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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government will pay $4.2 billion into a program to help Louisiana residents rebuild or sell houses severely damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, officials said Tuesday.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development also announced it would provide $1 billion for hurricane-related housing needs in Mississippi, Texas, Alabama and Florida, and called on those states to apply for the additional money.

Louisiana‘s $4.2 billion will be added to federal allocations the state had already received to fully fund its more-than-$9 billion “Road Home” program for hurricane recovery.

“It was clear to me that Louisiana desperately needs this additional funding to implement its plans to bring its citizens back home,” Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi said in a joint federal and state press release. “HUD will work very closely with Gov. Blanco and the Louisiana Recovery Authority to help pave the road home for thousands of residents desperate to rebuild their own lives.”

Bernardi planned to announced the grants at an afternoon briefing with Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco in New Orleans.

The “Road Home” program is intended to provide Louisiana residents up to $150,000 to rebuild or sell houses severely damaged by the storms, using grants to cover repair costs above what was covered by insurance policies and FEMA grants.

About 123,000 homeowners and owners of about 80,000 apartments are eligible for the program, state officials have said. About 90,000 have already signed up, officials said.

Blanco has said that the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which oversees the program, expects eligible homeowners to begin getting checks by late summer.

“Never before in American history has any state been forced to rebuild so many homes so quickly,” Blanco said. “This $4.2 billion means homeowners have real options — options to repair, rebuild or sell their homes.”

Apartment shortages, combined with increasing insurance premiums for people who own buildings in areas hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29 or Rita on Sept. 24, have also created hardships with rents rising 20% or more in many cases.

For people who sell their property and can demonstrate continued permanent residence in the state, the grants cover the difference between a home’s pre-storm value and post-storm insurance settlements and FEMA grants.

Owners who take the “sell” option and have moved out of Louisiana state can only get 60% of their home’s pre-storm value.

Sun

The lack of affordable housing receives a lot of attention in Canada’s least affordable city.

Often overlooked is the scarcity of industrial land. Its neglect is understandable: Residential real estate is something we can all relate to; a site for a plant or warehouse seems to have no human dimension.

But mixed land use — residential, commercial and industrial — is crucial to the city and the region. Without places to work, people have little reason to stay here and, in any case, would have no income to do so. Vancouver would be wholly dependent on the kindness of strangers, tourists visiting a hollowed-out resort town.

Industry is a prerequisite for a diversified economy, the lifeblood of any major metropolis. Not only is it a job generator and taxpayer, but some businesses need suppliers close at hand to deliver goods, such as perishables, several times a day.

In 1973, Vancouver had about 2,400 acres of industrial-zoned land. By 1995, the figure had dropped to about 1,700 acres, prompting city council to adopt policies to preserve what was left. As a result, the amount of industrial land has changed little in the past decade, totalling about 21.5 million square feet of floor space in Vancouver’s industrial areas. However, the latest inventory revealed that only 89 acres designated for industrial uses remain undeveloped, leaving little room for industry to expand.

In all of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, comprising 21 municipalities, there are just 26,089 acres of industrial land, of which 6,859 are vacant. Of that, 700 acres are under federal jurisdiction (specifically, the port authorities and Vancouver International Airport).

According to a GVRD study, approximately one-third of the vacant land could be developed within a year, another third over two to 10 years and the balance, 1,960 acres, beyond 10 years. About 90 per cent of the longer-term land availability is within Surrey’s city limits.

Much of the available land is divided into small parcels, poorly located or vulnerable to traffic congestion, and these limitations have driven some businesses out the region. Kal Tire, for example, recently built a 230,000-square-foot tire retreading plant and distribution centre in Chilliwack, largely because it couldn’t find a suitable site in the GVRD.

The shortage of industrial land has driven up the cost, but it still trails the price of residential property by a wide margin, creating economic and political pressure to build housing instead. Although business pays a higher tax rate, municipal revenue from 100 condo units would be greater than that from a single factory occupying the same space.

Preserving industrial land has become a priority for some municipal councils, but they have few tools to prevent the encroachment of competing demands.

For this reason, there is growing interest in creating something akin to the agricultural land reserve, a regulatory system established by provincial legislation in 1973 to preserve scarce agricultural land in the province. In fact, a report by the B.C. Competition Council last week, recommended that industrial land and transportation corridors be protected using a similar structure to the ALR.

