Opus Rooftop Restaurant in Yaletown
byOne of the latest projects meeting strong NIMBY (not in my backyard) opposition in Vancouver is the rooftop restaurant proposal in Yaletown. A few days ago there was a meeting at City Hall to discuss the development that would sit on top of the Opus Hotel.
According to Opus Vancouver and Trilogy Properties the proposed restaurant would include:
The public hearing at City Hall on Tuesday evening saw a strong presence from those who oppose the plans however, momentum in support of the project is quickly growing.
“In terms of the proposal, yes, neighbours are worried about noise,” noted Chris Briekss of 6S Marketing. “It’s a valid concern but if you live downtown (and Yaletown) you expect to hear a little more noise than if you live in the burbs but that’s just my opinion, and I live in Yaletown.”
The discussions will continue this Friday, November 7th at 6:00pm [Facebook Event] at City Hall – the public are very welcome to attend.
[poll id=”18″]
Update: Unfortunately one person (one IP address) is finding a way to stuff the poll and has voted over 120 times this morning. It would be a shame for this person to ruin what I have fairly established on my website and I take this violation seriously and personally.
Update: A Public Hearing continues Tuesday, Nov. 18th @ 6:00pm over at City Hall.
Update November 19th, 2008: The rooftop restaurant proposal has been rejected by City Council [CBC]
29 Comments — Comments Are Closed
This will be a great addition to the already famous Opus Hotel/Restaurant
Vancouver needs more Beer Gardens / Rooftop Restaurants
I could see noise during construction being an issue. Noise from being an openair restaurant that stays only open till 10pm in the summer I don’t think would be much of a concern since most people are still up and the sun has just set during that time of the season.
The boathouse in English Bay has an open portion of their restaurant right? there are people living around that place too.
‘Sophisticated’ to me means that there will be no drunken debauchery happening, no flailing etc. It’s not like it will be a nightclub.
I don’t think I could afford to eat there anyway unless it is part of DineOut Vancouver 😉
There has been a huge hole in the ground for the last 3 years in front of Opus where a new Skytrain station is supposed to go.
If neighbours are worried about noise, there is no way that the new rooftop patio would noisier than the construction.
Gotta love people that move downtown and then complain about noise. It’s like people who move beside the airport and don’t like the sounds of airplanes.
I agree w/Parveen. I’ve lived around the corner from the mess out front of the Opus for the last year and the noise from the construction is deafening at times. A restaurant with light chatter and clinking glasses might actually soothe aching ears to sleep after that mess on Davie St is finally cleared up.
I think it would be a great addition to Vancouver – Rooftop restuarants are way fun.
I was there on Tuesday and if you are in favor of the proposed rooftop by Opus, PLEASE CONTACT CITY HALL AND LET THEM KNOW! SHOW UP ON FRIDAY AT SIX PM… REGISTER TO SPEAK!!!
Speak out against the group of residents who made a choice to live in Yaletown. Please do not let them ruin this for others to enjoy!!!
Who are these humbugs who always complain about noise and yet decide to live downtown in one of the most concentrated urban centers in the world? More alfresco dining will only make this great city better. Let the IMBY (in my back yard!) voice be heard in addition to the NIMBY’s.
You should put a poll up for this!
When I worked and lived downtown, we’d hit Earl’s On Top all the time. Rooftop dining with patio heaters and surrounding towers seemed cosy to me. I vote YES.
@ Dave – I was thinking about that but I’m also enjoying the comment thread 😉
Living in Yaletown myself, I believe we should have MORE of these types of venues. I mean, really… Who moves downtown and expects silence from the surrounding areas. I also think 10pm is ridiculous. 11pm would be much more fair for the patrons/businesses.
I love living in the urban environment. And, I live right around the corner from an Ambulance station, and a night club. I’ve never complained about noise, and I get a LOT of it.
To reiterate what Alex said,
The public Hearing is Friday, November 7 at 6:00pm at City Hall. Make yourself heard! This is your city too, let’s make it better together!
Geezus..people who live downtown and complain of noise totally boggle me.
Do people in Manhattan bitch about noise?
If you live in Yaletown or anywhere else..suck it up and enjoy living next to nice and cool restaurants.
I hope they end up opening MORE places down there..the whole False Creek waterfront needs cafe’s and restaurants to make it a strolling location..not just a silent waterfront view for those in the glass towers.
If you want peace and quiet after hours, move to a quiet neighbourhood or the burbs
IMO this is a silly argument. construction has been non-stop in Yaletown for years so a little more noise there isnt going to kill anybody. People outside dining making noise? every other restaurant in the area has a huge patio. elevating one 5 stories shouldnt be so noisy that none of the residents can handle it.
This reminds me of all the bed-wetters in CityGate who effectively cost us the Molson Indy.
dm
I’m with Tanya. I really don’t see why there is such an issue about this. I’ve lived in Yaletown previously, and it seems like this sort of thing would enhance the neighbourhood rather than ruin it. Even further, 10pm is ridiculously early for what is planned to be a high-end restaurant. I’m still not used to having dinner anytime before 8 or 9pm, and I’d rather not be rushed out so mr needs-his-beauty-sleep CEO on the 30th floor can rest in peace (no pun intended.. i think..). And though I doubt I could afford to eat there, maybe now there’ll be something reasonably interesting too watch from the condo windows…
We live in Vancouver because it is a beautiful city and any further opportunities to enjoy views of our city and fresh air should be welcomed. Venues like this benefit the city as a whole as they add to the social culture and which is a draw for visitors.
I live right beside the Opus…and i think the idea of a rooftop patio is totally….great!
I really hope council approves, this is a great addition to the neighborhood. And if you moved to Yaletown for quiet ….what the )(*# were you thinking?
I moved here because of the restaurants and bars and great quality of life here. I will move somewhere quiet when i retire.
And in truth, really this is a restaurant, so its not going to be loud. As everyone else mentioned the construction is 100 time louder than any restaurant.
God, we can be anal in this city.
It’s a restaurant. On a roof. Get over it, folks!
I wonder if someone brought the results of your online poll (as a poll conducted by a nameless third party of course, in case Miss 604 does not wish to be explicitly named in regards to this public matter) to the council meeting if that would help the supportive argument. I think the fact that this proposal has garnered 98% support from almost 150 socially conscious and community-minded individuals is no small thing. (Yes I am making a blanket statement about the type of people whom I believe read this blog). I live in the ‘burbs, so good luck, Vancouverites! The more rooftop living, the better… I see this as one step closer to rooftop gardens becoming the norm and making the most of existing spaces; the more council approves of them, the better. I sincerely hope people attend the council meeting; it is time that we took our communities back into our own hands.
Where did all the “NO” Votes come from? all within the last hour…seems interesting.
I think it would be valuable if these “NO” Voters actually commented and let us know what they were thinking?
I would say that a rooftop patio is needed in that area and although the Opus can be a bit snootie at times it would be a good spot to enjoy the sun.
Have you ever noticed that all the patios in Yaletown have a critical flaw (probably due to the fact that these are restored buildings) but the way the streets are laid out every single patio gets nice morning sun and afternoon shade.
Sucks about your poll… some people just have nothing better to do than ruin a genuine argument. And even worse is a coward who won’t stand for what they believe.
Yes it’s unfortunately. My WP-Polls plugin has a log so I can see who voted (what IP). I looked up a suspicious IP in one of my stats programs (Mint) and I can see this person spent about an hour on my site, refreshing this post over 120 times. They also visited my site last week so I have some more data to play with…
I won’t adjust the poll numbers at all, I’ll let this play out and see if anyone comes forward.
Hey everyone,
your comments are all very valuable. If you are not able to attend this evening to voice your opinion, you can still send your comments and input to the City at this address: [email protected]
I take offence to Tyler Ingram’s comments:
“‘Sophisticated’ to me means that there will be no drunken debauchery happening, no flailing etc. It’s not like it will be a nightclub.”
Ingram is clearly spreading false information – There is no flailing at nightclubs.
Sincerely,
Mike Schwarz,
http://www.clubZone.com.
I work and live downtown, and my friend lives just kitty corner from the opus hotel. Rooftop dinning is one of the best experiences for eating outdoors. I vote YES.
I don’t really get people living downtown complaining about noise; I’ve lived around the downtown peninsula for the past 7 years, and honestly, other than the odd dirtbag revving a Harley in summer, or a little noise after fireworks, hockey games, etc., it’s so quiet it’s almost dead down here. Yaletown is a trendy/popular neighbourhood precisely because it has a lot of entertainment options, shopping, bars, and restaurants… that should be pretty obvious to anybody before they move in.
I live in downtown and have suffered from restaurant patio noise. I love dining on patios in the summer but I think consideration should be given to neighbours. When you have a table with six or more people eating, drinking and having fun even the most considerate people can create huge amounts of noise.
Opus is talking about 200 diners at one time. How would you like it if your next door neighbour wanted to hold a BBQ for 200 “considerate” people in his back yard (or on his ground floor patio)every night throughout the summer.
If they want their restaurant patio it should at very least be glassed in to limit the unavoidable racket caused by the operation. It’s very easy for other folks to say that the neighbours should just put up with the noise but try living with that kind of problem for a few months before you cast judgment – it can be a real nightmare.
Kudos to City planners for talking about changing the building code for new condos and enforcing better glazing and soundproofing. Once that happens most of these disputes should disappear. In the meantime have some consideration for folks who don’t want to party every night, unless of course you think that Downtown living should exclude young families, the elderly, shift workers, etc., etc.
I’m pretty ambivalent about this one. I much prefer sidewalk patios, where diners kind of engage with the larger community, than isolating rooftop ones. I think you give up most of your noise rights when you live downtown though (speaking as somebody who lived in Yaletown for six years), so that’s a poor reason to reject the application.