While staff develop work plans for most committees, Coun. Pietro Calendino, chair of the planning committee, said that hasn’t been true for the planning and development committee. He praised staff for their work on the plan, which he said originally had a goal to complete all of its projects within the next year.
But Calendino said the plan was a bit too ambitious and not possible to get done in one year, instead extending it over two years.
In the plan, staff noted the completion of the housing needs assessment, which comes a year before the 2022 deadline set by the province for all communities in B.C. The committee is also working on its 10-year housing and homelessness strategy, which the city hopes to take into its final phase of consultation in the near future and to reach final approval later this year.
A priority in the city’s planning is for “small-scale infill,” part of a shift toward increasing “missing middle” housing, also sometimes referred to as “gentle density.” This will see the city working to increase the ability of property owners to build laneway homes and suites in duplexes, and it will include a review from the city of minimum lot sizes.
That review is expected to take place in the second half of this year, with updates to be brought to council for approval on a rolling basis.
As part of that process, the city also plans to review land value capture. For example, when public infrastructure is built – say, a transit station – speculators may seek to buy properties around that infrastructure prior to it being built to cash in on the buoyed land values when the infrastructure is complete. That speculation, itself, can also drive up land values.
Land value capture policies, such as a land value tax, are intended to see profits from those land values transferred from private enterprise to the city.
The planning and development committee also intends to complete its forthcoming transportation plan within the next couple of years, creating policies that will see new emphasis on public and active transportation, such as buses, trains and cycling.
A review of the city’s 23-year-old official community plan is also “becoming increasingly urgent,” staff noted, with plans to “scope the work and bring forward issues for discussion later in the year.” This comes as Metro Vancouver reviews its regional growth strategy.
The city’s also taking a closer look at individual communities, including two urban village plans – in Bainbridge and Lochdale – that are currently underway, with draft plans expected in the next year or two. Starting this year, the city is also expected to begin reviewing the Royal Oak, Edmonds and Sunset community plans.
Finally, the city has plans for reviewing some of its policies, including a multi-year “complete review” of the zoning bylaw. This year, the city plans to advance updates on amenity bonuses and density transfers, the community gardens policy, and the liquor store framework.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us for the next few years,” Calendino told council.
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