transportation. The proposed changes to traffic flow will endanger residents of the Olympic Village. With only one street northbound, that being Manitoba, that would be used by service and delivery vehicles, we will indeed be safe in our homes, since we won't actually be able to get out. There are four streets leading in and out of the village. This is arithmetic at the kindergarten level. Four divided by two is... Salt Street is already one way southbound. It is illogical to make two more one way southbound streets out of the village and only one street northbound into the village. I asked Vancouver Fire and Rescue about this. They told me their work would be greatly complicated by the proposed change, but they aren't asked. Why not? In my professional opinion, Many of the statistics quoted in the reports are misleading. Even the school address is misleading. 215 West 1st Avenue, it's not on West 1st. It's on Columbia. Education has its three R's. I ask you to embrace three R's too. I and many voters in the Olympic Village ask you to reconsider, reevaluate, and reject the proposed amendment. Stick with the original plan. We want the right school at the right size in the right place. That's another three R's. OV stands for Olympic Village, an original vision in outstanding Vancouver. Come to Olympic Village, have a firsthand look. Good luck finding a parking spot.

Statement Watch

Thank you. Good evening, councillors. My name is Jason Lyons. I'm a resident of Olympic Village. and one of the few parents fortunate enough to have the family support to be able to attend this evening's hearing. I am thoroughly in support of the Vancouver School Board's application to increase the zoned height for our new planned neighborhood school, and I urge the council to approve it, and here's why. For years, Olympic Village has been labeled as a hotspot for young families, and the data shows it. According to the last census held five years ago, Olympic Village has by far the highest density of children residents under the age of 14 of any neighborhood in the entire city. At that time, 800 kids under 14 years in only eight city blocks. A number of additional buildings have been built in the area since then, of course. Let me repeat, 800 kids under 14, eight city blocks. And that was before the completion of an additional six towers in the same area around Pullman Porter and along First Avenue. Existing capacity challenges have already been covered, so in the interest of everyone's time, I won't repeat that, but I will try to give a parent's perspective. Getting basic amenities for your own child should not feel like winning the lottery. Yet most parents in Olympic Village, that is a daily occurrence. Lotteries to get our children into daycare, lotteries to get our children a family doctor, lotteries to get our children swimming lessons, and of course, a lottery to get our children in a nearby school. Don't call us, we'll call you. That's what we hear on a regular basis. My wife and I, like many of our neighbors, moved to Olympic Village. because of the promise of a walkable lifestyle, proximity to transit, amenities, and a school in the works, only to find families that have been waiting in this school for almost 20 years. 20 years. Neighborhood kids have been born and reached adulthood in that time. We have seen delay after delay, and every year of inaction represents another cohort of children forced to crowd into schools far beyond our catchment's boundary. But this isn't just about education. It's about infrastructure and health. By building this school to the right capacity, you are taking cars off the road. Instead of parents driving across town to an overcrowded school in another catchment, our children could walk. Research shows that walking to school isn't just exercise. It fosters a sense of autonomy, independence, and maturity that children desperately need in today's dense urban environment. As mentioned earlier, at least 80% of the future students with this increased capacity of school will come from within two kilometers of that school. Two kilometers. For most of the students, it would take their parents longer to get them down at the parkade, into the car, and then back out onto the street than it would just for the children to walk or cycle to school. The fastest way to get this 20-year delayed project moving is to stop the delays and let Vancouver School Board build what they believe is necessary. The existing schools don't exist where the kids are. That is the reality. Please relieve the parents of Olympic Village of one lottery tonight, prove the height increase, and help us finally bring this school home. Thank you for your time. I yield the remainder to the rest. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Good evening.

We have your slides, I believe, and if you want them, just let us know next slide and we'll move them ahead.

Acting mayor, counselors, thanks for inviting us here to share our views. I'm Peter Rees, an Olympic villager, a village voice. I'm opposed to this school amendment. As architects, we explore issues and opportunities. I'd like to help get us to the heart of the matter. Kids matter. Green space matters. The World Cup is here. Kids want to play soccer. Be messy outside. Play outside school hours. Be happy. Have fun. And practice, practice, practice. Another matter. Three floors is faster to build than four. Parents are tired of the wait. They look to you to start their school. We want it started, and it's our school too. Look both ways, but if you stop this text amendment, everybody will be happy. Stopping it would speed up, not delay the school. Now, buildings are designed inside computers. It's a magic box. The fourth floor is the same as the third. A few clicks and four would be three. With less weight, some steel and concrete could be deleted from foundations. It could be done between breakfast and lunch. Slide two. We've waited and waited for our school. Here's the original vision. a village school with green space, and a future playfield by the bridge. Almost connected. That's what we see. Next slide. The current model, that's what we saw. People were happy for funding, but $150 million? $100 million contingency? I'll focus on two issues. Process and green space. Slide three or four. Slide four. Process. Now we wait again for VSB's application to play out. Extra height, extra story. 630 kids. Activated rooftop? A school sketch, some hatched lines on top. What's that? Nothing. about what else might come extra. Active Ruth Scherr to play soccer there in that enclosure, 630 kids. That's regimentation, not play. Next slide. Oops, where did that come from? Next slide. That shouldn't, that, next slide. Yeah, that shouldn't be here either. It's too much information. So here's the notice of a public hearing. Where's all that extra stuff? It's here. You know, pages and pages of engineering minutiae. Isn't that BP conditions of approval? To me it is. And this, what's this? Form of development also to be approved? Whatever the roof enclosure might look like, it might look like options in the booklet or might not. Isn't that like signing a blank check? Three stories would fit our village better, be better for kids, for teachers. Mass timber would be even better. Less mess, use BC wood, not steel. Green space. Green space.

Peter, you're coming to the end of your time. Sorry.

We could have a play field that's by the bridge moved close to the school. Now, by the time the school bell rings, why not just sit down with the school board?

Statement Watch

Hi there. My name is Ashley Corcoran. I am a resident of Vancouver, and I live in beautiful Olympic Village since 2017. I'm calling tonight to support this rezoning. In 2020, I made the life-changing decision to become a solo mom. As part of that decision, I carefully considered whether Olympic Village was a place where I could raise a child long-term. At the time, the NDP had promised to fast track an elementary school here if elected. That commitment mattered to me. It gave me confidence that this neighborhood would grow with families like mine. I am in many ways the, quote, ideal Olympic Village resident. I both live and work here in the neighborhood. My son has grown up here. He's now four and a half years old, and he has attended daycare here in the village locally. We walk everywhere, to daycare, to work, to the grocery store, to the seawall. We've chosen to live with a small footprint in a densified area because we love this pedestrian lifestyle. In September, my son will start kindergarten. Olympic Village is in the catchment for Simon Fraser Elementary. This is an adult 25-minute walk away. It's along busy streets that are not safe for children to navigate alone. Walking there would take an hour each way each day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Our pedestrian lifestyle would no longer be feasible. But before I get ahead of myself with the idea of attending Simon Fraser Elementary, what I want to talk about today is that many people without young children in Vancouver may not realize that in all of central Vancouver, public elementary admissions is a lottery system. there is a very real chance we won't even get into our catchment school. Last fall, I called Simon Fraser Elementary to ask how many kindergarten applications they typically receive. I was told they received between 120 to 140 applications each year. There are 40 kindergarten spots at that school, with about half of those going to siblings of current students. That leaves roughly 120 children competing for just 20 spots. Today, actually, many of my son's daycare friends' parents got emails letting them know which elementary schools they would be attending, who would be going to Simon Fraser. We did not get that email today. So as I speak here tonight, we do not know where he will be going to school in September. And we've seen this pattern before. When new downtown schools like Elsie Roy or Crosstown opened, they were already oversubscribed. Even brand new schools have not been large enough to meet demand by the time their doors open. People who've lived across the street from these schools did not win their lottery. That tells us something important. We are consistently under-billeting for the number of families who actually live here in central Vancouver. When families don't get in, their children are placed elsewhere, such as in East and South Vancouver. Some families don't find out where their children are going to until May or June. That uncertainty is incredibly stressful. It's not just about school. It's also about finding crucial aftercare once you know where your child is going to school. It's also about transportation, about work schedules and stability. parents are trying to plan their lives while waiting for a lottery result for public education so i want to acknowledge concerns about traffic i understand that some people feel this rezoning will increase congestion in the village but the reality is that according to the last census there are approximately 800 children living within blocks of the proposed school site These children already exist. Without a local school, those families, including my son and me come this September, must actually get into cars and drive to Simon Fraser or even farther schools. In other words, not building a school here with appropriate capacity directly adds traffic to our neighbourhood every morning and every afternoon. I also want to speak to something practical. As parents, many of us are genuinely excited about the rooftop playground, a common feature in our children's current daycares here in Olympic Village. Two of them have this already. Olympic Village is a beautiful community, but we do face challenges with things like needles or sometimes even human waste in some areas around our parks. A rooftop playground would provide a secure, contained, and safe environment for children. This matters deeply to families. So let's build a school for today, not for a population of 20 years ago. In fact, let's build for the future. Schools are meant to serve communities for 50 years or more. If we build too small now, we are locking in another generation of lotteries, of portables, and of children being driven across the city. No child in Vancouver should have to win a lotto.

Statement Watch

Welcome. Thank you, chair and council. My name is Robin Chan. I am a resident of Vancouver, and I'm here to speak in support of the proposed tax amendment. As many councillors probably know, I don't live in the Olympic Village catchment, so I'll keep my comments brief so you can hear from the families that do and from the many people after me. But I wanted to be here tonight both to support Olympic Village families, but also to support the proposed increase in student capacity that this text amendment recommends, which means that the school would be large enough to be the overflow school for Falls Creek catchment where I do live. I brought my son, Sebastian, with me this evening to witness democracy in action. He has learned there is a lot of waiting. And I'm making him read a book right now, not a screen. When Sebastian was entering kindergarten in 2022, we knew that we would have to enter the kindergarten lottery in our Falls Creek Elementary catchment. Every year is the same perverse ritual of parents posting questions in chat groups about how to sign up for the lottery, what's going to happen, and then a few months later sharing their results. And actually, in really, truly ironic timing, parents all over the city found out their lottery results today. When we got Sebastian's lottery results, we found out that not only did he not get into the two French immersion schools that we had applied to, but he was also the last kid on the wait list at Falls Creek Elementary. I felt like I had failed my kid. We had no idea where he was going to go to school, no idea if he would be with friends, and no idea when we would find out. If the school in Olympic Village had been built when it was meant to be over a decade ago, so many families like ours would have been saved months of stress as they wondered what they were going to do. The proposed increase in size means that hundreds of families will be saved from that stress and anxiety every single year. So please don't repeat the same mistake of building schools too small so that they are over capacity at day one. We've seen this time and time again, and the proposal by the school board to plan for the future is so needed and welcome. My neighbor, Graham McGarva, who happens to have been the lead consultant for Southeast Falls Creek, as well as International Village and Roundhouse neighborhoods, where two schools were over capacity on the day that they opened, has said that there is no credible argument against the public benefit of this rezoning. Finally, in my last minute, I want to really recognize the years of organizing that parents, caregivers, and families have had to do just to get to this point, and the work of the province, school board staff, city staff, trustees, former trustees now on council. Six years ago, friends of mine were involved in early organizing, finally getting that promise from Premier Horgan and our then new MLA, Brenda Bailey, to build the school. Well, we're still waiting, and a new generation of parents and children are here asking you to hear them. I know you've heard from and will hear from many other people during this hearing telling you why you shouldn't approve the additional student capacity or the height. But behind each family that is here speaking in support at a public hearing that has taken place over dinner time and bedtime and my bedtime at a public hearing that's going to span multiple days, there are hundreds of other families that support the school, and we ask that you do too. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Thank you, and good evening, Acting Mayor and Councillors. My name is Sharzad Pedram, and I have been a resident of Olympic Village for 10 years. I am in support of this rezoning application and text amendment. I have a 12-month-old son who I hope to be able to walk to school if this rezoning application gets approved. The parents of Olympic Village over the last 20 years have lobbied multiple levels of government to get this school project moving. I thank them, and I'm deeply sorry that their little ones were not able to attend school in our walkable neighborhood. I heard and read their stories about endless wait lists and doubling commutes to pick up and drop off their kids, about them attending overcrowded classrooms. Another added stress on top of all of the challenges of raising a family in Vancouver. It makes me anxious about when my son gets to school age. Those in opposition, their concerns around congestion is a red herring to deter more than 600 schools from attending a school in their community just to maintain the status quo. All of their concerns are unfounded. I implore them to read the staff report to council. 85% of the school attendees will be living within one kilometer of the school, just like us. We choose to live here and not the suburbs because we don't want to rely on cars. I don't want to drive my son to school, but I won't be left with any other choice if he gets into schools that are in our current and nearby catchments. We need this school to be built to reduce congestion in our neighborhood. And we need the capacity of the school to meet today's and tomorrow's needs, not the enrollment projections from the year 2007. To quote Fred Rogers, we get so wrapped up in numbers in our society, the most important thing is that we are able to be one on one, you and I with each other at the moment. He also said, in times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers. So I urge you to listen. Listen to the stories of those that have to raise families in this city. You'll see that the desire for maintaining a little patch of grass is minuscule to what this school means for our community. If Mr. Rogers was alive and lived in my neighborhood, he would be voicing his support tonight, I'm sure. I had to quote Mr. Rogers because my 12-month-old loves watching his show. And lastly, to council, I say please vote in favor of the rezoning application so that the school can finally move ahead. Let's get on with it and approve this application for rezoning. We, the present, past, and future parents of Olympic Village, have waited far too long. Vote yes so that my son, along with many of his neighborhood friends, can enroll in the first class of kindies at Olympic Village Elementary without getting waitlisted. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Hello.

Hi, Matthew. Go ahead.

Hello, councillors and acting mayor. Thanks for this opportunity to speak in front of council on this matter. My name is Matthew Hogue. I'm a resident of Vancouver. I support the proposed modifications to the Olympic Village School design based on my experience, the community need, and hard data. Look, I have young kids, and I'm relatively new to the experience as an elementary school parent. I'm privileged. I'm blessed. I'm lucky. My family has two spots at Simon Fraser Elementary. Now, this chapter of my life has been new and joyful and an opportunity to build new community with other parents. Living only a few minutes walk from Simon Fraser Elementary has given me an opportunity to be connected with other parents, staff, and to lead community building events like kindergarten welcoming and movie nights. Look, I know that the experience is different from my friends who live a 28-minute walk away in the Olympic Village. Now my hope is that this new larger school will be built for the Olympic Village and that local parents will have the opportunity to build community and maybe have an experience that's similar to mine. Now the community need that I want to highlight is the lack of school capacity. The expert data from the VSB shows that the five adjacent school attachments, Falls Creek, Mount Pleasant, Simon Fraser, Wolf and Crosstown are over capacity by 210 students today. Now, with the increased development of the Broadway plan, my amateur interpretation of the VSB facilities planning data shows that we may need 2000 spots by 2033. Now on data regarding traffic concerns voiced by opponents to this proposal, the staff at Santa Consulting have completed a traffic analysis of the proposed school and published the report September 2025. And the expert analysis concluded that the neighborhood can manage the additional load from a larger school. The recent data found that 49% of Olympic Village residents work from home, and 42% take active transport to work every day. And that same report suggests that 83% of the students for this excellent Lintley service site will arrive at school by walking or cycling. Only 105 will arrive by other means. And this is why the five drop-off spots is actually a calculated and responsible use of space. It is not a concern. Because of this and other data, the report states that overall, and this is a quote, the addition of school generated traffic to the twenty twenty nine background traffic has an insignificant impact on the operational performance of the studied intersections. And similarly, the report states that the parking loads for pickup and drop off can be accommodated with five to six parking spots. The experts have found that parking and traffic will not be a concern. Now, I acknowledge that the opponents of this proposal are uncomfortable with the significant change. But the concerns that I have heard regarding parking and traffic have been addressed by the professionals. And just like any development in a vibrant, changing city, I agree, things will be different. But the experts have stated that the traffic will not be significantly worse than if the school was not built. Now, Simon Fraser Elementary School up at 15th and Manitoba has a material interest in the success of the Olympic Village School and this community. Since 2010, our school has welcomed students from Olympic Village area, but we must make a change to move out of the crisis of insufficient school capacity. Now, to manage this influx of students from the Olympic Village, Simon Fraser School is currently operating at 192% capacity with 162 more students than it was designed to support. Now, limited capacity is common in this growing part of our city and across the five nearby downtown schools, there are 210 more students in the catchments than available capacity. And my opinion is that it's surprising that the original school design of only 350 students was proposed and during this crisis of capacity in this area of the city. Now, this lack of regional school capacity is concentrated at my children's school at Simon Fraser. Students eat lunch in shifts because there is no space big enough to hold them all. Three portables are used for the older kids, isolating them from the rest of the school and limiting leadership opportunities. One class of four to five year old kindergarten kids is taught in a portable. And these young children regularly walk through the rain to access the main school as we don't have enough room for them. Now, these are significant consequences due to lack of capacity, but I'm hopeful that together we can resolve them with this larger Olympic Village school to reduce the load on Simon Fraser. Now, I don't sit on the planning committee, and I'm not an expert at interpreting their data, but the worsening capacity trend is clear, and it seems that we may need multiple schools of 600 students to be ready for the 2039 enrollment. Currently, schools of this scale of 600 students already exist in ZSB based on the 2024-25 data. This 650-spot school proposal is not the largest in the VSB as stated earlier at this hearing. Norma Rose Elementary has 762 enrolled. Other schools, such as Lord Roberts, Laura Secord, Lord Selkirk, all have more than 620 spots. And excluding the annexes, only 21 of the 89 schools in the VSB have enrollment of 35 students or less. These small schools are not common. Again, I acknowledge this is a significant change for residents who have been comfortable with smaller schools. I hope that we build this school and move forward.