We must exercise great caution in taking away regulatory powers of municipalities and handing them to the province. But ensuring what little industrial land remains is preserved might be a compelling enough reason to do so.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Proposed upgrade would complete the recreational seawall loop around downtown and Stanley Park

Gwen Preston
Sun

VANCOUVER – Wider sidewalks, more trees, less parking and revamped parks are proposed for the Carrall Street heritage thoroughfare in the Downtown Eastside, according to a report released by the city’s planning department.

The plan will also include developing Maple Tree Square, at the north end of Carrall, into a spacious area using the same traditional red paving stones seen in Gastown.

“The main theme of the design is to strengthen Maple Tree Square as a ‘destination’ rather than a place to simpy travel through,” reads the report written by Brigid Kudzius and Jenny Chen-Adams.

The report also detailed the increased operating costs for the greenway. Annual maintenance are pegged at $76,500, plus $63,700 in pay and benefits for a full-time landscape designer. Construction costs are estimated as $5 million.

The revitalization of Carrall Street — which connects Chinatown, the Hastings Street corridor and Gastown — is intended to attract visitors and private investors, stimulate business opportunities and provide improved neighbourhood areas for Downtown Eastside residents.

Chen-Adams, a city planner working on the project, said the changes will be “a major city investment in the area.

“We are hoping the project will bring more positive activity back to the street. It goes beyond the brick and mortar component,” she said.

The street would be transformed into a greenway linking False Creek and Burrard Inlet, completing the recreational seawall loop around downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park.

Kudzius, assistant engineer for the project, details some of the proposals.

“In the design, the roadway is narrowed, parking is removed from one side of the street, sidewalks on both sides are expanded and recreational paths are provided on each side of the street for cyclists, skateboarders, and inline skaters,” said Kudzius.

Pigeon Park, at the corner of Hastings and Carrall, would get a facelift designed by the community members who use the areas. A granite channel to collect rainwater would run the length of the greenway, watering the trees and symbolizing the water-to-water connection the street represents.

The city has been working on the design since 2002.

Vancouver city council will vote on the plan July 13.

“It’s been quite complicated in terms of how to accommodate everything in a relatively narrow street,” Kudzius said.

The other major obstacle was attracting community support and involvement in the project, said Chen-Adams.

“That’s why the discussions for this greenway have taken so long,” she said. “Different people have different ideas of how this project should be designed. That’s the nature of this community — it’s very diverse.”

A group of local businesses and residents called the Stewardship Group participated significantly in designing the greenway.

“From the very beginning we’ve been looking at the challenge of integrating a very complex social structure,” said Roger Bayley, who chaired the community group. “We wanted to bring resources to the community and use them to create employment opportunities for Downtown Eastside residents. That’s been the driving force behind the whole thing.”

Bayley is especially encouraged by the greenway’s focus on the arts, such as a rotating streetside art demonstration.

“It’s about bringing dignity to the community,” said Bayley. “Build it and they will come.”

CARRALL STREET PROPOSAL

A look at some of the key recommendations in the city of Vancouver planning document for a proposed $5-million facelift for Carrall Street.

Road narrowed: “The [Carrall Street] roadway is narrowed and parking is removed from one side of the street. This allows the sidewalks to be expanded and dedicated recreational paths to be provided for cyclists, skateboards and inline-skaters on both sides of the street.”

Trees added: Three to four rows of trees, depending on location, will be planted to give the street a tree canopy and ensure the greenway concept extends the length of the corridor.

Pedestrian-friendly square: A redesign of Maple Tree Square — the intersection of Carrall and Water Street where the statue of Gassy jack stands — will narrow the roads and add significantly to the already wide sidewalks to make a space “to be owned and enjoyed by the community” as a “destination” square.

New life for drug-dealing central: Tiny Pigeon Park, now better known for drug dealers and discarded needles, would get a complete makeover.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

Fiona Anderson
Sun

INVESTING I The British Columbia Securities Commission has issued an investor alert about an increasingly popular investment vehicle known as principal protected notes, or PPNs.

PPNs offer potential returns based on the performance of an underlying investment, and guarantee that, on maturity, the investor will at least get his principal back.

