Vancouver Park Board again rejects calls to convert golf courses into housing

The Vancouver Park Board voted Monday to approve a long-term plan for the city's golf courses that explicitly rejects the idea they be redeveloped for non-park uses — including housing.

The city has six public golf courses — three pitch-and-putt courses that are part of larger parks, and three full golf courses — totalling around 200 hectares (two square kilometres), or 1.65 per cent of all land in the city.

On Monday, park board commissioners were voting on staff recommendations regarding a golf services plan for the six courses, including revenue generation and improving equitable access to golf.

Despite frequent discussions over whether the land dedicated to the city's golf courses could be utilized for non-golf purposes, like housing or more universal parks, Monday's unanimous vote re-affirmed a stance that many previous park boards have taken — keeping the courses as park land.

"Our golf courses are a vital source of biodiversity and they're huge pollinator corridors," said commissioner Jas Virdi at Monday's meeting. "They provide our elderly, our children [with] an outdoor green space to play ... I think they're huge assets to the city."

The commissioner said that, with city council recently focusing on densifying housing around transit corridors, the idea of redeveloping golf courses was misguided.

Virdi's stance on the golf courses was largely shared by his fellow commisioners, who said it was important to preserve them for future generations.

The main focus of golf course redevelopment debates in Vancouver has centred around Langara Golf Course, due to its proximity to a Canada Line station and Langara College.

Jeff Cutler, a landscape architect who spoke at Monday's meeting, cited the 2016 sale of the Oakridge Transit Centre land by TransLink as an example of the financial gains possible by a partial or full sale of Langara Golf Course.

"The 14-acre Oakridge Transit Centre was sold by TransLink on 41st Avenue for $440 million," Cutler said. "Langara ... even at a more desirable location, is nearly eight times that size. And I think you start to do the math."

Cutler said a three-way division of the course — converting it to park space, market and social housing — could create a trust that would improve parks for the entire city.

The McCleery Golf Course in southwest Vancouver. Redevelopment debates are usually centred on Langara Golf Course in South Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

But just like in previous debates, where park board studies supported the six courses, commissioners disagreed with the redevelopment ideas.

"I think that's a deeply false equation of math," said commissioner Tom Digby. "We, and the city, really have always prioritized biodiversity.

"Even if it is $1.2 billion, I say that the greenspace is worth more than all of that combined, and it's just a value we hold as Vancouver people."

The future plans approved by the park board on Monday include streamlining the golf courses' revenue models, including by potentially charging tourists more than Vancouver residents.

It comes as the six golf courses saw a major uptick in revenue and footfall in 2021 and 2022 as pandemic restrictions took hold, though park board staff noted they're unsure if those trends will hold going forward.

Another focus of the golf services plan will be reconciliation, with the motion saying the board will solicit input from the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations on whose unceded lands Vancouver is built.

The next steps in the golf services plan will involve hiring consultants at a cost of around $350,000 to $450,000, according to park board staff.