CITY OF VANCOUVER
M E M O R A N D U M
From: CITY CLERK'S OFFICE Date: October 5, 1995
Refer File: 8037
To: Vancouver City Council
Subject: Official Community Plan Electoral Area "A" (UBC)
The University of British Columbia and the Greater Vancouver
Regional District have agreed to develop an Official Community
Plan (OCP) for the UBC campus for consideration by the GVRD
Board. The process to develop the OCP is underway.
The following will make brief presentations to City Council:
- Mr. Hugh Kellas, Administrator, Policy Development,
GVRD Strategic Planning, will outline the community
plan process;
- Mr. Ted Sebastian, Plan, City Plans Division, will
highlight the City's concerns which should be addressed
in the plan.
The attached Policy Report dated October 2, 1995, refers.
CITY CLERK
MCross:dmy
Att. POLICY REPORT
Urban Structure
Date: Oct.
2, 1995
Dept. File
No. TS
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Director of City Plans and
General Manager of
Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Official Community Plan Electoral Area "A" (UBC)
RECOMMENDATION
THAT the GVRD be asked to ensure that the preparation of the
UBC Official Community Plan addresses the following City
concerns:
- Traffic movement to and from the UBC campus through the
City. Adding students and jobs on the campus will be a
concern in adjacent neighbourhoods unless the Official
Community Plan incorporates:
- housing appropriate for students, staff, and other
workers;
- significant traffic demand management policies;
- retail development limits tied to the daily needs of
campus users and residents.
- Payment of appropriate levies by UBC for the use of
regional services is a current and on-going concern.
- Future development of UBC lands could produce
additional demands for City services including:
- road/transit/traffic control improvements;
- schools;
- recreation facilities and services;
- libraries, etc.
Adequate planning, provision, and funding of these
facilities and services is a concern.
- There is also a concern that the Official Community
Plan should provide for consultation with adjacent
residents on more detailed plans and development
proposals.
GENERAL MANAGERS' COMMENTS
The General Managers of Community Services and Engineering
Services RECOMMEND approval of the foregoing.COUNCIL POLICY
In June 1995 Council adopted CityPlan which has as a major
direction "...to put transit, walking, and biking ahead of cars
to slow traffic growth in neighbourhoods and improve the
environment."
Council has requested that UBC be charged for the GVS&DD sewer
services that it uses (March 1995).
PURPOSE
The University of B.C. and the Greater Vancouver Regional
District have agreed an Official Community Plan for the UBC
campus will be developed for consideration by the GVRD Board.
This report provides Council with background information on the
planning process and recommends several City concerns that should
be addressed in the Official Community Plan.
SUMMARY
The process to develop an Official Community Plan (OCP) for the
University of British Columbia campus is underway. A draft OCP is
to be completed by March 31, 1996. Councillor Clarke, City
staff, and Vancouver residents sit on committees overseeing the
development of the plan. In order to provide a City perspective
early in the planning process, this report recommends Council
endorse as City concerns approaches to traffic growth, payment
for regional services, additional demands for City services, and
community involvement in more detailed plans to be developed
after adoption of the OCP.
BACKGROUND
The University of British Columbia campus is not covered by an
Official Community Plan. Some recent non-institutional
development has raised concern among nearby residents, partly
because there has not been adequate public process or input from
Vancouver as an adjacent municipality in the approval process.
The Minister of Municipal Affairs has supported the GVRD
initiative to establish an Official Community Plan for the UBC
campus.
An OCP usually covers an area with multiple land owners, a
population which is engaged in an extensive plan development
process, and a Council which adopts the plan and subsequently
approves more detailed development regulations such as subarea
OCPs or zoning by-laws (after further public process). Draft
OCPs must be forwarded to adjacent municipalities for comment.
The Growth Strategies Act requires OCPs to have a regional
context statement which provides a link between the plan and
regional growth management strategies such as the Livable Region
Strategic Plan.The UBC situation is unusual because:
- the area to be covered by the OCP is either park or owned
only by the university;
- the landowner initiates and approves developments;
- the population of permanent residents is small;
- the decision-making body (the Board of Governors) is not
elected by the resident population; and
- campus development has significant impacts on adjacent
communities.
