Council delays vote on 27-storey Chinatown tower as opponents rally outside city hall

Some Chinatown residents are applauding city council's decision to delay a vote on a 27-storey tower proposed for the area.

Council voted nearly unanimously on Monday in favour of Coun. Druh Farrell's call to put the decision off until December, pending more consultation and a new report from city staff.

A group opposed to the development rallied outside city hall prior to the vote and packed city council chambers during the discussion.

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Theproposed developmentincludesabuilding almost twice the height of existing ones in the areato be built on the site of a parking lot that sits between Second Avenue and Third Avenue S.W.

About 2,000 people have signed a petition against the proposal.

Terry Wong with the Chinatown BRZsaid many people want more input.

"We want a process where we respect not only the needs of the businesses but also the community and culture," he said.

"If you take a look at Chinatowns around Canada here, alot of them are suffering the same sort of problem we have right now,where people will call it gentrification both in terms of a residential and commercial sense."

Dale Lee Kwong,a volunteer with the group "I Love YYC Chinatown," said approving such a building would destroy the character of the community.

"This is not a fairy tale," she said."Chinatowns across North America are under threat of disappearing."

The architect behind the proposal, Manu Chugh, saidthe building will look like athree-storeybuilding to pedestrians because the rest of the building wouldset back from the sidewalk.

"It will not lose any character of the Chinatown."

The plan goes before city council Monday.