But the guarantee is only as good as the guarantor providing it and the security backing the guarantee, B.C. Securities Commission spokesman Andrew Poon said in an interview.

“If the guarantor goes out of business, or the security provided is inadequate, then that guarantee on your principal may be worthless.”

And as more PPNs come on the market, there has been a “significant growth in the sale of principal-protected notes to retail investors, and the development of increasingly complex structures that may pose investment risks,” Poon said.

The non-guaranteed portion of the investment will vary in risk, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) — the organization of provincial and territorial regulators — said in a notice also issued Friday. In some cases, the underlying investment is a hedge fund, or managed futures, the CSA notice said.

“Understanding the facts about PPNs can help investors identify some of the risks they may face when investing in these products,” Poon said. “And knowing the risks before buying is just one of the key elements in making an informed investment decision.”

According to the investor watch, PPNs take a portion of the money invested and place it in a long-term note that will yield the total amount of the investment at maturity. The rest is invested in a variety of products that will produce the return on investment. If the guarantee holds up, the worst the investor can do is earn nothing on his investment. However, the money is often locked up for several years, and trying to withdraw the money before maturity may negate the guarantee, the commission warned.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

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TRANSIT: Railway buffs promoting cheap alternative to B-Line bus

Brian Lewis
Province

Anyone who says history cannot repeat itself is on the wrong track — literally — according to dedicated and far-sighted railway buffs in the Surrey-based Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society.

These people not only enjoy bringing the region’s rail history back to life, they’re now on a major quest to make something old new again — namely, the resurrection of the old Inter Urban rail passenger service from Surrey to Chilliwack, by using modern rail cars powered by non-polluting hydrogen fuel cells.

The proposal has also caught the eye of Surrey City Council, which hired W.G. Lambert Transportation Consulting.

Its Phase 1 feasibility study on this intriguing idea is near completion. Phase 1 would run over existing track on the original Inter Urban right-of-way near Scott Road SkyTrain Station through Kennedy Heights, Newton and Sullivan Heights to culminate in Cloverdale.

A second phase, also over existing track on the original route, would extend service through Langley and Abbotsford to Chilliwack.

The project’s spokesman is Peter Holt, executive director of the Surrey Chamber of Commerce. He’s an engineer by profession — and self-confessed train buff.

Holt says the heritage group stumbled into its current role as proponent for the new service through its ongoing project of buying and restoring several original Inter Urban cars, which it wants to run as a tourist attraction on the route.

“We quickly realized that the best way to get the heritage part running was to have a modern passenger service running as well,” he says.

The group envisions a new classification called “community rail,” which unlike commuter rail would operate more like a bus service with multiple stops.

It’s big in Britain, where abandoned rail lines are now being rejuvenated with hi-tech, self-powered propane cars carrying 50 to 100 passengers each. Converting this new car breed to fuel cells is feasible, Holt adds.

He also says community rail and the Fraser Valley’s transportation needs fit hand-in-glove.

Key regional town centres such as Cloverdale, Langley, Abbotsford and Chilliwack developed from the original Inter Urban, an electrified service which operated from 1910 to 1950 from downtown Vancouver to Chilliwack.

The rejuvenated line would also link key commercial centres, the expanding Abbotsford International Airport and colleges (Kwantlen, Trinity Western, University College of the Fraser Valley).

In fact, a total of 13 village centres with potential for new residential and commercial development triggered by community rail service have been identified along the full route.

The project has veteran Surrey councillor Bob Bose clearly excited. He is chairman of the city’s new transportation committee and says community rail could help solve some of Surrey’s transportation challenges.

“It will take decades to break Surrey’s car-dependent mould, but this project will certainly be a good starting point,” he says. “Community rail is a wonderful adjunct to our entire initiative towards having higher density and less car dependency.”

Adds Surrey councilor Linda Hepner: “From an economic development perspective, I’m really keen on the fuel-cell idea.”

Although much work still needs doing, Holt would like Phase 1 in service by 2009 and full service, even on a preliminary basis, ready for the 2010 Olympics.

Preliminary cost estimates for the first phase are $10-$15 million, Holt says. That compares with a TransLink plan to build a dedicated B-Line bus service down King George Highway at an estimated $120 million, he adds.

Will it happen? These train buffs think it can.