Initially, UBC felt the Universities Act gave its Board of
Governors the authority to make development decisions on lands
owned by the university. At the same time, the Greater Vancouver
Regional District felt it had the authority to develop an
Official Community Plan which could regulate the development of
the campus lands. In a spirit of cooperation, UBC and the GVRD
signed a Memorandum of Understanding which provides for the
development of an OCP which respects the goals of each
organization.
The December 1994 agreement initiated the preparation of an
Official Community Plan for an area that includes the UBC campus
and two foreshore lots located in Pacific Spirit Regional Park
(Maps in Appendix A). The full Hampton Place development
(including some unbuilt towers) was excluded from the OCP because
it had been approved prior to the start of the process.
A Technical Advisory Committee for the project was formed in
April 1995, consultants were engaged, and a Planning Advisory
Committee of representatives from UBC and adjacent communities
was established in June 1995.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) includes representatives
from the GVRD; adjacent municipalities; the Ministries of
Transportation and Highways, Municipal Affairs, Environment/
Lands and Parks; the University Endowment Lands Administration;
the Vancouver School Board; BC Transit; and other organizations
with an interest in the project.
There is no formal City representation on the Planning Advisory
Committee (PAC). Members of the Committee were selected to
provide for a range of citizen input. Several Vancouver residents
-- including two members of the Vancouver Planning Commission and
residents from Point Grey and Dunbar -- are on the Committee,
though not in an official capacity (Members of TAC and PAC are
listed in Appendix B).The City is formally involved in the UBC
OCP process in two ways:
- Councillor Clarke represents the City on the Electoral Areas
Committee of the GVRD Board which oversees the project and
will recommend to the GVRD Board whether or not to adopt the
draft OCP. Councillor Clarke also acts as liaison between
the Electoral Areas Committee and the PAC.
- the Director of City Plans represents the City on the
Technical Advisory Committee. Other departments are
included depending upon agenda items.
a) Technical Planning Program
The consultants for this project -- ID Group in conjunction with
Cornerstone Planning Group and Durante Kreuk Ltd. -- have started
work. A communications and consultation program was developed by
the consultants and considered by the Planning Advisory
Committee. Many studies on the area have been reviewed and a
background report prepared and published.
The consultants recommended that the planning program to develop
a draft plan be extended by three months to the end of March 1996
in order to permit an adequate public consultation process,
recognizing the difficulty of involving the public during the
summer and December holidays. UBC agreed to extend its
moratorium on non-institutional development to March 31, 1996.
b) Community Consultation Process
The public consultation program is being undertaken by
Cornerstone Planning Group. A GVRD Communications and Education
representative participates in the OCP Technical Advisory
Committee to ensure the program meets GVRD requirements.
The public consultation process has begun. An Open House was
held at UBC on September 20, 1995. Consultants have interviewed
a range of stakeholders and developed a preliminary list of
issues (Appendix C).
The next step is to prepare planning principles that will provide
a framework for the development of land use options. A combined
PAC and TAC workshop on October 11, 1995 will discuss these
principles. Two public workshops, involving a total of about 50
invited guests, will be held on October 21 to consider these
planning principles. The results of these sessions will be a
draft set of principles that will be reviewed by the PAC in
November.
The final principles will be used to develop Official Community
Plan options that will be available for public comment in January
1996.FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The budget for this project is $100,000, with half contributed by
GVRD member municipalities and half provided through a planning
grant from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. The process is
being administered by the GVRD Strategic Planning Department.
DECISION MAKING
On conclusion of the process, the draft OCP will be formally
referred to the City of Vancouver (as an adjacent municipality)
for comment prior to the GVRD Board vote on the OCP. The final
Official Community Plan will also require the approval of the
Minister of Municipal Affairs.
LIVABLE REGION STRATEGIC PLAN IMPLICATIONS
The Official Community Plan will need to reflect a number of
Strategic Plan directions. A major challenge will be creating an
OCP which works towards the creation of a "complete community" at
UBC including a diversity of housing types, tenures, and costs.
It will also be a challenge to "increase transportation choice"
to and within UBC and to use transportation demand management as
a fundamental transportation requirement for achieving the goals
and objectives of the Strategic Plan.
