Straight Talk

Arbutus corridor talks break off between Vancouver and CP Rail

by Yolande Cole on September 12th, 2014 at 7:14 PM
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      Talks between the City of Vancouver and CP Rail about the future of the Arbutus railway corridor have broken down.

      At a press conference near the corridor in Kitsilano today (September 12), Mayor Gregor Robertson accused CP of being "inflexible" and walking away from the negotiating table. 

      "Very, very disappointed to see CP being absolutely inflexible and refusing to make a fair deal on this important corridor for Vancouver," he said.

      "We will not be bullied into overpaying for the Arbutus corridor. This is an important piece of land for the city, but at the same time, I will be fighting to protect Vancouver's and our taxpayers' interests here in ensuring that we don't overpay for the Arbutus corridor and ensure that there is an appropriate negotiation."

      Robertson said that at this point, "the talks are off", but that the city remains open to bringing something back to the table.

      "We put plenty of ideas on the table, but there was absolutely no movement toward those ideas," he said.

      CP Rail said in a statement on its website that: "despite exploring a number of options to reach a fair market settlement, the parties were unable to arrive at an agreement".

      "CP halted all work on the corridor when it agreed to meet the City of Vancouver to negotiate a resolution," the statement continued. "However, after meeting today with senior City representatives, CP remains extremely disappointed that the City of Vancouver continues to significantly undervalue this corridor."

      Robertson said CP Rail's asking price is in the range of $100 million, which is based on development value being added to the land.

      "The current zoning is that it is a transportation corridor, and the long-term interests of the city are obviously to maintain it as a transportation corridor and to see it used as a greenway in the meantime," he said.

      CP says it plans to resume work on the corridor to return the track to operating standards.

      Last month, the company tore up community gardens along the railway corridor in Marpole as it worked to clear encroachments from the track.

      Comments

      14 Comments

      TCG

      Sep 12, 2014 at 11:36pm

      On the one hand, I hope Gregor better understands the horrifying reality of overpriced real estate on many long time middle or mower income earning COV residents. On the other hand, FU CP Rail. Seriously, you guys are such huge greedy assholes I can hardly stand it.

      anti-cp

      Sep 13, 2014 at 6:47am

      At this stage I think any further destruction by CP will have little effect as a bargaining threat because the growing season has ended and the gardeners have given up. Now the CP has to go through with its promise to run a rail service, which means repairing the track. After a decade of sitting idle it'll be expensive and they won't be making any profit because they have no customers on that stretch. The COV has the upper hand and are calling CP's bluff.

      SteveP

      Sep 13, 2014 at 10:46am

      The Mayor states that this corridor:

      "The current zoning is that it is a transportation corridor, and the long-term interests of the city are obviously to maintain it as a transportation corridor and to see it used as a greenway in the meantime," he said.

      Meanwhile last month he stated of the future options of development on this land as an option, and that the fair market value should be negotiated.

      He flip flops, trying to find an issue to please the developers, the residents, adn the VOTERS for the upcoming civic election.

      By the way, he has refused to debate ANY ISSUES in public with other candidates. What does that say to you?

      Worth Repeating

      Sep 13, 2014 at 3:56pm

      "...FU CP Rail. Seriously, you guys are such huge greedy assholes I can hardly stand it."

      judi sommer

      Sep 13, 2014 at 4:28pm

      Has anyone asked Gregor why City Hall was granting gardening permits on land that was clearly not theirs?

      Craigie

      Sep 13, 2014 at 4:32pm

      SteveP — What it says to me is that you sound exactly like an NPA shill spouting NPA talking points rather than someone interested in resolving this impasse with the bully railway in a manner that the city can afford.

      gleggy

      Sep 13, 2014 at 6:08pm

      land is valuable. why should cp get far less for the land than it is worth? bring on the trains. i used to visit my aunt who lived right on the tracks back when the trains ran by.....no buggy. worse things can happen to you than having a train drive by now and then. greggy....start packing your bags.

      Vancouver Watcher

      Sep 13, 2014 at 8:07pm

      Cragie: And we can assume that you are a bitter Vision/COPE/NDP staffer? After all, those on the extreme left and extreme right never let the facts get in the way of a good lie!

      ACMESalesRep

      Sep 13, 2014 at 11:45pm

      anti-cp: It would work perfectly well as a storage siding for rolling stock.

      Martin Dunphy

      Sep 13, 2014 at 11:51pm

      ACME:

      Thanks for the post. Just FYI: CP would still have to upgrade the track no matter what it was used for. Also, it would cost money to move stock to where it isn't needed for anything. As well, CP has lots of unused track available for that purpose that isn't being utilized now, down by the water.