Heights of 500-700 ft. are being discussed for a handful of sites around downtown Vancouver.
"Brent Toderian tried to dampen concerns, saying any developers who want their buildings to hit or exceed the city's proposed height limits would have to go through a rigorous public hearing process.
But even then, he said, the likelihood that most of those seven identified sites will be built on in the near or mid-future is unlikely. And the one site in the downtown identified as having a potential 700-foot tower on it -- at the corner of Burrard and Georgia Streets -- already has a 19-storey office tower."
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Not to worry? says Brent
Not to worry? says Brent Toderian. Really? Well not that long ago, he said:
"I've got a serious appetite for shifting those view corridors"
http://www.planetizen.com/node/38112
A serious appetite to shift signature views that are known around the world? In 1997 Vancouver adopted a "General Policy for Higher Buildings" that sought to control the form and height of towers, and over the years planners have tried to control how high developers could build and how far into those corridors the buildings could intrude.
Little wonder then that the staff report dated Nov 29th was released to the public at the end of the day Friday Dec 10th for council's approval at a Dec 16th meeting. It's Christmas, perhaps he thought no one would be paying attention and they'd just slip that by everyone? Dampen concerns or caught with his hand in the cookie jar?