Vancouver council rejects motion that sought to add more housing to Shaughnessy neighbourhood

Vancouver councillors voted down a motion Wednesday that sought to add more dense and affordable housing to the Shaughnessy neighbourhood, historically one of the city's wealthiest.

OneCity Coun. Christine Boyle's motion, dubbed "Unlocking Shaughnessy," would have asked city staff to bring forward policies that would add more housing, shops and services to the neighbourhood west of Queen Elizabeth Park.

Shaughnessy has historically been one of the city's most exclusive neighbourhoods, with the 2016 census showing residents had the highest median income in Vancouver. Its large mansions and single-family homes have also been some of the most expensive in terms of property value.

Proponents of the motion said it would have alleviated a lack of affordable housing in the city, but the majority ABC caucus on council said it would have been a waste of city resources.

Boyle's motion failed in a 7-3 vote, with the councillor saying on X, formerly Twitter, that the ABC majority was not taking the housing crisis seriously.

"In the last 50 years, the population of Shaughnessy has actually declined while the population of Vancouver and the population of Metro Vancouver have grown significantly," Boyle told CBC News last week. "It's important that every neighbourhood be welcoming new neighbours, every neighbourhood be doing its fair share in a housing crisis.

"When one neighborhood isn't building new housing, it puts more pressure on every other neighborhood and every other part of the region."

Shaughnessy has previously been exempt from some city legislation allowing multiplex homes because it received a heritage conservation area designation in 2015.

Boyle said the area needed more shops and services, as building more dense and walkable neighbourhoods is part of Vancouver's climate action goals.

She also said given Shaughnessy has fewer renters compared to other parts of the city, building more affordable and rental units there would not displace existing renters.

"It's really important to be building new rental housing where there isn't currently rental housing," she said. "And Shaughnessy is a great example of that."

Neighbourhood association pushes back 

In a statement, ABC Vancouver councillor Rebecca Bligh said the motion would have "wasted precious staff time" and called the motion redundant, given motions recently passed by the city and province to add more housing.

Bligh said broader planning initiatives, like the Vancouver Plan and Broadway Plan, should take precedence over focusing on specific neighbourhoods.

"We've already had years of politicking that divides our city," she said. "To meet today's challenges, all parts of the city must resolve and work together." 

Robert Angus, one of the directors of the Shaughnessy Heights Property Owners' Association, said that the motion ignored that Shaughnessy residents live in the neighbourhood because they want to live in larger properties.

"Maintaining a large property is very expensive. Lots of costs just for gardening," he told CBC News. "But people are willing to do that because that's the way they want to live."

Angus called the historic lack of density in the neighbourhood the reflection of homeowners "voting with their wallet," and also said that the city had limited resources and should not be focusing it specifically on one neighbourhood.