The City of Burnaby, already home to some of Metro Vancouver’s largest transit-oriented developments, has finally moved to comply with the Government of British Columbia’s transit-oriented development legislation.
On Monday, Burnaby City Council quietly and swiftly approved the first, second, and third readings of the bylaws to turn the provincial legislation relating to Transit-Oriented Areas into municipal policy.
This new intent to comply with the legislation comes five months after the deadline to do so. Municipal governments with TOA areas within their jurisdiction — emanating from SkyTrain stations and select standalone bus exchanges — were given until the end of June 2024 to enact bylaws to align with the provincial government’s new transit-oriented development policies and other housing-related legislation.
In August 2024, the provincial government provided the City of Burnaby and other non-compliant municipal governments with a deadline until the end of October 2024 — after the provincial election — to amend their bylaws relating to housing-related legislation, including establishing TOAs.
At the time, the provincial government warned that if municipal governments failed to adopt their own policies aligning with the various pieces of legislation, it would enact the necessary municipal bylaws on their behalf, overriding local city councils.
The legislation creating TOAs enables a baseline of higher residential density uses within close proximity to select transit hubs, specifically zoning where residential or mixed-use residential can be built. It also eliminates minimum vehicle parking requirements for the residential use component of a new building.
Under provincial legislation, TOAs emanating from SkyTrain stations have an 800-metre radius, with the Tier 1 inner radius of 200 metres enabling residential building heights of at least 20 storeys and a floor area ratio (FAR) density of a floor area that is 5.0 times larger than the size of the lot. The Tier 2 middle radius of 400 metres enables residential building heights of at least 12 storeys and a density of 4.0 FAR, while the Tier 3 outer radius of 800 metres enables residential building heights of at least eight storeys and a density of 3.0 FAR.
As for the smaller 400-metre TOA radius for select standalone bus exchanges (major bus exchanges that are not attached to a SkyTrain station), the legislation requires new minimums of up to 12 storeys and 4.0 FAR for the Tier 4 inner radius of 200 metres, and up to eight storeys and 3.0 FAR for the Tier 5 outer radius of 400 metres.
TOA for Kootenay Bus Exchange extending from Vancouver into Burnaby. (City of Buranby)
TOA for SkyTrain Rupert Station extending from Vancouver into Burnaby. (City of Burnaby)
The Kootenay bus exchange on Hastings Street within the Vancouver side of Boundary Road has a TOA radius that extends into Burnaby’s jurisdiction. There are also similar cross-boundary TOA impacts into Burnaby’s jurisdiction by SkyTrain’s Rupert Station and Joyce-Collingwood Station within Vancouver, 22nd Street Station within New Westminster, and Burquitlam Station within Coquitlam.
Other SkyTrain TOAs emanating from within Burnaby include Gilmore Station, Brentwood Town Centre Station, Holdom Station, Sperling-Burnaby Lake Station, Lake City Way Station, Production Way-University Station, Lougheed Town Centre Station, Patterson Station, Metrotown Station, Royal Oak Station, and Edmonds Station.
It should also be noted that some of these SkyTrain TOAs within Burnaby impact adjacent municipalities.
TOA for SkyTrain Production Way-University Station. (City of Burnaby)
TOA for SkyTrain Holdom Station. (City of Burnaby)
A number of municipal governments across BC have been at odds with the provincial government on its new housing-related legislation, calling it an overreach into matters that are traditionally determined by the local level of government.
For instance, in addition to its stance on TOAs, the City of Burnaby has also taken issue with the provincial government’s new Amenity Cost Charges (ACCs) that replace the previous Community Benefit Bonus tool (similar to Community Amenity Contributions or CACs, which previously enabled Burnaby to negotiate with developers). Some municipal governments have argued that ACCs, which are intended to provide builders and developers with a higher degree of predictability, are too limiting, and in the City of Burnaby’s case it has led to an underfunding of significant new community and recreation centre projects.
Daily Hive Urbanized has reached out to the City of Burnaby and the provincial government for comment on Burnaby City Council’s decision on TOAs.