Vaisakhi Parade – Photo by Kiwinki

Culture comes to us in a number of different forms, and this weekend presents an opportunity to experience a range of these. Among the highlights: the festival and parade of Vaisakhi, a public memorial for Jim Green, a musical presentation on Vancouver’s ‘acoustic cartographies’, a wicked garage sale at the Tool Library, a fundraiser and variety show in support of the Rio Theatre… and an urbanists meet-up. Have fun!

And for those who feel like diving into some good ol’ fashioned volunteer public space advocacy, please note that our regular Urban Design and Transportation meetings have been rescheduled to next week… along with our Democratic Spaces, and Downtown Public Realm meetings. Check out our meeting calendar and Working Group pages for more info. Lots of options for the public space aficionados out there!

Saturday, April 14 @ 11:00am – Vaisakhi parade

From the City’s press release: “Vancouver’s streets will be swirling with bright colours, music and floats on as the Sikh community celebrates Vaisakhi with its annual parade.

Vaisakhi (which falls on April 14) is one of the most significant holidays in the Sikh calendar. It commemorates the establishment of the Khalsa (the community of baptized Sikhs) in 1699 at Anandpur Sahib,Punjabby the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.”

The parade is expected to run from 11 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m. It starts at the Ross StreetTemple, then winds its way west along SE Marine, north on Main, East along East 49^th and then south along Fraser.

Saturday, April 14 – HellRaiser II @ 8:00pm – Fundraiser for the Rio

A Night of Cabaret, Agitprop, Theatre, Comedy, Music, Dance and HELLRAISING in Five Acts – all intended as a fundraiser for the Rio Theatre and in support of ALLVancouverindependent venues.

From the invite: “The Hellraiser nights are a series of fundraisers to help our friends at the Rio survive LCLB Licensing Hell, and also a concerted effort to grow solidarity and partnerships among the many musical, cultural, artistic, sexual and political communities in East Van.

Hellraiser II is all about mixing live musical acts with BIG audience participation, theatre, comedy, and activism. Think Agitprop & Provocation turned WAY up to RED: Brechtian antics mixed with Theatre of the Absurd in a Political Cabaret format. This will be a smorgasbord mass gathering where Street Bands, Megaphoners, Musicians, Stripteasers & Actors are invited to move beyond the stage, spilling through the entrance and onto the sidewalks.

Now that the Rio is banned from technically screening movies, we’re turning April 14’s Hellraiser II and the Rioitself into a Real LIVE Action Movie, with you right in the centre of everything.” Doors open at 7 pm, 19+. Entrance by donation

:: More info – Rio Theatre Webpage – http://riotheatre.ca/events/

Saturday April 14 @ 1:30pm – Public Memorial – Celebrate the Life of Jim Green

When community activist and former City Councillor Jim Green passed away on February 28, he left behind a tremendous legacy of city-building work. Join MC’s Am Johal, and Councillor Geoff Meggs as they lead a tribute featuring DOA’s Joey Shithead, Bughouse Five’s Butch Murphy, Bob Rennie, Vancouver Opera’s Jim Wright, Woodwards Community Singers’ Vanessa Richards, MLA Jenny Kwan, and others.

This event is open to anyone who would like to join us in celebrating Jim and the legacy he has left us all. Takes place at the Orpheum Theatre, 884 Granville. Doors open at 12:30pm

:: RSVP to rory@roryrichards.com or jim.eventbrite.com

Sunday, April 15, 10:00-2:00pm – Vancouver Tool Library – Garage Sale

Garage Sale season has started! The good folks at the Vancouver Tool Library are kicking it off in style, with a sale to sell duplicate tools that they longer need in the shop.

From their notice: “Stop by for great deals on used tools, and enter our raffle to win an Adirondack Chair, hand-made by the VTL. Raffle tickets cost $5 and all proceeds from tool sales go towards covering our operating expenses and purchasing new tools!

