A Vancouver city councillor has filed a motion seeking to guarantee “security of tenure” for residents in False Creek South.

Coun. Colleen Hardwick is calling for an immediate extension of leases in the 55-hectare neighbourhood that is mostly owned by the city.

Harwick made the move as the city has yet to make any clear indication whether it will renew the leases.

Many of the 60-year leases will expire between 2036 and 2046.

“As leases have not yet been negotiated, existing residents are experiencing significant stress after more than a decade of meetings with the City,” Hardwick noted in her motion.

Hardwick’s motion is included in the agenda Tuesday (October 5) of council.

The False Creek South Neighbourhood Association (FCSNA) counts 1,821 housing units on the city-owned land in the area.

These units consist of 573 units in six housing co-ops; 124 units in four market-rental buildings; 455 units in six nonprofit rental buildings; and 669 units in 13 strata corporations.

Hardwick suggested that residents should be “guaranteed security of tenure…at a rate affordable to them”.

Hardwick’s motion proposes “extensions for all strata leaseholds”, which will be followed by “lease renewal negotiations”.

For co-ops, the councillor recommends “lease renewal for all…in keeping with the recent Council policy for co-ops in other communities”.

In her motion, Hardwick noted that residents have “expressed support in collaborative community planning to densify their neighbourhood”.

Last year, the FCSNA released a draft plan for the redevelopment of the community between the Burrard and Cambie bridges.

The plan calls for more than a million square feet for new housing and commercial spaces in the Vancouver waterfront neighbourhood.