Vancouver
Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability
Interim Rezoning Policy - Transportation Development
14968
Executive summary
- Advancing detailed area planning around the Rupert and Renfrew SkyTrain stations in alignment with the Vancouver Plan process will enable the City to further a number of key city-wide objectives, policies and initiatives while recognizing the unique opportunities and challenges of this area. Vancouver Plan will provide a long term land use strategy for the city and will include direction on land use priorities and how different types of neighbourhoods will grow and change. This station area plan will be the first area plan to be strongly shaped and guided by the land use policies that will be included in Vancouver Plan.
- The Terms of Reference identify important elements to be addressed through area planning such as exploring new housing opportunities, protecting job lands and enhancing Still Creek. The Terms of Reference also include an updated project timeline.
- As with other recent planning programs, an Interim Rezoning Policy and a Development Contribution Expectation Policy are proposed to help limit land speculation and establish the conditions under which new rezoning applications could be considered while the area planning process is underway. The Interim Rezoning Policy would allow some types of rezoning applications to be accepted and considered, including applications for 100% social housing and 100% job lands projects.
- In order to be consistent with the Interim Rezoning Policy, minor amendments would be required for three existing policies: the Grandview Boundary Mixed Employment Area Plan, the Grandview Boundary Mixed Employment Area Rezoning and Development Policies and Guidelines and the Secured Rental Policy. The Interim Rezoning Policy and Development Contribution Expectations Policy are supported by an amendment to the Community Amenity Contribution Policy for Rezonings that would remove a CAC exemption that currently applies to some of the employment lands in the area.
- This report also identifies the need for additional policies supporting flood risk management to respond to increased flood risk in the area, and would provide staff with direction to undertake additional work assessing changing flood risk and recommending short-term policies to manage increasing flood risk. Any new policies would be subject to Council approval. The interim flood risk policy would be updated at the end of the planning process, contingent on further study.
Climate implications
- Flood risk and creek health will feature more prominently in the planning process. Much of the area is located within the Still Creek watershed, and a portion of Still Creek is located adjacent to the Rupert and Renfrew SkyTrain stations.
- Still Creek is one of Vancouver’s few remaining watercourses, providing environmental and social value while also serving as a natural drainage asset. Still Creek is negatively impacted by different pressures from climate and land use changes resulting in degraded water quality, riparian area encroachment and changes in flow causing erosion and instability. The Still Creek floodplain is located within the planning boundary, which creates additional challenges to consider in the planning process for the area.
- The Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan will incorporate an integrated One Water approach to achieve multiple watershed and land use planning objectives. This work will be informed by existing policies, including the Still Creek Integrated Stormwater Management Plan and the Rain City Strategy.
- Additional watershed-based technical studies are underway to support the development of the Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan and utility servicing strategy. As these studies will only address the Still Creek watershed, significant changes to land use (density and impervious area) are unlikely to be considered in other watersheds that overlap with the Rupert and Renfrew study area.
- The final area plan is expected to include watershed-specific policies and measures to improve creek health and manage flood risk. In the interim, staff will utilize existing rainwater, drainage, and groundwater management policies and regulations to protect Still Creek. Consideration will need to be given for interim flood management requirements while the planning process is underway to manage increased flood risk resulting from climate change and development in the Still Creek floodplain.
- In December 2021, Metro Vancouver completed an updated flood study for the Still Creek –Brunette River basin which covers multiple jurisdictions, including the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Moody, and New Westminster. This flood study is an update to previous flood mapping conducted in 1998 which informed the City of Vancouver’s current Still Creek floodplain designation. The updated study identifies that the Still Creek floodplain in Vancouver is expanding as a result of climate change and other factors. Appendix F presents a comparison of the floodplain extent from the 1998 study and the December 2021 study.
- Staff are currently reviewing the updated flood mapping to further interpret and clarify the results in Vancouver and will report back to Council with proposed changes to floodplain management policies. The changes may include an updated floodplain area designation, updated Flood Construction Levels, and updated creek setback requirements. Any new policies or policy amendments would be brought forward for Council’s consideration.In addition to those interim policies, further study will be completed to understand and incorporate flood risk and resilience considerations into land use, infrastructure, and creek health, and would result in additional requirements as part of the final Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan.