ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: August 10, 2000
Author/Local: BElliott/7447

RTS No. 01638

CC File No. 8206

Council: September 12, 2000

TO: Vancouver City Council

FROM: Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT: Canadian Institute of Planning - National Honour Award:

Southeast False Creek Policy Statement

INFORMATION

THAT this report be received for information.

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services submit this report for INFORMATION.

PURPOSE

This report informs Council of a National Honour Award received by the City of Vancouver from the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) for the Southeast False Creek Policy Statement.

BACKGROUND

Each year, CIP honours planning projects from across the country for their excellence, innovation, and impact on the field of planning. Since the mid-1980s, the City of Vancouver has received CIP National Honour Awards for our work on the Vancouver Legacies Program (1988), Artists Studios Policy (1989), the CityPlan Process (for Innovation in Public Participation - 1995), and the Central Waterfront Port Lands Policy and Protocol (for Intergovernmental Cooperation - 1995).

This year, at the 2000 conference held in Charlottetown, the City of Vancouver received a National Honour Award for its Southeast False Creek Policy Statement: Toward aSustainable Urban Neighbourhood. In general, the project was honoured for its strong thrust toward sustainability. To emphasize sustainability, the Policy Statement has expanded sections on land-use, built form, open space and transportation, and it includes innovative new sections on the environment, economic development and stewardship.

SOUTHEAST FALSE CREEK POLICY STATEMENT

Based on instructions from Vancouver City Council in 1996 to explore sustainable options for the City-owned lands in Southeast False Creek, the Policy Statement was produced over a two-year period and was adopted by Council in October 1999. A wide range of groups and individuals were consulted in its production, ranging from environmental youth organizations to the City’s advisory committees, and from renowned experts to local area residents.

The Southeast False Creek area comprises 80 acres of former industrial lands that will be transformed into a high-density mixed-use neighbourhood, composed largely of family housing but also including retail, service and other work-related land uses. In addition, the site will accommodate a large amount of park land to serve both the local and the broader communities, thus opening the last remaining piece of the False Creek waterfront to public use.

The next steps in the redevelopment process are to develop an Official Development Plan (ODP) and then rezone the land. Earlier this year, Council approved funding for the creation of the ODP and it is expected to be completed by the summer of 2001.

Staff acknowledged in the award were Ian Smith ( Project Manager), Mark Holland, Michael Naylor, Coreen Hanson and Larry Beasley but, as Council is aware, a large group of dedicated staff all contributed to this truly corporate process. These included Tom Timm, Susan Clift and the Projects Group from Engineering; Tilo Driessen and Piet Rutgers from Parks; Sue Harvey and Burke Taylor from Social and Cultural Planning; Kolvane Yuh, Bruce Maitland and Ann Bancroft-Jones from Real Estate; John Jessup and Cameron Gray from Housing; and Brent MacGregor from the City Manager’s Office. Special acknowledgment should also be extended to the Sheltair Consultants who informed us on environmental sustainability and the Southeast False Creek Advisory Group, who gave up many evenings to ensure the Policy Statement embodied all aspects of sustainable development.

The Awards Jury commented, “The Policy Statement has established the framework for a sustainable community which must be followed as the Southeast False Creek area is redeveloped. Urban sustainability planning, still being pioneered in Canada, will benefit from this important work.”

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver