It’s party time — down on the Steveston boardwalk.
There will be face painting, food trucks, live music and a raffle. Last night was the first of four such events to run Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons for the next two weeks.
I’m sure it will be a colourful affair — which, of course, is the idea. I got my invite to the festivities dubbed “Discovery Days” earlier this week. It came in the form of a postcard from development company Onni, delivered directly to my home. On one side of the card are details about when and where, along with colourful pictures of happy children, hipsters browsing artisan stalls and live music — guitar and saxophone, no less.
On the other side of the card is a great expanse of grey. It’s the boardwalk, but not as I’ve ever seen it. Pictured is a great expanse of grey concrete, beside a wide grey river, under a vast grey sky. The scene is utterly devoid of life.
Onni must have had their cameras there for some time to get that shot. I walk this boardwalk twice a week, and it’s always bustling.
But, I get it; the six buildings on the site stand mainly empty, and the reason, according to Onni, is because the site’s current zoning limits who can move in. These Discovery Days and Onni’s plea to “Imagine more at Imperial Landing,” as the postcard says, is intended to create public pressure on the city to change its zoning so Onni can lease to the likes of a bank, a private-members gym and a high-end grocer — at least that’s the start.
And now for a little context…
When BC Packers sold the property, the city could have zoned the area commercial/retail, meaning the sale price would have been significantly more. But it kept the zoning as industrial (more specifically, Mixed Maritime Use) because the city had a particular vision for that area which would serve the general public -— not just Onni’s bottom line.
Onni bought the property knowing what was intended. But now that it’s built, the company is asking (yet again) for the city to ditch that Granville Island-like vision, claiming it can’t find enough, in fact any, tenants that fit the criteria. Onni will even throw in $3 million, not to mention face painting, to sweeten the deal. Meanwhile, switching from industrial to commercial zoning will increase the property’s value by an estimated $20 million.
So, is the maritime vision truly inviable, or did Onni just agree to it with an eye to waiting for the city to buckle on zoning so it can charge higher leases? No one likes the empty buildings, but Onni’s got deep pockets and its managers don’t depend on residents voting them in every four years.
The maritime dream may not work, but if we’re going to let Onni out of serving what was intended to be a public interest, it should be replaced with another — a park, a library, a community facility, not just a chunk of change and a boardwalk party.