If you have a story idea or noteworthy item about anything going on in the Fraser Valley, you can e-mail Brian at [email protected]

© The Vancouver Province 2006

It’s an ambitious plan for a sparkling new stadium that would transform the bleakness of the rail yard it would straddle. On Tuesday, Vancouver city council will decide whether Greg Kerfoot’s idea has any chance of succeeding

Mike Roberts
Province

Forget Cirque du Soleil and Bard on the Beach. The best theatre in Vancouver will play out Tuesday evening in council chambers when a pitched battle gets under way to decide the fate of the Whitecaps’ Waterfront Stadium.

The privately funded soccer stadium, which could cost as much as $120 million, would be built on stilts over the CPR rail yards east of Canada Place before 2010.

The 15,000-seat stadium would be an open-roofed facility hosting soccer matches, as well as rugby and tennis tournaments, community festivals and concerts.

If built, it would be the most significant and stunning addition to the city’s foreshore in 20 years. But it would also impact area businesses, traffic and the quality of life of Vancouverites living in the 3,000 residential units within a 350-metre radius of the site.

At the special council meeting Tuesday, Vancouver councillors will vote on a resolution on the Whitecaps’ current proposal for the

4.2-hectare arena site. If they vote “Yes” to this resolution, council will be agreeing to adopt an agenda to move forward with a modified proposal for the site, clearing the way for the necessary zoning application.

But if they vote “No,” that will be the end of the proposal for this site, and the Whitecaps will be forced to look elsewhere for a place to plop their stadium.

Now, you may well ask why the City of Vancouver is taking this particular gift horse to the dentist.

Here’s a local guy — software

multimillionaire Greg Kerfoot — who bought and rescued Vancouver’s flagging soccer team in 2003, and subsequently built a $4-million training centre. A guy now prepared to drop millions on a multi-use

stadium on land he himself owns.

Add to this the $165,000 Kerfoot paid the city for an initial review of his broad-strokes plan, and the fact the parcel in question will one day be developed anyway, and the word that comes to mind is, “Duh?”

Kerfoot may have a grand plan and bottomless pockets, says Larry Beasley, the city’s central-area planner, but that doesn’t buy a rubber stamp from city hall, no matter how “commendable” the project.

“We can’t just casually, just because somebody wants to do something, drop all those worries and concerns and issue a permit,” says Beasley. “That just wouldn’t be prudent.

“This city has never been expedient in the important decisions for our city, and that’s why we have a good city.”

Adds Beasley: “The proposal we have in front of us now, we can’t support.”

City staff have outlined five “fundamental issues” that need to be resolved:

n Provision of an adequate street network for access, emergency exiting and crowd marshalling.

n Resolution of the risks and liability associated with dangerous goods on the train tracks.

n Reconfiguration of the stadium structure/site to ensure a better “fit” with heritage Gastown.

n Resolution of impacts on

livability for residents in the area.

n Resolution of impacts on future port lands development.

Beasley says Kerfoot was warned the stadium proposition was “somewhat of a long shot” and that the concerns of citizens would be taken into account, including those of various Gastown groups expected to be out in force on Tuesday.

“If someone just NIMBY-ism comes in and says, ‘I don’t want it in my back yard!’ that’s not very influential,” explains Beasley. “But if someone comes in and says, ‘Look, I’m worried about noise, I’m worried about loss of business, I’m worried about overviewing and loss of my privacy, I’m worried about loss of views, I’m worried about traffic on my streets and having to close my streets 200 days of the year,’ those issues are tangible, real issues, and there’s no city that would prudently say to several thousand landowners and business people and residents, ‘We’re going to ignore you while we let one citizen do something on their land that affects them all.'”

But the Whitecaps argue the plan to date is little more than “basic renderings” and is completely changeable.

Whitecaps director of soccer operations Bob Lenarduzzi is confident the stadium will fly.

“We’re looking for the green light to move forward and that council make the project a priority,” he said at a flag-waving press conference earlier this week.

“I feel like we know what the obstacles are, what the issues are. All the stakeholders feel the issues can be resolved.”

High-profile supporters joined Lenarduzzi in a show of optimism.

“The stadium we’re talking about is something very vital to us,” said Dr. Godwin Eni, president of the Vancouver Multicultural Society.

“Economically, culturally, it’s obvious, there are too many pluses,” said music mogul Dan Fraser, president of Nettwerk Management.