Statement Watch

My name is Helen.

I'm a resident of Vancouver and Olympic Village specifically since 2014. We have been very lucky to recently become new parents, and I know most young parents don't have the luxury of time to call in at this time. But I support this rezoning, and I actually wish that it could even be bigger. I walk by the proposed site daily and weekly and have been for over 10 years. A lot of neighbors currently use the space for off-leash dog space, which is really great for them, but otherwise it's really not accessible for many others. I've not ever sat in the park because it's always muddy when it rains and has no shade when it's sunny. However, the playground just adjacent with a few swings and a play structure is always busy with lineups because it's programmed, has shade, and functional. And I wish that Hinge Park would have more structures to make it more usable. So I'm very excited to hear that it will become effective space as a school and even more so with the added programming on the other portion of Hinge Park. Now, while I appreciate concerns for a larger school on students and operations, I think that it would be worse off not having the ability to go to school in one's own neighborhood. Surely that would have more detriment to a child, to a family. And for us specifically, it would mean that my child's existing connections to the community, the neighbors we go on walks with, the daycare that we hope to secure, will all be thrown into instability again due to the unknown future with overcapacity schools as presented in the VSB presentation earlier today. We are a one-car household, and I've met many new parents in the neighborhood who are from one- or no-car households. So the reality is, if we can't get into the school, we'll have to get a second car, add to the traffic by driving our children from this neighborhood to Simon Fraser or even further, given previous commenters' overcapacity experience. The 2021 census, which is five years old now, has totaled over 700 children aged 0 to 14 in Olympic Village. So I can only garner to guess how many more children there are here now. And so while I really don't mind losing sleep over a waking infant, I really wish I didn't have to be losing sleep in order to watch public hearings and beg our council to approve a school to ensure that our child has a spot. So I really hope that council will approve this rezoning and furthermore support the Vancouver School Board in reconciling the gap between the planning projections and the population reality where our schools are systemically over capacity. And I really hope that council considers the impact on not just theoretical or general children with small legs, but the impacts of parents with real children who are here, who are now. living with the consequences of whether they will have a school spot in their own neighborhood. And as a previous speaker alluded to, the ability for kids to walk to their own school shouldn't be just for those who win the lottery at a limited capacity school. All families in Olympic Village and in our city deserve a walkable neighborhood. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Good evening, Acting Mayor and members of Council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight and for your service to our city. Before I moved into my home 13 years ago, I was careful to investigate development plans for the general area. I was pleased to confirm that a three-story neighborhood school for 350 students was planned for Columbia Street. Also, that the small triangle green space area adjacent to Canada House would not be affected. I want to be clear, I strongly support moving forward with the original version for the school. This is a critical community asset that reflects Vancouver's vision for a healthy and child-friendly city. My concern is with the proposed doubling of density to 630 students with 62 teachers and staff on a small site with limited street access and narrow roads. Also with the loss of the small but well-loved and heavily used triangle green space. That is the only green space in the area that could be preserved for community use. I am deeply concerned about vehicle circulation and traffic congestion that will surely block emergency vehicles, disrupt waste removal, servicing, and deliveries, limit access for residents, especially at peak drop-off and pickup times, back up traffic along 1st and 2nd Avenue, lead to illegal stopping, double parking, and block sight lines at crossings, cause conflicts with cars, cyclists, and pedestrians, and not even to mention that the west side is going to be even more development. I also question the assumption that only 20% of parents will drive their children to school. This may be a nice idea, but it does not reflect reality. In fact, analysis by Government of Canada Transportation Report indicates the opposite, that 80% of parents are most likely to drive. A science direct report from 2023 states 53% of children that live five minutes from school use motorized transportation. Parents are dropping their kids on the way to work. We must design for real behavior, not ideal behavior. What is most troubling is that this process feels like a fait accompli, that major decisions appear to have already been made. We hear reports of officials confirming there's no interest in reconsidering the proposed increase in density and its impact. Personally, I do not believe that's true. I believe in the opportunity we all have as citizens to influence the outcomes for our neighborhoods, not only through the public hearing process, but also through ongoing community consultation that engages a broad range of views. I take seriously my responsibility to contribute my thoughts and ideas, to welcome the ideas of others, and to collaborate in finding the best solutions for issues that might challenge us. Acting Mayor and members of Council, I urge you to uphold the original vision of the three-story neighborhood school for 300 children in a safe and walkable community and establish a community advisory committee comprising residents, parents, and local businesses for consultation to move this process forward quickly. By working together, listening to each other, and learning from each other, we can realize the best possible vision for our community school. Thank you again for the opportunity to speak and for your service to Vancouver.

Statement Watch

Wonderful. Good evening, Mayor and Councillors. My name is Hawken Coyote, and I'm a resident of Vancouver. I'm calling to express my strong support for the Olympic Village School rezoning proposal, but I'm a little perplexed that this text amendment is required for the site at all. Shouldn't we trust our school districts to build the schools they need? Why is the city putting the school district or the province through additional processes when a school was originally planned for this site? all of this for one additional story so we can teach more kids and deliver more education is not what we want for the future and the next generation the city has waited 19 years for this school to be built and unfortunately it's basically the city's fault that we're waiting an additional year the last year has been waiting for this rezoning process to be gone through And not all of this because we've waited for so long and now we need a larger school to satisfy the community needs. And I think these delays are really important because they've added additional time and cost onto the construction. And that extra time and money is going to be paid for by all of you counselors as well as me as a taxpayer. All of us taxpayers. I want my tax dollars to go towards actually building the schools, not paying for rezoning processes. And so I urge you to do something new this evening. Instead of just rezoning what is in front of you, rezone the school for school use. Remove the height, remove the density restrictions, just allow the school district to build a school. Let's trust the other institutions, other government institutions, school districts, hospitals, to actually get out of the way and allow them to do what they need to do for our community. So, again, this evening, support this test amendment. Let's build a school. But also let's think about not getting in the way of these kind of things again, because it is so frustrating to have to be able to call in to support something that is as simple as a benefit as a school so that kids can learn for the next generation. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Yeah. Hello, Vancouver City Council and fellow residents. My name is Bobo Eyrich. I'm a resident of Mount Pleasant. I'm a parent of two kids who are starting school in September. I had originally called in to speak on the phone, but after listening to my fellow residents complain about the size of a school, I got irrationally upset, and so I have come in to make my voice be heard. And I urge you to vote yes and to approve this school. I can't tell you how many times we have heard about the tragedy of families leaving the city, that the city doesn't work for families, whether that's housing, childcare, swimming, take your pick. We're now sitting at a school that has been on, has been discussed for 19 years, and we're having a public hearing about making it smaller when schools in the neighboring area are all full. It's really with shock and dismay that I hear so many residents tonight and with these petitions that are flying around opposing schools. And I can only really assume that they are living in the distant past and are unaware of the challenges that families and parents face in getting their kids into schools and accessing services for families. Schooling is not a luxury. It is a necessity. It has taken us 19 years to get from a proposal to a rezoning hearing. And just to use a relevant, you know, it might be a relevant example. In 1960, John F. Kennedy said that we choose to go to the moon not because it's easy, but because it's hard. They went to the moon on the Apollo project in 1969. It has taken us 10 years more to get from a discussion about a school to a rezoning than it did for the United States space program to get to the moon. What are we doing? The approval of a school design should not be subject to a public hearing. This is a necessity. It is a government service that is being provided, and it is being subject to the whims of a small minority. I want to speak as well to the proposed size of the school. I truly hope that when this school gets built, if you approve it, that it will be built over capacity and that there will be extra space in the school. Because that says to me it is planning for growth. It is planning to, it is recognizing that... Councils have realized that we don't have enough housing, and we are building more housing, and where we build housing, prices come down, and that's where families move. That's why there are more families in Olympic Village. That's why there's high demand for schools in places where councils have allowed housing, not on the West Side. That's a whole other issue. I have not sat through as many public hearings as you have. But in all of those public hearings around the Broadway plan and around rental buildings, I hear complaint after complaint after complaint that we do not have the public and social infrastructure to accommodate new housing. Schools are over capacity. And yet here tonight, we are discussing a school that is going from 350 people, 350 kids to 650 kids to meet the capacity increases. And yet we still have residents. who are standing up saying, no, this school is too small or it is too big. We should build a smaller one, which means that when we don't have capacity, kids are going to be forced to move elsewhere to go to school, or we have to build another second school. That is absurd. I lost my point. I have to reload my phone. Give me a second here. On the funding issue. The funding for this school comes from our taxes. The delay in getting this school built has not just cost us the increased tax costs that it costs to build the school because infrastructure has increased faster than inflation. It has also cost families a worsened quality of life for the last 19 years when kids who were in an Olympic village have since aged out of the school system before this school was built. This is intolerable. And I can't stress that enough, and I know most of you feel it, but I need to say it. So in closing, I cannot believe that I felt the need to come today to speak in support of a school. And I really hope that you will do the right thing and approve the larger school because we desperately, desperately need it. Thank you.

Statement Watch

That's a hard act to follow.

No kidding.

I'm almost on his side. Welcome, but go ahead. Good evening, Acting Mayor and Council Members. My name is Lynn Gray, and I'm here as a supporter of the originally proposed Olympic Village Elementary School. I've lived in Olympic Village for 14 years. And I understand that the plans for this school have been on the drawing board for longer than that. A small community school would add to our neighborhood. The purpose of my presentation is first... to emphasize my support for that small school. Second, to highlight some of the gaps in the assumptions made in the Transportation Assessment and Management Plan commissioned in 2023 by the Vancouver School Board for the Olympic Village School. I'll call it the TAMS report. Third, I'd like to discuss the safety concerns about feeding school traffic through the Olympic Village. And finally, I ask that you reject the proposed amendment to the original school plan. While the TAMS report assumes that 83 to 90% of students will walk or ride their bikes to school, research does not support this. You've heard lots and lots of numbers this evening. The studies have been done in Canada and the U.S., and the studies show that walking to school has declined over the decades. In fact, in Vancouver, a recent study was done by TransLink called Travel Smart Kids and can be found on the TransLink website. This study showed that today, on average, 58% of elementary school children are driven to school. Even in walkable neighbourhoods, 20 to 40% of families still drive. And new schools attracting families outside of the catchment area increase that percentage. Morning drop-off traffic in our cities accounts for one-fifth of the morning traffic. As a resident of the village, in addition to the safety of children attending the school, I have great concerns for the safety of people living in the village. The plan to make all one-way streets through the village will increase congestion and frustration. It's unsafe and poor urban planning to have only one access point into a community. By rerouting the traffic as described in the TAMS report, rather than four access points into the village, we will have only one. And that's Manitoba Street. It's a small, narrow, inlaid brick street built for walking traffic in the village. It runs alongside the village square where pedestrians walk, meet for coffee, and small children play. With all the streets into and out of the village changed to one-way streets, it means everyone who lives in the village will also have to drive down Manitoba Street. At drop-off and pick-up time, there will be an additional 140 to 300 cars also driving through the village down Manitoba Street. The bottleneck and traffic jams will be unsafe and frustrating all the way through the village and likely out onto First Avenue. This does not even begin to question what will emergency vehicles, food, and other delivery trucks, garbage trucks, etc., do about getting into the village. Even between drop-off and pick-up, the one-way roads and one-street access to the village will delay all of these services. And parking. How will 64 school staff... manage with four parking spaces. I've spoken to many teachers about taking transit or riding a bike to work. They all say it's not possible. They have books, papers, projects, laptops that they carry back and forth every day. Street parking is at a premium in the village now, and the spots on Columbia Street will be completely lost to the residents. The TAMS report has overestimated active travel, underestimated vehicle demand, and underplayed parental safety concerns. It's also missed several key safety and operational issues in the Olympic Village. I fully support the original school plan and want it to succeed. However, I cannot support the rezoning proposal, and I ask you to vote against this proposal. Thank you for your time.

Statement Watch

Hi, good evening, Council. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Sarah Pollock and I'm a resident of South Falls Creek, very close to Olympic Village. I'm also a solo parent to three children under the age of 10. I'm here to speak in strong support of the rezoning proposal for the Olympic Village School. Although my address falls in the Falls Creek Elementary School catchment, a new large school would benefit those of us west of the Cambie Bridge too. Falls Creek Elementary is a small, older school that's not at all accessible to any student or staff with mobility needs. Moreover, each year, Falls Creek receives 80 or more applications for only 20 to 40 kindergarten spaces. This past September, when my middle child started there, the school was only able to accommodate one class worth of kindergarteners. due to space constraints, and over half of that class went to siblings with priority. You've heard tonight already about the stress that this lottery system brings. This left so many families in my community in a lurch, not finding out until the last moment where they were going, and many going far away in traffic each day just to bring their child to public school. This goes against city efforts to encourage green transport and reduce harmful vehicle exhaust. Had there been a new school in Olympic Village, this would have been a much more walkable and bikeable option for families to overflow from Falls Creek. I urge you to approve the Olympic Village School with the additional height and the rooftop play area. I applaud the initiative to build a school now that will serve the needs of a growing city to come. The current lack of school and kindergarten lottery system is unsustainable and it is unfair to children and their families. I've seen so many families simply move away rather than deal with the stress and unknowns of the lottery. Others struggle every day to drop off younger children in one direction to a daycare. and then rush to try to make it to kindergarten all the way up at Simon Fraser, or even General Wolf, which is even further. My children are very frequent users of Hinge Park, and I hear directly from parents every year how stressful this is and how crazy it is to have to go through this for a public school space, a basic right for children. I urge the city to take this into consideration as other major developments are master planned, such as the Heatherlands and the Jericho lands, to not make these mistakes in the future. A village is not a village without a school. The school should have been built from day one in the Olympic Village. And the opposition you have heard tonight does not represent the families who live here. who are up so late, who are going to be waking up before 6 a.m. with little people. This really matters to us. And thank you for listening tonight.

Statement Watch

Hello, Mayor and Council. My name is Christopher Lee. I'm a resident and I am fully in favor of this zoning amendment. I'll say it again and again. Schools are the lifeline of livability in a community. They are community hubs, childcare spaces, and centers of learning all in one. That's exactly why when schools are strong and rooted in their neighborhoods, it's communities that thrive. When they're overcrowded and under-resourced, everyone feels it, especially our students. Right now, Olympic Village families are feeling it. Their school is Simon Fraser Elementary, which is at 190% overcapacity. What that means is staff are stretched thin, parents are forced to scramble for classroom space, and students carry these consequences of decisions made in backroom boardrooms. Kids are the foundation of Vancouver, and they need enough space to thrive across our city, including Olympic Village, and I know that this four-story plan will help fix that. And let me be very, very clear. Planning for 600 students isn't too much for this community. It's the bare minimum. This is one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods for young families, and I'm certain that this school will fill up quickly. We need to build a city that everyday people can live and raise the kid in. A city where a parent can walk their kid to school, not where they have to enter into a lottery so their kid can get into kindergarten. Olympic Village has waited far too long. Even if approved today, this community will have waited more than 20 years for its elementary school. That's longer than it takes a Canucks to make it to playoffs. Like, come on. Council has the opportunity to finally deliver certainty and relief to families who have been patient for decades. I urge council to protect these plans for this livable, strong school and approve the zoning change, if not for the hundreds of parents who have written and spoke to you guys, but for the students and kids in Olympic Village who will succeed and thrive because of it. Thank you so much.

Statement Watch

Welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, Council. My name is Pav Ram. I am an Olympic Village resident who has lived in the community for over 12 years. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I want to begin by saying clearly I support the elementary school in Olympic Village. A 350-student three-story feels proportionate and thoughtful for what the community needs. What I cannot support is this amendment to expand it to 650 students, six stories, and a rooftop play structure. My primary concern is livability and safety within Olympic Village. Anyone who lives here understands the current reality. The traffic and ongoing construction along First Avenue and Columbia already creates a significant congestion, disruption, and noise. Access routes are constrained, intersections are frequently backed up, and emergency vehicle flow is already tight. Doubling the school's capacity and adding three additional floors will intensify traffic volume, alter movement patterns, and concentrate hundreds of daily trips in and already out of a strained corridor. School mornings and afternoons are not theoretical. There are high-intensity windows and high congestion. Introducing the scale of activity in this specific location will create daily chaos that directly impacts nearby residents and homes, including my own. This is not an opposition to education. It's a concern about scale, fit, infrastructure, and capacity. I'm also very adamant that children deserve a genuine green space. A rooftop play area exposed to wind, I live right beside it at Henge Park, is very windy. So having a rooftop at sixth floor and above, I don't see it being very adequate, enclosed in a cage. is not a substitute for accessibility. Ground-level green space. Children need a space to run freely, connect with nature, regulate their nervous systems, and feel safe. Inch Park and the surrounding green areas are community assets. They should now become an overflow of compensation not for overbuilt design. If we're building a school for families, it should reflect best practices in child development, not simply maximize enrollment with numbers with a constrained footprint. Additionally, the proposed car drop-off and pickup feels disconnected from real-world experience. I have two nephews who attend David Livingston in Mount Pleasant, and I have personally witnessed the volume of vehicles, congestion, double parking, and unpredictability that occur every single morning in a considerable walkable neighborhood. We can hope families will walk and bike, but the reality... that is that many will drive due to weather, work schedules, younger siblings, safety concerns, school generate traffic, school generate traffic. This is a speculation and it's an observed fact. Labeling the plan as feasible does not make it so. The scale must match the street and network capacity and right now it does not. Lastly, I wanted to address the growing online commentary dismissing the residents' concerns. Many of the loudest voices on social media who don't live in Olympic Village, they do not experience the daily congestion. They are not navigating first in Columbia, leaving in the morning, going to work, traveling in and out, with construction, buses, and emergency vehicles coming in and out. This is not about resisting change. Olympic Village has always been about forward-thinking, family-oriented community. but responsible development requires listening to people who are directly affected. We're asking proportionately. We're asking for thoughtful planning. We're asking for a school that enhances the neighborhood, not overwhelms it. A 350-student, three-story school aligns with the character and infrastructure of this area. A 650, six-story structure with a rooftop containment does not. Growing is important. Education is essential. But scale matters. Design matters. And livability matters. Thank you very much.

Statement Watch

I will do so. Thank you. Acting Mayor Domenato and members of council, my name is Patricia Taylor. I am speaking for myself, my husband, Stephen Krieger, our neighbors, Jacqueline Jones and Rita Cormier, who are upstairs. Thank you. And as a member of Village Voices. We all live in the Olympic Village. We oppose the proposed zoning text amendment for Olympic Village Elementary School. We wholeheartedly, and I want to say it again, wholeheartedly support the original vision of the Olympic Village Elementary School. The city's own updated... Transportation Assessment and Management Plan, which was issued in September of 2025, and I'll refer to it as the updated TAMS, describes these amendments as significant changes. They're significant changes over the original TAMS plan. We agree the text amendments fundamentally alter what council originally approved, this council originally approved, a community-scaled mid-rise school of roughly 350 students, designed for a walkable neighborhood surrounded by green space. That original vision of the Olympic Village Elementary School remains viable today. The current zoning already allows the school to be built. These amendments are not required to deliver a school. They are proposed to enable a much larger school. The first amendment increases the number of floors. And I refer to something as the second amendment, but I'm not even sure that it is an amendment because of what Council Kirby Young said already today, which is I don't believe that amendment is before you, which is an amendment taking over the triangle space. Together, they undermine walkability, increase traffic, require changes to road access, and introduce new safety risks, especially for the young children who live in our community and the seniors who live in our community. And we are together a community. Yet no clear evidence has been provided to you to justify abandoning the original plan. My remarks tonight largely focus on traffic and safety. The updated TAMS assumes that 83 to 90% of students will walk, bike, or roll to school. That may have been realistic under a village-based catchment where people live in the area and go to school. It is not at all realistic once enrollment expands beyond the neighborhood, as this text amendment requires. Parents of younger children are far more likely to drive because of traffic volume, visibility, winter darkness, intersection safety, and children's limited ability to judge risk. These realities are not adequately reflected in the updated TAMS report. The updated TAMS prioritizes vehicle flow over pedestrian safety. Pickup and drop-off demand is underestimated. Curb space is insufficient. Congestion on narrow streets like Walter Hardwick is largely ignored. For reference, Walter Hardwick is at its east end is Kitty Corner to the proposed school. Walter Hardwick is a service street. It is narrow. It serves as the vehicle access point for service providers too and the underground parking for residents of seven residential buildings with 867 units as well as vehicle access to underground parking for the Save On Foods, the Liquor Store and London Drugs. Traffic calming is very difficult on one-way streets, as is proposed by this updated TAMS. The updated TAMS concludes that five or six curbside spaces on Columbia will be enough. Real-world experience at elementary schools tells us otherwise. Drop-off happens in short, intense surges. When space is inadequate, parents double park or stop illegally, not by choice, but because they feel they have no safe alternative. Five or six spaces is not realistic once enrollment expands beyond the neighborhood. The modeling in the updated TAMS report assumes perfect compliance, evenly spaced arrivals, no weather impacts, and no behavioral variability. These assumptions are unrealistic. Cycling safety is also overstated. Children under the age of 10 often lack the cognitive skills for safe on-street cycling. Intersections remain the highest risk locations, and even with protected bike lanes, these risks are not fully addressed in the updated TAMS report. The updated TAMS treats kindergartners and grade seven students as though they travel the same way. They do not. Younger children are far more likely to be driven, and parents are understandably more risk-averse. Policy goals. for active transportation are important, but policy does not determine family behavior. Nearby schools like Crosstown and Elsie Roy, despite strong infrastructure, still experience significant congestion and safety concerns. The updated TAMS report also fails to account for families with physical accessibility requirements, parents with mobility challenges. multiple school drop-offs, weather-related shifts and ongoing construction impacts. All of these will increase driving. There are already four elementary schools nearby that are better suited to absorb overflow. Simon Fraser, Falls Creek, Mount Pleasant and Crosstown. These schools have scale, access and infrastructure to allow for increased enrollment. Olympic Village does not. Olympic Village Elementary was deliberately planned by council as a walk-to neighborhood school. Expanding it undermines walkability, increases traffic risk, and requires zoning changes and loss of public green space. Overflow should be managed through schools already designed for scale and enrollment flexibility. The removal of green space was not approved by Council in the original and improved vision for the walkable school, referred to in the original TAMS. The Planning Department and Vancouver School Board say it is necessary to remove the green space without consultation to service an increased enrollment. The space is for drop-off of students, yet they maintain their position, as does the updated TAMS report, that this increased school size remains a largely walkable school. internally inconsistent. And let's face it, 83 to 90% of 630 students will not walk, ride, or roll to school with this significant increase in catchment area. I want to alert the counselors to the COV website that lists the supporters and opposers to the text amendment. It is misleading. Those listed as supporters are actually supporting a school, the original vision, in most cases, not the text amendment. There should be a reconsideration and a recounting of that list. There is broad support for a school in our community. The parents in our community deserve the school they were promised. The community deserves to be listened to. but we support the original vision, a community-scaled school that fits its neighborhood, prioritizes safety, and preserves public green space. We respectfully ask Council to reject this amendment, and I thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you this late at night.