CITYPLAN IMPLICATIONS
Growth in enrolment or the amount of non-institutional research,
housing, and commercial facilities at UBC have the potential to
conflict with CityPlan directions. If past trends continue,
growth at UBC will make it more difficult to meet Vancouverites'
desire "...to put transit, walking, and biking ahead of cars to
slow traffic growth in their neighbourhoods and improve the
environment." Policies in the OCP could work to change the trend
in two ways. First, additional housing would help reduce
additional trips to and from UBC but only if the housing is
carefully targeted towards meeting the needs of students, staff,
and researchers that now commute. Second, the OCP could move in
the direction of reducing the share of UBC oriented trips made by
car by incorporating transportation demand management techniques.
Similarly, new commercial services which meet the daily needs of
university residents will tend to reduce trips while commercial
development that serves a broader function would tend to attract
more trips, possibly including some Vancouver residents who now
shop in local retail areas.OTHER IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CITY OF
VANCOUVER
Additional development on the UBC campus has other implications
for Vancouver:
- Paying for Regional Services
The sewage from the UBC campus is piped to a regional treatment
plant. However, UBC has not been paying a levy to cover the cost
of this treatment. In the spring of this year Council endorsed a
report requesting that UBC pay for its sewage treatment costs,
that these costs be collected by the GVRD, and that the City's
share of regional treatment costs be reduced proportionately.
Negotiations for payment by UBC for GVS&DD services are underway,
it is expected an agreement will soon be reached for UBC to begin
paying a GVS&DD levy in 1996 (retroactive to January 1, 1995).
This levy will also include a growth share for regional sewage
treatment improvements.
- Additional Demands on City Services
Growth on the UBC campus could produce additional demands on City
services. At a minimum, the OCP should include provisions that
will assist the City in planning for these services. The OCP
could also seek to minimize demands for City services or provide
a mechanism for paying the cost of these services. Services
which could be affected include:
Road/Transit/Traffic Control Improvements: The OCP should
include housing, transportation demand management policies,
and retail development limits to minimize growth in trips to
UBC. However, if trips increase, the planning and funding
of initiatives to increase pedestrian safety, transit
service, neighbourhood protection, and road capacity will be
a concern. The recently-approved Task Force should play an
important role in considering the impacts and possible
solutions.
Schools: The School Board operates two schools on the
University Endowment Lands. Currently there are few
students living in Hampton Place and attending Vancouver
Schools. UBC has a long-term objective of leasing about 30%
(or 350 acres) of its land for housing (when built-out
Hampton Place will have about 950 units occupying 3% of the
campus). The number of elementary and secondary students
living in this housing will depend on the size, cost, and
type of units constructed. The OCP should include
provisions or policies which will allow these students to be
accommodated on UBC lands. "Leakage" to Vancouver schools
or lags before on-campus facilities are provided could
strain existing facilities. Although schools are funded on
a per student grant basis from the province, planning for an
increase in students will be a concern.
Parks and Community Centres, Libraries, etc.: Residents of
new housing could place demands on recreation, community,
and library facilities and services provided by the City,
even if adequate facilities are provided as part of future
development on campus lands.
- Provisions for Broad Community Input in Future Decisions
The $100,000 budget for the development of the UBC OCP means that
the draft plan will likely be quite general. Although it will
provide a clear land use framework that has been developed with
input from City residents and staff, it is anticipated that
adjacent neighbourhoods and residents will request that the OCP
incorporate provisions for broad public input into the
development of more detailed plans and the review of individual
proposals. The concern is the need for adjacent residents to be
notified of proposals, to be offered the opportunity to express
concerns in the approval process, and for their concerns to be
given serious consideration. Optional approaches to meeting
these concerns could include the preparation of subarea OCPs
which require GVRD approval, a requirement that more detailed
development plans and guidelines be developed in accordance with
the OCP, and a UBC development permit approval process which
requires notification of adjacent neighbourhoods.
CONCLUSION
Development on the UBC campus has consequences for Vancouver.
Vancouver City Council, staff, and residents sit on committees
charged with the development of an Official Community Plan for
UBC.
It is recommended that the City ask the GVRD to ensure that the
draft plan clearly addresses the following City concerns:
- traffic impacts;
- payment for regional services;
- additional demands for City services including:
- road/transit/traffic control improvements
- schools
- parks and recreation facilities
- libraries, etc.; and
- consultation with adjacent residents on more detailed plans
and development proposals.
Staff will report back to Council with comments and recommenda-
tions when the draft OCP is completed.
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