CD-1 Rezoning 75 East 8th Avenue – Amendment Refer Back
Motion 22 · Council Meeting, July 28, 2026
Summary
- A rezoning application for 75 East 8th Avenue proposes to convert the site from industrial (I-1) zoning to a Comprehensive Development (CD-1) district, allowing a 21-storey mixed-use hotel with 190 hotel units and two storeys of industrial space.
- The proposed building would rise to 72 metres (236 ft.), significantly taller than the current 30.5 m (100 ft.) limit, with a floor space ratio increasing from 3.0 to 12.1.
- The site sits near the future Mount Pleasant SkyTrain Station (approximately 175 m away) in the Mount Pleasant Industrial Area, a neighbourhood undergoing significant change due to the Broadway Plan and SkyTrain extension.
- The application is consistent with the Vancouver Official Development Plan and the City's Hotel Development Policy, which supports new hotel supply near rapid transit corridors.
- Staff recommended referral to a Public Hearing due to the volume of public feedback received, even though a public hearing was not strictly required under the Vancouver Charter given consistency with official development plans.
- An amendment to refer the application back to staff was put forward but was defeated, with the main motion to approve ultimately proceeding to a vote.
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Yeah, I sent it through. It's essentially that we refer this back to staff until the new TRPP policy is confirmed and can be debated under those auspices. That might not be the best language there, but... Further, that council asked staff to redesignate 75 East 8th Avenue to general urban use, as Templar sort of just eloquently explained using the flex clause there. So, yeah, that's essentially it. Just that I don't think that we should be doing this while the TRPP policy is still sort of being reviewed. Thanks.
Great. Is there a seconder? Great. Councillor Frye seconded. Council, is there any discussion? Councillor Maloney?
Yeah, point of information to staff about the second part of the proposed referral.
Can you just run me through what the implications are for taking this, it's one block of this out of the... industrial zoning that's part of the regional growth strategy allocation.
Maybe. Thank you for the question. I might lean on Matthew Burke just for some extra detail, but under this provision of the regional growth strategy, council can redesignate without going through your typical type three amendment process, which is a more formal process to redesignate your lands from industrial use. You've got up to 11 hectares. I think we're around two-ish. used to date. So you have capacity within that bucket to redesignate lands. I will just say we can't do this right now. We'd have to report back with an ODP amendment to do that and a new public hearing for that. But we could use this as direction perhaps, reflect on some language perhaps to help support this. that this would be a refer back to go and apply this clause to come back with a new application, a new bylaw to do that. So again, there's a bit of a question of, are we just doing a redesignation of the parcel or are we bringing forward a rezoning application that reflects the residential use in support of that designation as well? So maybe just a couple clarifications for that.
And did you have something to add to that?
SURE JUST WANTED TO BE CLEAR THAT THE VANCOUVER ODP IS INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT AND THAT THAT WOULD NEED TO BE CHANGED AS WELL THERE'S A PROVISION IN THE CHARTER THAT HAS EXTRA CONSULTATION REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO ODP CHANGES THAT HAVEN'T BEEN SATISFIED SO WE WOULD NEED A NEW PUBLIC HEARING TO CHANGE THE ODP FOR THIS SITE SO IT CAN'T IT CAN'T BE DONE TODAY AS TEMPLAR WAS SAYING
Okay. And can you just elaborate on what is the purpose of ‑‑ what are some considerations to take into account in designating parcels to come out of this allocation or not?
Thank you for that. And so the city doesn't actually have adopted policy for this. This is actually some of the work that our team is looking to report back on about how and when to apply the flex clause. Some of the anecdotal approaches we've used to date are that it's obvious and clear that it's on the edge or the periphery or it's isolated. It no longer makes sense for the purpose of industrial use. Those are a couple high-level examples of how that clause could be applied.
Okay. And just one final question.
Can you remind me that with the other residential development at the other side of the Mount Pleasant industrial zone, did we use this or did we ‑‑ I think we used this.
So the application was on West 2nd, and Council applied that clause with instructions to limit its use until we report it back on the Mount Pleasant industrial work. It was an attempt to provide some guidance about how and when to use it, though, again, Council is within its rights to continue to use it if they wish.
Okay, thanks very much. Can I ask that the two parts of this be severed and that we vote on them separately, please?
Yeah, just further that line of questioning in terms of when to use this clause and when it's appropriate and what other considerations. Would a consideration be that it is currently not being used for industrial and that it is actually a residential building?
Thank you for the question. That could certainly be a consideration for that. Yeah, okay, thanks.
Sorry, I just had a question and I just completely forgot it immediately.
Okay, Councillor Maloney again. You're on there twice. You're good. Okay, Councillor Kirby Young.
Yeah, just a point of procedure. Did I hear from staff that the second clause is written is essentially not lawful because it has to go to a public hearing and trigger a new... A new public hearing? So staff can't redesignate until such time as a new process unfolds?
I'll defer to law on the legality of it. We would certainly take this as being unimplementable tonight, but we could certainly report back... Sorry?
Unimplementable, meaning...
So it would trigger an ODP amendment, to which you heard from my staff, team members as well, that we would first need to come back with a consultation report. Who do we need to consult for that? To then go and do that work to bring back an ODP amendment at a future public hearing to redesignate this. So we could certainly take this as direction to go do that. In the absence of anything further, this application would effectively either sit in a ban, subject to any other direction, and subject to that future decision of council, then residential could be considered and a different application could come forward. So, again, we would try to take this as being direction to go do that work and come back at a later date with a new application.
Okay. Thank you for the clarification. That seems quite clear.
Yeah, sorry. I was going to ask, does this, what's the status of this use? Does it remain a non-conforming use barring any other interventions?
Yeah, it's a legal non-conforming use. So they can renovate and maintain the building, but you can't build a new multifamily building in that zone. Okay, thanks.
Okay.
So we are going to... Sir, if we can refresh that screen, the voting panel, please. We're going to vote on the first part, which is highlighted.
Some people have voted, so we're just going to clear the screen here.
Yeah, calling the vote on the first part.
Okay.
Okay. And one, two, three.
Statement Watch
Yeah. Thanks very much. It's quite an honor for this to be marked. It's quite important for us to mark Emancipation Day as a community. I think it's wonderful that the City of Vancouver and the Mayor of Vancouver are marking Emancipation Day. I don't think we do enough in Canada to actually mark Emancipation Day. Juneteenth is very important for Americans, and we seem to latch on to some of that. But there's obviously a lot of work to be done. The history of the relationship between the city of Vancouver and the Black communities has been, at best, a complicated one. And we hope that there will be improvements. There's a reason why the United Nations decided to have another decade to mark black presence, black dignity, addressing anti-racism against black people. And some of this is reflected in the work that is done and hasn't been done in the city of Vancouver. So this is an important day. It's an important celebration. And we hope that the work does go with the words. Thank you.
Statement Watch
I'd like to say a few words. Good day. My name is Neville Thomas.
I would like to say thanks for having us here. The group has reduced considerably, but I'm happy to be here.
Also, the presence of Dr. Andrew Wright, nice meeting you. I would like to start by saying thanks to group for your contribution, participation over all these years. This occasion is a historic one.
And at the end of all year, 26, 27, I would like you to be assured that we, the members of the anti-racism group, greatly appreciate the contribution you have made, as well as the greater population. Thank you, and we look forward to continued relationships and your contribution as we move forward.
Statement Watch
First of all, I'd like to thank all the councillors in the city of Vancouver for recognizing the contributions of my father. He's quite humble, and he didn't even know about this. We just surprised him. He just found out right now. Yeah, so Connor's been very working with us on that end. But thank you very much, and I want to thank all the family members that are here today. You all mean a lot to my dad and us, and it's a great day for him. Thank you. I just told him he was coming for lunch at City Hall. And it would be a quick 15 minutes. And yeah, I don't know if he was playing along or if he actually knew, but I don't think he knew. Are you surprised? I think it is a great surprise for me. I would like to thank for recognizing me as the founder of the Punjabi market. So I'm very thankful for the city hall and all the city Councillors for recognizing my services for the senior society and as well as for the Punjabi market. Thank you.
Statement Watch
First of all, I'd like to thank all the councillors in the city of Vancouver for recognizing the contributions of my father. He's quite humble, and he didn't even know about this. We just surprised him. He just found out right now. Yeah, so Connor's been very working with us on that end. But thank you very much, and I want to thank all the family members that are here today. You all mean a lot to my dad and us, and it's a great day for him. Thank you. I just told him he was coming for lunch at City Hall. And it would be a quick 15 minutes. And yeah, I don't know if he was playing along or if he actually knew, but I don't think he knew. Are you surprised? I think it is a great surprise for me. I would like to thank for recognizing me as the founder of the Punjabi market. So I'm very thankful for the city hall and all the city Councillors for recognizing my services for the senior society and as well as for the Punjabi market. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Well done. Thank you.
Do we get, like, the group photo?
Yeah, for sure.
We've got one more. We've got somebody else who'd like to speak. Gentlemen, it's my pleasure to know Mr. Sutakale for a long time. And I found him such a nice person, so amicable, so friendly. And I have learned a lot from him. I have read some of his books. They were very inspiring. They reflect what the community is here. So it gives me inspiration as well as good guidance. And with his inspiration, I have also written two books. One is Life and Act of Art. and today I have another poetry in daily life. The first I have presented to your worship, Damir, and today I will again, if I meet him, I will present him the other book. So Mr. Suchas is still going well. He's so energetic, even, you know, all these, you know, health problems. So it is something which is working inside him, behind him, and of course, when we say behind him, Unfortunately, his better half is not there, but his family, it's a pillar for him. So I wish Mr. Sucha all the best in his life, and I wish all the best for the family. They must continue taking care of him. Thanks a lot.