The City of Vancouver has officially proposed a series of changes that would rezone certain areas of the Broadway Plan area and Cambie Corridor Plan area to allow for low-rise and high-rise towers by default, effectively pre-zoning the sites to streamline the development approval process.
The proposed changes apply to portions of the Broadway Plan Area that are primarily located between W 16th Avenue and Broadway. For the Cambie Corridor Plan area the changes are all within the Oakridge Municipal Town Centre sub-area.
The City of Vancouver's current zoning schedule for these areas allows for low-density housing up to multiplexes. If developers want to go beyond what is allowed, they have to submit a rezoning application, which has historically taken about 12 months to be approved. Following rezoning approval — rather than concurrently like in many other municipalities — the developer has to submit a development application, before then applying for a building permit.
Broadway Plan Area
For the areas within the Broadway Plan, the areas that would be affected by this zoning change are currently zoned RM-3, RM-4, FM-1, R1-1, RT-2, RT-5, RT-6, RT-7, or RT-8.
The City is now proposing that all of these specific areas be rezoned to R3 (Low-Rise Residential) or R5 (High-Rise Residential) by default, allowing owners of sites in these areas to proceed directly to the development application stage, cutting a significant amount of time from the approvals process.
The R3 zoning district would enable a variety of low-rise residential buildings up to six storeys, whether it be multiplexes, townhouses, or apartment buildings, while continuing to allow for single-family homes. The R5 zoning district would enable high-rise residential buildings up to between 20 and 22 storeys. Both zoning district schedules will be accompanied by "design guidelines that will provide guidance on building massing, landscaping, parking and loading, and other aspects of built form and site design," the City says.
The new zoning schedules also come with requirements as it relates to housing tenure. As is the case already, new developments at these sites will need to be 100% rental with 20% of the floor area provided as below-market rental. However, for some of the new R5 zones, the City is now proposing to allow strata buildings with 20% of the floor area provided as social housing — a form that has been common in the West End but absent from the Broadway corridor. Such strata projects would only be allowed for sites that are not currently occupied by purpose-built rental housing.
The areas within the Broadway Plan that would be affected by the proposed zoning change. / City of Vancouver
The heights, densities, and residential tenures allowed under the proposed zoning changes. / City of Vancouver
The impact on the approval timeline will likely benefit the low-rise projects more so than the high-rise projects, as the City says it is still requiring site-specific rezonings in much of the high-rise areas, in order to regulate the numbers of towers per block or block face, in areas where there are tower limits.
For the high-rise sites, although the stated maximum heights are between 18 to 22 storeys, the City notes that these zoning districts leave room for heights up to 26 storeys to maintain flexibility in cases where sites may have abnormal conditions, such as abnormally-large sites. Minor density increases of up to 0.3 FSR may also be allowed for projects that include commercial space.
Cambie Corridor Area
The proposed changes impact a much smaller amount of sites in the Cambie Corridor, applying only to a handful of sites with close proximity to Oakridge-41st Street Station that are currently zoned R1-1 for single-family homes and multiplexes up to six units.
Many of the sites in this area that are not included in the proposed changes, such as those along Cambie Street and W 41st Avenue, have already been rezoned (or in the process of being rezoned) through individual rezoning applications, so the changes would in effect be bringing the rest of the area in line with what is already being allowed in the area.
The sites within the Oakridge Municipal Town Centre sub-area of the Cambie Corridor Plan area that would be affected by the proposed zoning changes. / City of Vancouver
With the proposed changes, typical tower heights in this area would be increased, however, from between 15 and 18 storeys to between 20 and 22 storeys, the City says, also with flexibility for up to 26 storeys depending on site conditions.
Currently under the Cambie Corridor Plan, strata projects are allowed if 30% of the residential floor area is provided as social housing, and the City is also proposing this requirement be reduced to 20% to improve the feasibility of such projects. It is also proposing tower spacing requirements be decreased from 90 ft of separation to 80 ft, which the City says has emerged as the norm in other City policies and also in practice.
What Happens Next
Although the proposed changes may come as shock to many, particularly to locals concerned about renter displacement in the Broadway Plan area, the changes are not completely out of the blue. For the Broadway Plan area, the changes are in line with the amendments that were approved in December. For the Cambie Corridor Plan area, the changes are in line with the Province's transit-oriented areas legislation.
"This project is one of the implementation initiatives under the Vancouver Plan, which includes direction to simplify, clarify and consolidate plans, policies and regulations to improve the development process," the City said on its webpage outlining the proposed changes. "These proposed changes would allow housing projects to be built faster with less cost, giving priority to providing homes for people who need them and working toward maintaining diversity in the city."
The City will be holding the Q&A period for the proposed changes from now until Tuesday, March 18, after which the changes will be forwarded to a public hearing sometime in Q2.
