SUPPORTS ITEM NO.2

P&E COMMITTEE AGENDA

JULY 24, 1997

POLICY REPORT

URBAN STRUCTURE

Date: July 8. 1997

Dept. IAS

C.C. File No.: 8206

TO:Standing Committee of Council on Planning and Environment

FROM:Director of Central Area Planning, in consultation with the Manager of Real Estate Services and the Director of Finance

SUBJECT:Terms of Reference for Hiring Consultants on Environmental Sustainability for Planning Southeast False Creek

RECOMMENDATIONS

A.THAT the Terms of Reference in this report be endorsed by Council for a consultancy on environmental sustainability for Southeast False Creek;

B.THAT funding for the consultancy in an amount up to $80,000 be approved;

FURTHER THAT the required funds, to be determined with the hiring of the consultant, come from the Property Endowment Fund.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.

COUNCIL POLICY

·On October 26, 1995 Council approved the boundaries, management structure, staffing, planning process and timing for planning Southeast False Creek.

·On May 8, 1997, after receiving a consultant’s report on economic parameters for development, Council initiated the planning process for a sustainable community at Southeast False Creek, including a recommendation that staff report back on the terms of reference for a sustainable development consultancy by July 1997.

PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND

This report presents a Terms of Reference and sets a budget for the consultancy on environmental sustainability for Southeast False Creek. This consultancy will be underway as other activities also begin toward preparing an overall policy statement for the area. Ultimately, all work must merge into a coherent direction for later detailed zoning and development planning. The entire planning program was outlined fully and approved by Council in October 1995.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

The Terms of Reference are included in Appendix 'A'.

Following Council's decision to now proceed with the planning program, staff immediately began work on these Terms of Reference. A draft was reviewed by all relevant City departments and then released to the public. A well attended workshop was held on June 25, 1997 for interested citizens, environmental groups and academics to comment on this draft. Other inputs were also received and incorporated.

In the recommended Terms of Reference, the consultants are asked to provide a succinct definition of sustainable development, as well as parameters of an ecological, social and economic nature that would be relevant in an urban setting for Southeast False Creek. The consultants will also define performance targets that can be realistically achieved on the site and provide a list of relevant precedents to guide our future planning for sustainability.

The final step will be developing a framework for full-cost accounting which is relevant to municipal land development. This will include identifying a methodology for assessing true costs and benefits, over a life cycle time frame.

The team will include expertise in sustainable development, environmental assessment, urban planning and architecture, engineering, social planning and full-cost accounting.

With the acceptance of these Terms of Reference, consultant selection will begin and it is expected that work will commence in September.

CONSULTANT BUDGET

Advice from many quarters suggests the original estimate of $30,000 to complete this work would be wholly inadequate. It will be important for the consultant to be well integrated into the initial stages of the planning process, both to learn what has already been done, but more importantly, to educate participants. In addition to sophisticated technical work, the consultant team will be directly involved with the working group and some of the advisory groups. We see the consultancy running approximately four months, with a final product being delivered by mid-January, with further

involvement thereafter at key public events. Based on this program, we have estimated a total consultant budget of up to $80,000. This funding will be provided by the Property Endowment Fund as an integral part of the costs of preparing the site for development.

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APPENDIX A on file in City Clerk's Office

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver