Here’s an excerpt of the letter we sent to Mayor and Council…

The Vancouver Public Space Network is not in favour of applying a fee to events organized by Community Groups and Not-for-Profits. Community Groups have already been considerably burdened by reduced funding, and while $100 may not seem like much given the scale of corporate events, it is actually a decent sum of money for many local groups. For example, for those that qualified, a fee of this sort would be the equivalent of one fifth of a Vancouver Foundation “small neighbourhood grant”. 

In short, we feel the proposed $100 fee is a disincentive for the sort of grassroots, community building activities that many people – yourselves included – are trying to encourage in the city. 

The Vancouver Public Space Network would be willing and able to work with City staff on a pro-bono basis to identify ways to streamline the special event process for community and not-for-profit groups. (Your report identifies staff time allocations of approximately 3 hrs/group.)

We recognize that the City is facing considerable challenges; however, we do not feel that using a cost-recovery model of this sort for community groups is a productive way to resolve such difficulties.

If we can be of any assistance with this initiative, please contact us at your convenience.