Burnaby council has endorsed an agreement committing to designating higher density mixed-use areas around the Burnaby Mountain gondola’s two planned terminals at the top and bottom of the mountain.
The “supportive principles agreement” with TransLink and Simon Fraser University allows TransLink to include the gondola project on its initial application for senior government funding, according to a city report presented to council Feb. 25.
The gondola project, part of TransLink’s 10-year priorities plan, remains unfunded. The most recent cost estimate to build the gondola, as of 2020, was $210 million.
The agreement will not be legally binding.
Burnaby’s proposed commitments and intentions are laid out in the report.
Selected city commitments in Burnaby Mountain gondola agreement
- Commit to developing both terminals as higher density mixed-use areas in the Official Community Plan (OCP)
- Encourage affordable housing in the lower terminal area (at Production Way-University SkyTrain station) and purpose-built rental housing for both terminal areas
- Encourage retail and office development including Lake City Business as a preferred location for major business centres and commercial facilities at Brighton Village
- Identify opportunities for retail, service, office, residential, research, educational and other compatible uses near the upper terminal
- Encourage appropriate types of industrial and mixed employment in the lower terminal area
- Consult with other agencies on the managing of the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area for preservation of biodiversity, forest health, tree canopy and wildfire risks
Read the city’s general summary of the commitments here.
The city's public affairs department told the Burnaby NOW the upper terminal will not be designated as a transit-oriented area within the city's Official Community Plan at this time.
"If provincial regulation requires a TOA (transit-oriented area) designation for the upper terminal, the TOA bylaw and OCP would be amended," Chris Bryan, public affairs manager, said in an emailed statement.
He added the city has no plans to touch the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area.
The agreement will also consider creating a monitoring committee to review the progress of each organization in meeting its commitments, but the committee wouldn’t be formed until after funding and project approval are secured, according to the report.
Similar agreements have been used for other major TransLink projects, including the Surrey-to-Langley SkyTrain and the Broadway Subway.
