After months of reviewing the Government of British Columbia’s various new legislation directing municipal governments to enact housing development reforms, the City of Vancouver has identified a path forward for meeting the wide range of new requirements.
A new report by City staff states the municipal government already has policies that generally align with the priorities of the current Vancouver City Council and the 2022-approved Vancouver Plan.
While City staff also note that they are generally supportive of most of the measures directed by the provincial government, due to the amount of policy and planning work needed to comply with the legislation and the associated deadlines, they need to re-prioritize and delay the completion of previous municipal-driven work.
This includes delaying the finalization of the Renfrew and Rupert Station Area Plan for City Council’s review and approval to sometime in the first half of 2025 instead of the previous schedule of before the end of 2024, postponing other future SkyTrain station area planning work to 2025 and beyond, and pushing planning for the 25 urban villages and the Broadway Plan’s urban design guidelines for commercial zones to 2025.
City staff also indicate that the $3.3 million the City of Vancouver received from the provincial government does not cover the full cost of the policy and planning work required for implementing the new legislation. In January 2024, the provincial government announced $51 million in funding that would be shared amongst 160 municipal governments and 28 regional districts to align bylaws and policies with legislation. The City of Vancouver received the largest share, followed by the City of Surrey’s $3 million.
City staff are also continuing their work to turn the Vancouver Plan’s framework into a legal document, including the creation of Vancouver’s first-ever Official Community Development Plan (similar to an Official Community Plan) by June 2026, which was mandated by the provincial government in an announcement earlier this month on forthcoming Vancouver Charter amendments. As well, many types of required public hearings will be abolished, particularly for scenarios where rezoning proposals already align with existing community plans.
Here is a rundown of the major changes — and City staff’s position — on transit-oriented development legislation, small-scale multi-unit housing legislation (gentle densification of single-family lots), and legislation relating to development-driven revenues, which were all first formally introduced by the provincial government in Fall 2023:
Transit-oriented development legislation
Under the legislation, SkyTrain stations and select standalone bus exchanges are designated as transit-oriented areas, with legislation stipulating that such areas — depending on the location from the transit hub (800-metre radius from a SkyTrain station and 400-metre radius from a standalone bus exchange) — can see greater densities and maximum heights of, at minimum, up to eight to 20 storeys for residential uses. However, municipal governments are free to prescribe greater densities and heights beyond the provincial minimums. As well, minimum vehicle parking supply requirements will be abolished within such areas.
This legislation applies to residential or mixed-use residential zoning. All municipal governments with transit-oriented areas, including the City of Vancouver, will be required to adopt bylaws that align with the transit-oriented development legislation by June 30, 2024.
Within the City of Vancouver, 29 transit-oriented areas established by provincial legislation exist, including 27 SkyTrain stations and the two standalone bus exchanges of Dunbar Loop and Kootenay Loop.
Transit-oriented development areas within Vancouver according to transit-oriented development legislation. (City of Vancouver)
Transit-oriented development areas within Vancouver according to transit-oriented development legislation. (City of Vancouver)
City staff state that this legislation already aligns with major aspects of the Cambie Corridor Plan and the Broadway Plan and that, in some cases, the existing area plans go beyond the provincial prescriptions for density and height near transit hubs.
However, City staff note they would like to see more information from the provincial government on how a rezoning application within a transit-oriented area would be reviewed.
As well, the municipal government is seeking clarification from the provincial government on density bonusing and inclusionary housing, tenant protection plans, transportation demand management and off-street parking, and infrastructure, amenities, school capacity, and utilities requirements within transit-oriented areas.
Additionally, City staff express a desire to protect “critically important historic areas such as Chinatown, Yaletown, and Gastown, as well as retail ‘villages’ such as Main Street and Commercial Drive that support independent businesses facing potential displacement.”
Small-scale multi-unit housing legislation
This separate legislation enables more homes on a single-family lot through gentle densification — at least three or four units depending on the lot size. For single-family lots within 400 metres of a bus stop served by a frequent public transit bus service, at least six units will be permitted.
City staff stated that their jurisdiction is already a provincial leader in the gentle densification of single-family neighbourhoods. The latest major move was City Council’s September 2023 approval of enabling missing middle multiplex options across much of Vancouver’s single-family neighbourhoods city-wide, based on newly consolidated residential zoning districts.
According to City staff, they began accepting development permit applications for the newly enacted missing middle multiplex options in mid-November 2023. As of the end of March 2024, they have received over 100 applications proposing a combined total of over 450 new units.
City staff highlight the need to amend the zoning for First Shaughnessy District, which is under a special restrictive type of zoning. Amendments are needed for the Shaughnessy neighbourhood’s zoning to comply with the provincial government’s small-scale multi-unit housing legislation and the transit-oriented development legislation, as the 800-metre transit-oriented areas of SkyTrain’s future Arbutus and South Granville stations impact the northernmost areas of the neighbourhood in the vicinity of West 16th Avenue.
September 2023 policy impacts by the City of Vancouver:
Proposed changes for allowing multiplexes on all RS-zoned lots across Vancouver, with standard lots (yellow) and large lots (turqoise) shown. (City of Vancouver)
Provincial legislation impacts:
Small-scale multi-unit housing and transit-oriented development legislation impacts. (City of Vancouver)
Small-scale multi-unit housing and transit-oriented development legislation impacts. (City of Vancouver)
Moreover, it has been determined that the small-scale multi-unit housing legislation will apply to 1,128 residential zoning lots across the city not covered by the City’s 2023-enacted policies — including remaining areas of the Kitsilano and Grandview-Woodland neighbourhoods — and 586 lots within Shaughnessy’s zoning district.
In November 2023, the ABC Vancouver party majority in Vancouver City Council rejected a member motion by OneCity councillor Christine Boyle to densify the Shaughnessy area in large part due to the desire to wait for the details of the provincial legislation.
Legislation changing development-driven fees
The legislation expands the type of amenities and infrastructure that can be covered by development cost levies (DCLs) paid by builders and developers and creates the new fee category of amenity cost charges (ACCs) to support the needs of a growing population through denser development.
DCLs are typically used to fund critical infrastructure such as water supply, sewers, drainage, roads, and, more recently, affordable housing and childcare facilities. However, the legislation further expands DCLs’ ability to cover fire, police, and solid waste/recycling facilities instead of depending on property taxes for such costs.
It is noted that the Vancouver Charter currently limits DCLs to no more than 10% of the value of the development. Such a limit does not exist for all other municipal governments, which are under the separate Local Government Act.
“Expanding the DCL with more eligible categories without removing or increasing the cap will hinder the City’s ability to raise funds to adequately address growth needs,” suggest City staff, who note that it could be challenging to fund affordable housing and childcare facilities if the 10% limit is not removed or increased.
As for the legislation’s new ACCs, City staff state this will “reduce the City’s [existing] reliance on community amenity contributions (CACs) over time and provide the City with a funding tool that is city-wide and/or district-wide,” which will improve the ability to fund major capital projects by tapping into the ACCs paid by new projects across a larger geographical area. The provincial government is providing municipal governments with new ACCs in large part to provide developers with a more predictable way to calculate amenity and public benefit contributions.
“Staff generally support the new ACC tool in that it enshrines the concept of growth paying for growth and reinforces the City’s authority to secure and collect development contributions to deliver important amenities and infrastructure to support growth,” continue City staff.
“Urban development generating development contributions (e.g. DCLs, DBZs, and CACs) are typically concentrated in a handful of growth districts (e.g. downtown, Southeast False Creek, Cambie/Marpole, East Fraser Lands in recent years). As a result of the underlying land economics, not all urban development generates the same level of development contributions. This creates occasional misalignment between the location of where amenities need to be expanded and the location of where development contributions are collected.”
However, City staff note that the provincial government’s framework for ACCs does not consider affordable housing and childcare facilities to be an eligible amenity, whereas the existing CACs carry such a consideration. For this reason, the new use of ACCs could have major financial implications for funding affordable housing and childcare.
“It is important to note that density bonusing is one of the most important tools used to enable new social and rental housing. Municipalities will not have the pre-zoned capacity to achieve affordability requirements that are/will be set out in the Provincial Housing Targets without the use of density bonusing. For Vancouver, it is not possible to meet housing targets for new rental and social housing without density bonusing,” stated City staff.
Furthermore, City staff take issue that the ACCs framework stipulates that amenities can only be funded under DCLs or ACCs, but not both.
Over the forthcoming weeks and months, ahead of the provincial government’s various deadlines to meet the frameworks of new legislation, municipal governments and their respective Councils will be busy reviewing and approving major bylaws and policies — not just the City of Vancouver.