“You go to the U.K., you see 25 of these stadiums in neighbourhoods and they respect the heritage there. They become part of the community.”

For his part, Beasley says if Kerfoot and his team can solve the problems outlined by the city, “they’re going to find us there wanting to help them make it happen.

“We’re not looking for A+ on everything,” he says. “We’re looking for decently good resolutions.”

© The Vancouver Province 2006

 

Here

“Located in Vancouver’s transit hub, close to thousands of businesses, residents and in the heart of the tourism district, the stadium will reconnect Gastown to the waterfront.”

Bob Lenarduzzi
Province

In 2003, the City of Vancouver approached us with a vision — a midsized outdoor venue capable of hosting a myriad of events from soccer and rugby to concerts, multicultural festivals and more.

We embraced the opportunity. One of the main goals of the Whitecaps is to be a community asset, and a stadium that all of Vancouver can use and enjoy would certainly be that.

After three and a half years of working with city staff, which saw other potential locations exhausted, it was determined that this site — north of Gastown, over the rail yard — is the best site. Located in Vancouver’s transit hub, close to thousands of businesses, residents and in the heart of the tourism district, the stadium will reconnect Gastown to the waterfront. It will be a showcase venue, and this has not been lost on the public.

Since we announced our vision last October we have received overwhelming support through letters, community consultation and surveys, ranging from 67 to 71 per cent approval.

A new Mustel survey reveals that 72 per cent of businesses in the immediate vicinity support the stadium.

And recently, former Vancouver mayors Larry Campbell and Philip Owen have come forward to speak out in favour of the stadium in this location and to urge city council make it a priority.

Naturally the proposed stadium faces some hurdles.

Following the city-led, high-level review, five primary requirements have been identified: provision of adequate street network; resolution of risks and liability from dangerous goods in the rail lands; fit with Gastown; impact on nearby residences and future port land development.

These are significant; however, the Whitecaps, the city and the other stakeholders all agree they can be addressed and are resolvable.

The current timeline put forth by Vancouver city staff has the proposed 15,000-seat, multi-use venue breaking ground in early 2009.

On June 27th, the Whitecaps are asking council to make the project a priority so Vancouverites can begin to receive the numerous benefits that will come from this stadium as soon as possible.

Bob Lenarduzzi is the director of soccer operations for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

 

Judgment day for stadium on stilts

Jon Stovell
Province

On Tuesday night, Vancouver City Council will decide the future of Vancouver’s last piece of undeveloped waterfront land. At the centre of this decision is a proposal from the Vancouver Whitecaps to build a stadium on top of a nine-metre platform over the rail yards 3.5 metres from Gastown.

The proposal has come under heavy criticism, and a technical review commissioned by the city found the proposal “inappropriate and unworkable.” A city staff report identified fundamental flaws that could only be addressed through a comprehensive plan involving other local landowners. Still, the Whitecaps continue to push on despite these concerns and the mounting opposition of Gastown businesses and residents.

What the Whitecaps fail to understand is that the planning process in Vancouver is like participating in the World Cup. Over the past 20 years, Vancouver has set a gold standard for planning in North America, primarily through the innovative transformation of the downtown peninsula and its waterfront communities. The proposal by the Whitecaps simply does not measure up.

The Whitecaps often refer to how much faster this development would have proceeded in Toronto. Visit the Toronto waterfront sometime and you will quickly understand the benefits of proper planning and what a magnificent legacy our planning department has left the city.

While the need for a comprehensive plan cannot be disputed, city council should also begin a process to evaluate other sites, such as the False Creek Flats or Hastings Park — in the likely event the problems with the Whitecaps’ current proposal cannot be overcome. It would be in the best interests of both the city and the Whitecaps if these alternatives were studied by the city in parallel with a comprehensive plan for the central waterfront.

Of course, this is not what the Whitecaps want to hear — they want to get going now. But planning, like soccer, takes patience. In order to find the right solution, we need to keep an open mind to alternative sites while an overall plan for this area is developed.

In the end, this is the only way to ensure we score the winning goal for all the fans of this last piece of Vancouver’s waterfront.

Jon Stovell represents the Gastown Neighbourhood Coalition (www.gastowncoalition.ca).

© The Vancouver Province 2006