We are also accepting the donation of tools for the sale. If you have tools you’d like to donate for our fundraising efforts, please get in touch with us at events@vancouvertoollibrary.com. Receive a free ticket for theAdirondack chair raffle with any tool donation!” Takes place at the Tool Library,3448 Commercial Street, Vancouver,BCV5N 4E9

:: Book of Face – Event Page

Sunday April 15 @ 3:00 – Urbanist’s Meet-up

Like beer? Like talking about urbanism? Join like-minded locals in East Van for a friendly gab on the subject of city-building.

“This month marks a making a long overdue return to Commercial Drive. We’ll be meeting on Sunday, April 15th from 3-5pm, at The Charlatan. Come out to enjoy a drink, say hi to your fellow urbanists, and disucuss the latest in Vancouverurban planning and development.

As always, feel free to drop in when you can and stay as long as you want. We’ll be there from 3 pm until at least 5 pm. If you are early, the reservation is under “Yuri.”

Sunday April 15 @ 3:30 – 2nd Annual Acoustic Cartographies Event

Public space is a multisensory experience. When it comes to sound, you only have to contrast the pleasant melody of birdsong with the angry roar of a modified muffler to get a sense for the impact that the acoustic environment plays on your appreciation of the city.

This event features an afternoon of audio works created by geography students generated from field recordings throughout the Lower Mainland. Speakers: Dr. Geraldine Pratt, UBC Geography; Dr. Elvin Wyly, UBC Geography; Andrew Pask, Vancouver Public Space Network; and the students of UBC Geography 371. Soundwalk composition by Hildegard Westerkamp. Takes place at The Western Front, 303 East 8th Avenue. Free Admission.

On deck for discussion are:

• Jericho Wharf Concept Plan
• Rezonings in Mt. Pleasant and South Cambie
• Vancouver Economic Development Strategy
• Three motions in support of citizen engagement
• Dogs, leashes and the Animal Control Bylaw
• Booze. Movies. The Rio Theatre

All the exciting details and more… below the fold.

Jericho Wharf Concept Plan

The Park Board will be receiving a staff report that outlines the final proposed concept plan for the Jericho Wharf site.

The Wharf, off of Point Grey Road, was the source of some debate over the last couple of years. Structural issues were at the heart of it, and there was disagreement about whether the Wharf should be rehabilitated, or whether the beach area should be naturalized. The new concept plan advances the restoration approach. In so doing, it proposes to create an environment “where wildlife can access the waters edge through a diverse range of habitat types including dune grass, upland shrub thickets and maturing forest.”

Public Realm Considerations – Rezoning Applications

Three rezoning applications being considered this week are of interest. The first two are for the co-joined Beth Israel / Talmud Torah School at Oak and 26th – where improved landscaping and pedestrian connections are part of the design, and a “publicly oriented plaza” is being proposed along 28th Avenue.

The third, more controversial rezoning application, is for the Rize site at Kingsway and Broadway. Here, a new podium and tower are being proposed and there is has been an animated conversation taking place over how the development proposal ‘fits’ with the objectives of the recently completed Mt. Pleasant Community Plan. Among the public realm aspects being considered are wider sidewalks and the creation of a stronger pedestrian ‘heart’ for the Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood.

Economic Development Strategy: chicken and egg dilemmas?

Council will also be receiving a report on the new Vancouver Economic Development Strategy. This document looks at ways to support three key goals:

1. Creating a Healthy Climate for Growth and Prosperity;
2. Supporting Local Business, New Investment and Global Trade;
3. Focusing on Talent: Retaining and Attracting Human Capital.

The report references the need to consider questions of affordability and liveability as part of a discussion of growth. The City’s commitment to these items is noted in a number of places – but the overall incorporation of these ideas into the strategy ultimately feels a bit thin. And this is curious because of how fundamental these considerations are to any discussion of local economy.

Our take: Want to attract and retain talent, visitors and dollars? Then a focus on providing spaces for people to live affordably (meaning homes, childcare, basic needs) needs to be a key component of any plan – and not just via references to other strategies or initiatives (like the recently completed Housing and Homelessness document). Without a solid program in these areas, the talent (and we’ve got lots here already), visitors and dollars won’t be sticking around all that long. There will be attraction without any retention.

The liveability question may seem a little less obvious, but we think there’s also a need to give this some more profile. A key way to energize and support an economy is to make sure that the various ‘spaces between’ home and work (a substantial amount of which is part of the public realm) are well-designed, inclusive and accessible – because they are as much an ‘incubator’ (to borrow a term) of local economic vitality as high-tech office infrastructure. People want to stay in cities that feel good. A big part of that good feeling comes with a vibrant public life and all the various things – parks, plazas, street life – that support it.

Don’t get us wrong, we like the idea of an economic development strategy. However, the present report could use a wee tune up. With aspirations to ” [expand] the City’s global brand on liveability, by strengthening and promoting a prosperous business climate” (p.8) the Strategy’s emphasis here, and elsewhere, seems to suggest that the cart will lead the horse.

Citizen Engagement

Three separate motions look at aspects of citizen engagement. The first sees newbie Councillor George Affleck seeking support to “direct staff to report back regarding the current process by which Council members are appointed to committees, boards and other bodies, as well as a listing of these specific appointments, and the duration of these appointments.”

It will be interesting to see what comes of this discussion. It has been our understanding that the Mayor and his caucus get to make that call – one of the perks of winning the election (and an inevitable invitation for the minority parties, whomever they happen to be at the time, to cry foul).

The second motion, also by Affleck, seeks to allow citizens better access to the decision theatre at Metro Vancouver by allowing Board and committee meetings to be “broadcast, either by internet or other means, to allow residents to view the proceedings of these meetings.”

The third motion on notice, being proposed by Andrea Reimer, seeks (in part) to reopen a discussion that occupied elected officials during the last session of Council. The two-part motion would have City Council write to the Province and “reiterate the request to have the ability under the Vancouver Charter for Council to make campaign finance rules and consider alternate voting systems” as well as “make a new request for the ability to release raw vote data.”

The motion then makes a further request for “recommendations from the 2011 Chief Elections Officer for measures to increase voter turnout, citizen involvement and fairness for all candidates in the 2014 civic election.”

Dogs, Leashes, Laws

Public space is governed by a number of regulations whose ‘teeth’ appear inconsistently, and usually only when there are complaints. For example, tire swings on street trees, garage sale notices on neighbourhood utility poles, and sidewalk chalk on the road are all examples of things that, despite their innocuousness, contravene city bylaws.

Another newbie Councillor, Adriane Carr, is going after a regulation that may – depending on your perspective – fall into this nebulous category. In this case it’s Animal Control Bylaw, which states that anyone who keeps a dog must not allow on “a street or other public place” unless the dog is under their “immediate charge.” Carr is concerned that this unnecessarily penalizes the owners of well-behaved dogs who are tethered to posts, etc. while their owner does errands in stores, cafés or other buildings.

Carr’s motion requests that staff “report back on options for changing the Animal Control Bylaw so as to allow people to safely tie up and leave temporarily unattended” their well-behaved canine.

Booze. Movies.

This one is a little less of a public space issue, though its a matter we know that many of our members have been following.

One of the staples of the East Van cultural scene is the Rio Theatre – which showcases movies, variety shows, live performances and events of all sorts. You may have heard that they’ve run into a bit of roadblock in trying to get a regular (that is, non-special event) liquor permit. It seems our rather Byzantine liquor legislation, (in particular, the Liquor Control & Licensing Act & Regulations), disallows live performance venues from serving alcohol if they also show movie screenings at other operating times.

It’s weird enough that people aren’t allowed to drink a beer and watch a film (which is pretty common in many other cities). However, thanks to our current laws, it also means that the Rio, if they want to have live performances (and serve alcohol), are effectively being disallowed from showing movies at all! (Even if they don’t serve alcohol at screenings).

Heather Deal’s motion seeks to remedy at least part of this by having Council seek “a condition on the Rio Theatre’s existing liquor license [to allow] them to show movie screenings without alcohol service when no live events are scheduled.”

There’s also an on-line petition that has been circulating on-line which you can sign.

Have your say!

Got thoughts on any of these issues? Jot an email to the motion’s proponent by using firstname.lastname [at] vancouver.ca. Copy the others at mayorandcouncil [at] vancouver.ca.

You can also request to speak to Council, mail in your thoughts, or get in touch with your elected officials through other means. Click here for the details.