rodsager
So the Federal Aviation Administration is acting like a typical federal agency, you know, puffed up chest and strutting about like a rooster in the hen-house. A late 2015 “ruling” from the FAA has caused the developers at the Vancouver Waterfront project to shave seven floors off the top of one of the buildings in the project and reduce the height of one other building as well. I call B.S. All of the taller buildings in the master plan that was revealed nearly a decade ago are located north and west in the project area allowing for the flight path of small aircraft from Pearson to remain clear of tall structures.
OK, so if there was a “stray” taller structure far enough to the southeast in the project, then fine. But if the FAA is going to get bossy throughout the whole project the city leaders will need to stand firm. The FAA is an important government agency that keeps the skies safe. But like many federal agencies it has a bloated budget and a burning desire to look justified in having a sixteen billion dollar annual allocation. Seriously? $ 16 billion? What the hell do they need with that kind of cash? They apparently need some of it to bully around municipalities and crush dreams.
This waterfront project is an urban project. It will transform the skyline of the ‘Couv’ and create a modern space with a Northwestern urban feel. It will open up the waterfront with a gorgeous public park along the river and give America’s Vancouver a more urban vibe. Let’s not ruin it by scaling everything back. Notice that the four towers of the Interstate bridge lie very close to the Pearson flight path. The graphic says they are 273 feet tall but actually that is measured from the bottom of the river so they are 230 feet above the river and 190 feet above the roadway of I-5. Even when measured at the above roadway value of 190 feet, these are taller than any building in the eastern half of the new waterfront project. Two of those bridge towers have been there for 99 years and the other two have been in place since 1958. I can find no reports of an airplane having ever crashed into them.