Statement Watch

Well, thank you all for staying so late. It's a very important subject, and you're probably as tired as I am. My name is Gord Keep. I live in Olympic Village, and I am opposed to the increase in the size of the school. To be clear, I'm not opposed to the school, the original school I'm in favor of. The proposed amendment to add a fourth floor and a one-and-a-half-story high play area on top is a major significant change to what the original plans were. I understand the increase in student numbers will cause it to become one of the largest student numbers on the smallest site in the city. The large increase in the number of students and teachers and staff will overwhelm the limited space available in the proposed school's current location. This will result in a traffic nightmare. When school is opening at the end of the school day, the area is not capable of adequately accommodating the expected number of cars. The increase in size will mostly be filled from a further travel distance student and hence more driving, traffic, and congestion. I am very concerned with the proposed changes to the traffic patterns of the streets becoming one way. This will restrict the ability to get into or exit my neighborhood. It is highly likely that during drop-off and pickup... Given the limited space reserved for this and the allocation of only six parking spots for the school, I will not be able to get into or out of my park gate several times a day. As a lot of Olympic Village people are retired and older, the congestion will cause potential catastrophic delays for emergency vehicles to service the village. Where are the 50-plus staff supposed to park when they are working at the school? It is unrealistic to expect these... people to all walk or bike to school given the weather during the school year. Where are all the bikes going to park? The loss of the only heavily used green space in the village and the plan to pave the last adjoining green space is a real loss to the community. The resultant loss of parking in the village will significantly affect our visitors and people that use Olympic Village, including the paddlers and the events that are held there, like Thursday markets. The additional height will also... also significantly alter the character of the village and be a dominant feature versus blending in with the existing buildings. The play area will likely be rented out by Vancouver School Board and therefore the lighting at night on the roof will be very intrusive to the people living on Columbia and First Avenue. The noise and people using the space will also add to a loss of character of our wonderful community. The space is too small for the significant increase in building enrollment size. summary I'm strongly opposed the increase in size I also think it is unfortunate the location seems to have been fixed when by moving a hundred meters south and west where the Easy Park is you could easily accommodate this space you have parking you have access they don't have to come through the village it's unfortunate that that it seems that that's not an option for a proper place to put this size of school that is being proposed Lastly, a wise person suggested we should not accept a poor plan just because it was taken this long to get done, and referenced the success of the Canada Line when all stakeholders got a chance to say, and we ended up with a wonderful asset in the city. And I wonder if we could all somehow get together and get the site for a proper-sized school, moved a couple hundred meters, and then four stories won't matter. Thank you very much.

Statement Watch

My name's Catherine Keep, and I live in Olympic Village, and I oppose this motion. Thank you for the opportunity to speak now and for your time and service. The lack of public... Thank you for this opportunity. The lack of public consultation about this important project has been disappointing. How this process moves forward will inform my vote on October 17th. I left another neighbourhood in Vancouver because it had become a ghost town. Olympic Village is vibrant with people of all ages and that includes the special blessing of lots of children. Those children should absolutely have a neighbourhood school and one within safe walking distance. This proposed school plan does not work. The location was chosen decades ago. My ideal school location would be on some of the vacant land on First Avenue and or closer to the Canby Bridge. This would ensure more space for children as well as safer and more efficient traffic management. At the very least... The rezoning application should not be passed. The proposed extra large school is not part of the vision for Olympic Village. The following are what I see as the biggest problems. Parking will be difficult for the whole neighbourhood. The four or six spots for this new school are not enough. My son lives across the street from a traditional school situated on a whole city block. With only 330 students, I counted 17 parking spots there. When I get called for grandma emergencies during school hours, it is impossible to get there to help quickly because I must park blocks away. Please consider using the Easy Park lot on First Avenue for parking and drop-off. if this location is used. There are proposed changes to traffic patterns, specifically less lanes and one-way streets. Residents already have firsthand experience with this because of the current extensive closures on Quebec, Columbia, First and Second Avenues for sewer repairs. Cars get impatient, they go fast, and they make dangerous detours. The changes for the school will create fast streets, walking everywhere in the slow streets. have been part of the quality of life in Olympic Village. The much more serious issue is emergency access. How will first responders be able to get into the village quickly, with one lane on Manitoba being the only access north? Everyone needs them to have easy access, but especially the more vulnerable, like the children at school, senior citizens, and overdose victims. I also oppose this rezoning because of the loss of green space. Hinge Park and the attached triangle are our only green space in the neighborhood. This tiny square park is used extensively. from dawn to dusk by people of all ages as well as dogs. The city might be getting the best per person value out of Hinge Park of anywhere in Vancouver. Attached to the north of Hinge Park is a triangle of grass. Plans for the school suggest this area would be paved and fenced and used for children to gather to enter the building. This would be another huge loss for the village. The grass is well used. In the middle, there is a concrete circle, six meters plus in diameter. There are so many playing on top. Dance groups, children learning to ride their bikes, young men playing on their trick bikes. family picnics, dogs, yogis, to name a few. The rezoned school with a four-story is too physically large for this tiny space and too many students. There is inadequate outdoor space for the school children and takes away any green space for the whole neighborhood. The proposed traffic pattern changes make it too dangerous for the children and the entire village. Families have waited a long time to have a school, but please take a little more time to build the right school for Olympic Village. Please vote against this proposed rezoning, set up an advisory committee to create a better school plan for everyone, and ask the engineering department to create a safer traffic plan, better suited to the neighborhood. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your comments this evening.

Statement Watch

Hello, good evening, everyone, city council and neighbors. My name is Fiorella Pinillos. I am a mother of two kids. I have lived in Falls Creek South for almost nine years, and I am an advocate for the school. I am calling in strong support of the rezoning amendment for the land that has been provided for the Olympic Village School. And I want to start by sharing an audio with all of you. This is from 2019. So this audio was recorded in Creekside Community Center, where a group of parent advocates hosted an open house to talk about the Olympic Village School. Many elected officials and neighbors joined us. I share this because I want to reflect on whose voices we are listening today. How many of those voices represent children? How many of the opposing voices are parents of small children? I want to remind you that this decision is fundamentally about children's well-being and the right to accessible public education. Children have voices and it is their futures that we are shaping. In 2019, when this audio was recorded, my youngest was a baby and my older son was a toddler. Now they're seven and ten years old. Back then, we had a beautiful community of friends in Olympic Village. As time passed, my older kid got into the school lottery. He got into a neighborhood school, but others didn't. There was a rupture in the community. Many of our neighbors moved away. The same story happened with my daughter. Our story is not unique. This keeps happening in the Olympic Village. The community is fractured again and again because the back of a neighborhood school. If the rezoning doesn't go forward, it would cost years of delays, which means more years of waiting for children's education. Parents are exhausted and don't have the luxury to continue to advocate for something that should be a given in every neighborhood. Schools are at the heart of communities. It is where bonds are formed between neighbors and friendships are built. Please listen to the voices of the children and parents in the neighborhood and go forward with this rezoning so we can finally have a school in our neighborhood. It is the children's future and the right to public education that we are talking about after all. Thank you so much.

Statement Watch

Okay. Hello. Hello. My name is Joyce Ozier, and I have happily lived in the Olympic Village for the last 13 years. I'm delighted that our neighborhood will finally be getting the elementary school that was promised so many years ago, and I look forward to repopulating the area with energetic young children that will draw hopscotch patterns on our sidewalks and sing and play jump rope in our plaza. These are not sights you see very much here these days. since most families move out of the area when their children get to be school age. What you do see, however, are many strollers with babies, so they are coming. It is my opinion that the original school envisioned is a more appropriate fit with our neighborhood than the larger one currently proposed and that we should vote to reject this current text amendment. I'm not going to repeat all the arguments that everybody else has been saying all night. It's too late. But I would like to use this opportunity to share my concern to save the triangle of grass just north of the school site. I think it's a mistake to use this small area of openness, light, fresh air, and green grass. It was not included for a reason in the original school plan, which put the school next to Hinge Park. It serves as an important window looking toward the water and habitat island, which adds so much of the color and personality of our unique neighborhood. Losing it would be like losing a breath of fresh air. This little parcel of grass also provides a view cone looking out toward the beauty of the water, busy aquabuses, and the glimmer of North Falls Creek in a world that has become denser and denser as time moves on. It is a small area, but these things would be a big loss. As I understand it, The argument I've been given recently for incorporating this small plot of green into the master plan of the school, which there seemed to be no consultation with the neighborhood at all, is that, quote, that place will provide a place for students to line up in the morning before school waiting to enter the building, unquote. But with the architecture providing an overhang above the first floor, this would be very easy to accomplish around the perimeter of the building under the overhang. Or alternatively, if the entrance were moved to the south side of the building rather than on the north, other options could certainly be considered. Either way, this precious little green northern triangle should be saved. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Good evening. Acting Mayor and Council, thanks very much for listening to all of us tonight. You've heard many compassionate arguments for and against this rezoning. And I just wanted to add a couple of thoughts. I presented Council with a letter earlier this week where I've outlined my own thoughts in detail, but I wanted to just kind of jump to the punchline within that and add a few thoughts. Everyone seems to be in favor of the school for the Olympic Village. It's a question of scale. And I think the issue really at this point is the site suitability of the current location for the size of school that's being now considered. And you've heard arguments that say, let's go back to the original vision and build a smaller school, which would fit onto that site. I, as it happens, was the... The individual who was responsible for selecting this site in the first place as the one of the authors of the master plan for Southeast Falls Creek. And it was designed for a much smaller school and and one that would really serve the the immediate community as a walkable school. We're now looking at a much larger program. And I think it's incumbent upon all parties, if one is going to go with a larger program, to reconsider the site. This site is sized for a much smaller school, and it has all kinds of complications once you go to the larger enrollment. My thought on the process would be to actually defer a decision rather than simply rejecting this application and and do some further work uh take it back to staff and ask for some further studies and one would be to look at the smaller school on this site and and understand that in in a better way what the implications are for where the additional enrollment would be uh transferred to uh to other schools uh potentially or perhaps it's as some people have said it's All these schools are overcommitted. But the more intriguing option, I think, that deserves study is, as has been mentioned, is the site on West 1st Avenue, coincidentally at 215 West 1st Avenue, which is the stated address for this project. People have said you can't move the school, but, you know, there are no... There's no concrete in the ground and I think it's incumbent upon everyone involved in this process to have a look at the alternatives at this point to consider an alternative site. The advantages to the easy park Wilkinson building site on West First Avenue is that it keeps all traffic out of the village. It would not require the rooftop play space. It could be on grade where it would be. secured and and more convenient and you could move the play field uh to the edge of hinge park the play field is proposed further west and um and actually integrate open space proper open space that will serve the school this would also by the way free up further lands to the west that would become waterfront properties which of course have a much higher value for the city of Vancouver. The existing site would be rolled into Hinge Park and the community would get to enjoy the green space that they've had for the last 15 years. These kinds of studies don't take a lot of time. And I imagine that the funding and the land lease is associated with 215 West First. So it would seem to me, very simplistically, that one could look at a transfer in the location of the site. And I think this is an important thing to do. There are so many advantages into a location on West First that it's something that really should be looked at. So I just wanted to add those thoughts tonight, and I look forward to Council's consideration of a deferral. of this application.

Statement Watch

Thank you, councillors. I hope they pay you well for doing this. Thank you for listening. No, you don't. I sat outside asking out everything everybody else has already said, which will make my speech very short. I do live in a village. I have lived there for eight years. I had the privilege of growing up and my children going to a nearby school, the bell would ring and they would recharge out the door and try to get there before the last bell rang. And this is what I want for Olympic Village, which is a village. And I think having a school there will complete the school of Olympic Village. I really don't know how you sort through all the statistics that you've been given tonight. And I'm not going to add to that. I just really think that when it comes down to it, this amendment is really for doubling the size of the school, not one more story. Who cares about one more story? It's doubling the volume of children that go there. And bigger school means more driving, more traffic, more pollution. and more accidents. I really think that everybody here tonight wants a school. They want a school in Olympic Village. Really, the question comes down, as Mr. Hodgson said, is what Olympic Village can, what the capacity is able to take in in terms of the number of students in the traffic. I really think, I can't talk to the students, but I really think that the traffic would suffer immensely with that volume of traffic moving through there with the current design in the current location, the current design of the traffic. So on that basis, I kindly ask you that you reject this amendment. I just think it's too much for the village that we have. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Good evening. My name is Greg Morris. I'm a resident of Vancouver, and I'm speaking to you tonight in favour of the proposal to expand the size of the Olympic Village School. I'm a father of two kids under the age of four, and our family has been very lucky to be a resident of Olympic Village for the last six years. Our neighbours are great, and it's walkable to almost all of our daily needs. one big benefit of this neighborhood is that it's easy for us to take my oldest daughter julia to see her friends no scheduled play dates or fighting traffic is required and we can just as easily have impromptu play time with neighborhood kids at the park or on the seawall or at the village square our family has developed close relationships with other families nearby and we can rely on each other for babysitting pet care or anything that helps in the life of busy working parents I don't have to repeat the numbers to you. You already know them. Olympic Village is in the most overcrowded school catchment and the surrounding schools are right behind. Where I live today used to be a salt factory and today there are thousands of residents and hundreds of elementary school age kids. So the school really isn't being built for the original plan 20 years ago, but further than now and for the next 50 years. Smaller school will mean a lottery. Even though we live a block from where the new school would be, my kids wouldn't be guaranteed a space. Even if we were one of the lucky ones, what about my daughter's friends? What about other neighborhood kids? Now they enter a lottery for other nearby schools that are also overcrowded. So even if my own personal family is unaffected, the community starts to fracture. And this isn't just hypothetical either. This is the current story of families living here who have been waiting, over a decade for this school ultimately the school will be built at some point and this rezoning hearing is really just about an additional story and a rooftop playground in an ideal world would it be great for the kids to have a big open field to play in i'm sure it would be but we live in the real world this is a densely populated city and area and there isn't unlimited space or money And all of us parents understand that this trade-off when we choose to live here. An extra story can accommodate the extra kids that are needed, and the rooftop play space means the kids' play area doesn't have to encroach on all the green spaces around us. There is no such thing as a school that will disturb nobody, so I hope the councillors weigh the true choices here. One choice means you complete a great community and provide a walking distance school to hundreds of kids in the area. For those skeptical that the kids will walk to school and concerned about traffic, you're hearing from a lot of parents tonight who are saying that they want the school precisely because they want to walk to school. You make life easier for these parents and for drop-offs and pickups in particular. and on the drivers and bus riders and the surrounding city who don't have to fight the additional traffic from hundreds of parents who have to drive across the city for school. The other choice, a smaller school that isn't designed yet. So we have to go back to the drawing board. And that means more delays, more uncertainty, more stressed out parents worrying about where their kids will go to school because they're in lotteries, spending more of their limited time in traffic. Hundreds more kids being split from their friends and neighbors because they don't have a chance to go to a school in the neighborhood that they live in. Something that so many of us grew up here, like so many of us that grew up here have enjoyed in the past. So I hope you make the right choice. Thank you.

Statement Watch

Good evening, Acting Mayor and Councillors. Thank you so much for staying this late to listen to us. I really appreciate the opportunity to share my views. My name is Joyce Rezin. I'm a resident of Olympic Village and a member of Village Voices, and I definitely support a school for the Olympic Village. We need a school desperately, but the right school for our village. And so I want to support the original vision for the Olympic Village Elementary School. I have seven school-age grandchildren. I understand completely the need for an elementary school in the village, but it has to be a right-sized elementary school that meets the needs of the children and the village residents and also aligns with the city's own goals for a compact, walkable, and sustainable community. I'm opposed to creating one of the largest elementary schools in Vancouver on the smallest site, and so I urge you to reject this amendment for all the reasons that have been so clearly defined by other speakers. I was going to go through them. I'm not going to bore you with them again. The traffic, the safety issues, all of the appropriateness for young children to be on a rooftop. Because tonight I want to talk about another issue which you may consider sidebar to this text amendment, but I consider to be central. Transparency and public engagement in the development of this school. The VSB website states, and I quote, the Vancouver School Board is committed to transparent and accountable public engagement and stakeholder feedback processes to inform planning decisions. There was zero public engagement before the signs announcing the rezoning amendment went up in Hinge Park in the summer of 2025. There was zero public engagement or transparency about the height or the nature of the rooftop playfield. The true height of the building will actually be nine residential stories, not four as the text amendment indicates. There was zero public engagement when the triangular piece of Hinge Park was included as a new amendment. And when we asked for a meeting with all the VSB trustees to understand the rationale for the rezoning amendment, we were turned down flat. We were told by the chair, there's no point in meeting, we won't change our view. And that's a direct quote. By the way, if you do get the opportunity to speak to the school board, please ask them where their data comes from. why the data on the website belies the data that they're suggesting for the need. When Simon Fraser, when the students from Simon Fraser are moved to the new public, to the new school, which we hope they will be very, very soon, they will be under-enrolled. No, there will be under-enrollment in four or five schools around our area. The City of Vancouver website states, and I quote, the city engages with the public to address issues of common importance, to solve shared problems, and to bring about positive social change. Yet, there was zero public engagement about the road changes that the engineering department is suggesting to deal with the inevitable increase in traffic. Road changes that will have a huge impact on residents and businesses in the village. Yet, the referral report recommends that the traffic report be accepted along with the text amendment. And perhaps most discouraging of all, and I want to be very truthful about this, many of us have been told by several knowledgeable sources that approval of this text amendment is a done deal. A done deal that was done way before the signs went up on Hinge Park in the summer of 2025. We really hope that that's not the case, but that's what we've been hearing. We hope you will give honest consideration to our concerns. Transparency, as you know, is vitally important. It's about trust, and I suggest that there's been a great deal of trust lost in this community by the way this issue has been handled. I believe that you sincerely want to make the best decision for the families, the children, and our community. That's why you're still here tonight. I submit that going back to the original vision of a three-story neighborhood school is a win-win-win. Parents have a long-awaited school that they deserve. The well-being of the young children is taken into consideration, and the residents of Olympic Village will have a safe and livable community. I ask again that you defeat the rezoning amendment. Build the school now, cheaper, faster, better. You can do it tomorrow. But I ask you, too, to support the development of a community advisory council to work hand-in-hand with you, the province, and the VSB to build the best school possible because you have the power. Thank you so much for staying up this late. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your time.

Statement Watch

Good evening, Deputy Mayor and members of council. Thank you for the opportunity and thank you for your service and your dedication as demonstrated by you still being here tonight. My name is Bob Cornish and I've been a resident in Olympic Village for over 13 years. I support a school. I empathize with the parents and I acknowledge the frustration for those who have been waiting for years. The children need a school. What we do not need is one of the largest schools in Vancouver, built on the smallest lot, in a village, and with all of the associated issues. I support the original vision and speak against the amendment that is before you. One of the vision statements from the Falls Creek Official Development Plan referring to the village includes a place where, and I quote, where people live, work, play, and learn in a neighborhood designed to maintain and balance the highest possible levels of social equity, livability, ecological health, economic prosperity, so as to support their choices to live in a sustainable manner. This is the vision that we were sold. This is the vision that we bought into. The village is a very successful experiment in urban living. It is pedestrian-friendly, walkable, sustainable. We have narrow streets, limited parking. We have calmed traffic. It's a popular tourist destination. As council members, you've heard a lot tonight. You've heard statistics about declining enrollment, which question the need of such a large school. You have heard that the children's play area is 30% of the Ministry of Education's standard. And yet somehow or other, this is acceptable. You've heard about the loss of green space and the appropriation of the triangle at Inchbark. You have heard that there are alternative sites. Look approximately 100 meters to the west. You have heard that the catchment areas are yet to be defined, which brings into question the feasibility of walking, rolling, or biking from points further afield. You know that only six parking spaces will be provided for over 62 teachers and support staff and for tradespeople servicing the school. Staff will be arriving from across Vancouver and likely beyond. Cars will be involved. Parking is required. There is no plan. You have heard about an analysis of traffic which questions the very low estimate of cars that has been put forward. You know that only five drop-off and pick-up spaces have been allotted to handle a school that will accommodate approximately 700 people. Please think about this for a moment. Visit any school in this area or in Lower Vancouver, or sorry, in the Lower Mainland, and you will find that it is swarmed by parents driving their children to school and picking them up. This will not change with the OVS, no matter how much we wish it so. Can you visualize safety concerns as a result of such a massive influx of vehicles? Safety concerns for children and adults alike, for able-bodied and otherwise? Parents eager to drop their kids off and get on with their day, eager to get their kids and get home? Rush hour both ways. This also presents a nightmare for first responders and access to the village. This is a recipe for disaster and it is entirely foreseeable. And if it is foreseeable, it is preventable. The livability and tranquility of our village will be no more. On the Shape Your City website, citizens asked why this particular location for a school that will accommodate 630 students and why on the smallest of lots. The answer from city staff time and again was, City Council had not directed them to look at alternatives. Please consider alternatives. Rather than approving this amendment, ask the planning department to look at alternatives so that you don't have just a proposal before you, but you have the best proposal. The best school on the best lot with a minimum of disruption to the community. Engage with the community so that you can hear village voices. Strike an advisory committee. Let's have a school that will enhance the quality of life in the village and not detract from it. Keep the vision that was intended for the Olympic Village. Keep this monument to urban planning and living, and do not distract from it. Consider alternatives so that you just don't have any solution. You have the best solution. I'd like to think that this is how the village was conceived in the first place. I say again, I stand for a school. I stand with the parents for a school. But I stand for a better solution that is being proposed by this amendment. I stand for the original vision. Please defeat this amendment.

Statement Watch

Good evening and thank you very much. I appreciate you staying for this lengthy meeting. We did too. I may start off by saying my name is Alan Farber. I'm a resident of Olympic Village. I speak in opposition to the application and the amendment. Understand the frustration every single person who's come before you we have something in common We all want a school Every single person who's spoken in opposition has said yes. We want a school every single person who has spoken in Agreement with the application they want a school the question is what kind of school are we going to have? I'm very privileged to have lived in the jewel that is Olympic Village for 13 years. I understand the frustration that people have gone through. I attended a meeting 12 years ago where we talked about the school that was proposed, and it has yet to been realized. I do say that in June, we received a notice dropped on us sort of like a bombshell that they were going to change and amend the school to increase the height dramatically, to increase the enrollment dramatically, to completely change the context of the school.