SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 5
P&E COMMITTEE AGENDA
DECEMBER 14, 1995
POLICY REPORT
Date: Nov. 30, 1995
Dept.File No. RH/TF/SA
TO: Standing Committee on Planning & Environment
FROM: Director of City Plans
Director of Community Planning, in consultation with
CityPlan Department Heads Steering Committee
General Manager of Engineering Services
General Manager of Community Services
General Manager of Corporate Services
General Manager of Parks & Recreation
Manager of the Housing Centre
SUBJECT: CityPlan in Neighbourhoods
RECOMMENDATIONS
A. THAT Council approve the release of the discussion paper
entitled, *"Bringing CityPlan to Neighbourhoods".
B. THAT Council invite public review of the discussion paper,
during January through March 1996, and that Council approve
the review process described in this report (including
distributing a summary of the discussion paper to the
CityPlan mailing list; staff presentations, discussion
groups, and city-wide workshop).
C. THAT the Planning Department report back in May 1996 on the
results of the public review of the discussion paper and on a
proposed approach to implementing CityPlan in Neighbourhoods,
including staff and budget requirements.
D. THAT Council approve carrying forward the remaining CityPlan
budget of approximately $72,000 and using $23,800 for the
public review noted in "B" above, and $44,000 for preparation
of "neighbourhood planning guides" - with costs as detailed
in Appendix B.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
On June 6, 1995, Council approved CityPlan as providing directions for
Vancouver. Included in CityPlan are directions for neighbourhoods, as
noted in Appendix A. These include:
- ... create or strengthen neighbourhood centres in all
neighbourhoods as a place where people can find shops, jobs, and
services close to home.
- ...increase housing variety and affordability in neighbourhoods
that have little variety now to help meet the housing needs of
people of different ages and incomes in the neighbourhoods, the
city, and region.
- ...maintain and improve neighbourhood character.
- ...increase walking, biking, and transit in neighbourhoods and
between neighbourhoods, and reduce single-occupant car use.
CityPlan includes the following statements about implementation:
- "The City should, as a first step, bring people from across the
city together with Council and City staff to determine how to plan
for neighbourhoods and their neighbourhood centres."
- "Develop a new planning process to be used in the planning of each
centre and its surrounding community which promotes problem
solving and resolving differences."
SUMMARY
CityPlan was adopted on June 6, 1995, as directions for Vancouver.
Among the new directions identified in CityPlan are several that are
very relevant to the city's neighbourhoods. These include, for
example, a desire for housing choice throughout the city, reducing
travel by locating jobs closer to where people live, and choice of
neighbourhood character.
Realizing that there are various ways to proceed with these directions
and that any process will involve a significant commitment of City
resources for some years to come, Council asked staff to propose a
process for implementing CityPlan in neighbourhoods. The City would
then invite public comment. This public input would assist staff to
firm up a neighbourhood planning proposal for Council's consideration.
The discussion paper, *"Bringing CityPlan to Neighbourhoods" outlines a
proposed approach to implementing CityPlan at the neighbourhood level.
The discussion paper contains four sections: principles, expectations,
product, and process, as well as questions and answers on topics such
as cost, boundaries, timing, and rezoning policies.
The process proposed in the discussion paper is to develop
"neighbourhood visions". Each "vision" would involve residents,
business owners and operators in a six-month process. The product, a
vision, would describe the kind of neighbourhood people want and how to
move on CityPlan directions at the neighbourhood level. It would, for
example, identify: the location and form of neighbourhood centres;
important aspects of neighbourhood character, public places, and
services; ways to increase the type and amount of housing and jobs in
the neighbourhood; and ways to make the neighbourhood less car
dependent.
A concurrent process at the city-wide scale will assist neighbourhood
visions to build toward a consistent response to CityPlan. Based on
the visions, the City can be strategic about the location and timing of
implementation actions such as rezonings, capital projects, and the
provision of city services.
Staff propose that the discussion paper, and a shorter summary version,
be released for public review and comment early in the new year.
Following this review, a revised program proposal including staffing
and budget will be submitted to Council in May 1996. For Council's
information, preliminary estimates of staffing and budget required for
the approach laid out in the discussion paper are provided in Appendix
C of this report.
Concurrent with the public review of the discussion paper, staff
propose assembling Neighbourhood Planning Guides and other data,
information, and tools/models to assist in the neighbourhood program.
Costs associated with the discussion paper and public review as well as
information gathering can be met from funds remaining in the 1995
CityPlan budget. Staff are available to undertake the activities
outlined.
The CityPlan in Neighbourhoods Program will be under the direction of
the Directors of City Plans and Community Planning. The CityPlan
Department Heads Steering Committee will continue to provide guidance
and coordination between policy planning initiatives (e.g.
Neighbourhoods Program, Transportation Plan).PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is:
- to present a discussion paper which outlines a proposed approach
to implementing CityPlan in neighbourhoods, including proposed
budget estimate; and
- propose a process for public review of the discussion paper.
BACKGROUND
CityPlan provides fourteen key directions for Vancouver. In addition
to ongoing City initiatives in the areas of "Addressing Housing Costs,"
"Art and Culture," "the Downtown," and Clean Air and Water," a variety
of new initiatives are underway which further the CityPlan directions.
