Last week, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled against CP Rail over the Arbutus Corridor.
The corridor, an 11-km north-south right-of-way that cuts down Vancouver just west of Granville Street, now has a single two-car train that runs daily along its length — not to take anyone or anything from point A to point B, but as CP’s way of saying “We haven’t abandoned this. We’d still like to use it.”
But not for transportation. CP Rail wants commercial and housing development along the corridor — 20 irreplaceable hectares of continuous land — which was given to them back in 1886.
The city would rather see the land protected, so it can one day be used for transportation or recreation. And it has enshrined that protection in the Arbutus Corridor Official Development Plan.
CP Rail got the plan overturned in a 2002 B.C. Supreme Court ruling; the Court of Appeal decision reinstates the plan and pretty much guarantees a rematch at the Supreme Court of Canada.
If the city’s plan survives, it won’t necessarily be smooth sailing. Some uses would be more controversial than others. Memories are still fresh of Pamela Sauder’s now-notorious comment that the corridor’s residents are “the cr�me de la cr�me in Vancouver” who simply won’t stand for (sniff) transit in their backyards. (Ditto her explanation that transit isn’t necessary because most people in the area “take taxis to the airport.”)
For any city of Vancouver’s size, this kind of continuous strip of land ripe for transit or recreational use would be a civic treasure. Whether it ultimately comes down to SkyTrain, light rail or a mixed-use pedestrian/bike path and park, the city’s goals are infinitely more valuable than yet another strip of condos and street-level retail.
CP Rail has an opportunity here to be more of a good citizen and less of a profiteering shmuck. But their (ahem) track record suggests they’ll side with shmuck, and instead of folowing the court’s recommendation and negotiating compensation with the city, they’ll fight this as far as they can.