These include:
Distinctive Neighbourhhod Character: A new zoning schedule, RS-6, will
be considered at Public Hearing in January. In February staff will be
reporting on a program to assist neighbourhoods to maintain
neighbourhood character.
Accessible Community-Based Services: Fifteen community-based inter-
departmental "Integrated Service Teams" are now in place. Their mandate
is to work with staff from civic departments and with the community to
solve community issues in the community.
Promoting Safety: Nineteen community-based safety initiatives are
underway through Police/Community Service Centres, Community Crime
Prevention Offices, neighbourhood police offices, and police visitation
programs.
New and More Diverse Public Places: On July 18, 1995, Council adopted
a City Greenways network plan involving 14 City Greenways totalling
approximately 140 km. A "Ridgeway Greenway" is under development along
37th Avenue between Granville and Knight Streets linking VanDusen
Gardens, Queen Elizabeth Park, and Kensington Park.
Diverse Economy: Early in 1996, changes will be considered to the
City's Industrial Schedules to facilitate city-oriented and city-
serving jobs. From January to June 1996, a public process will
consider sites for a convention centre -- a major new initiative to
enhance tourism.
Transit, Walking, and Biking: During January to April 1996, the City
will be undertaking a public process on key transportation choices.
This input will be the basis for a draft Transportation Plan which will
then be distributed for public review.
People Involved in Decision-Making and Financial Accountability:
Better City Government initiatives, such as the Development and
Building Regulation Review and the Public Process Review, are
addressing CityPlan Directions.
CityPlan in Neighbourhoods
These ongoing and new programs form a context for the CityPlan
neighbourhood initiative outlined in this report.
The proposed program considers all CityPlan directions, from a
neighbourhood perspective. In particular it will address directions
for Neighbourhood Centres and Housing Variety, Distinctive
Neighbourhood Character, Housing Cost, Jobs Close to Home, Diverse
Public Places and Transit, Walking, and Biking.
1. PROPOSED NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING PROCESS
In June, Council asked staff to consider ways to implement CityPlan in
neighbourhoods.
The attached discussion paper -- "Bringing CityPlan to Neighbourhoods"
-- outlines a proposed approach to implementing CityPlan at the
neighbourhood level. The discussion paper contains four sections:
principles, expectations, product, and process plus questions and
answers.
a) Neighbourhood Principles:
In developing the proposed approach, staff were guided by principles
which emerged from the CityPlan process:
- Reach all neighbourhoods in a reasonable time;
- Follow up on the full range of CityPlan topics together;
- Move forward in the CityPlan directions;
- Recognize neighbourhood distinctiveness;
- Help neighbourhoods keep a city-wide perspective;
- Encourage as many people as possible to participate by making it
easy to be involved in different ways; and
- Keep costs reasonable.
b) Neighbourhood Expectations:
Arising from the principles, staff identified some possible
expectations for the scope of the program. For example:
- CityPlan directions (see Appendix A) provide a guide for
neighbourhood planning.
- Each neighbourhood will seek ways to bring CityPlan directions to
the neighbourhood level.- The City's expectation for a
neighbourhood product is that it
demonstrates a full consideration of the
CityPlan directions, data, and
consequences, and shows movement toward
the CityPlan directions.
- Targets will be set from the ground up based on information
provided in Neighbourhood Planning Guides and the unique
circumstances of each neighbourhood.
- CityPlan is intended to unfold over 30 years. As conditions and
needs will change over that time, not all details need to be
resolved now.
- Neighbourhoods will be given the opportunity and responsibility of
sharing information and work in progress and taking stock as the
process proceeds.
Expectations will need to be widely shared and agreed as a guide for
both the neighbourhood process and the product.
c) Neighbourhood Product:
Staff took the above principles and expectations into account when
considering alternate approaches to preparing neighbourhood plans.
One option considered, but not proposed, is to do detailed
"neighbourhood plans." This would be similar to approaches we have
used in the past. The advantage of this approach is that the product
provides certainty about development directions (e.g., zoning, design
guidelines, development cost levies), services, and capital plan
priorities. The drawback of this approach is that it can take up to
three years to complete each neighbourhood plan. Given current staff
resources, it could take more than 20 years to reach all
neighbourhoods.
Staff are proposing a new approach called "neighbourhood visions."
Visions will provide overall guidance on implementing CityPlan
directions in each neighbourhood. Visions will, for example, include
the location of neighbourhood centres, important aspects of
neighbourhood character and services, ideas to increase the type and
amount of housing and jobs in the neighbourhood, ways to make the
neighbourhood less car dependent, and actions for followup
implementation.
Not every detail will need to be resolved in the visions. They could
contain options for resolution at a later date. Since visions will
provide less detail than traditional neighbourhood plans, they can be
prepared in a shorter time, reaching all neighbourhoods within about
five years. With visions in place, the City can be strategic about the
location and timing of implementation.
d) Neighbourhood Process:
The process for developing a neighbourhood vision is designed to
encourage wide public involvement over a six-month period. The process
has two levels -- a neighbourhood process complemented by a concurrent
city-wide process (Figure 1).
The city-wide process creates a link between neighbourhoods. It
provides a forum for information exchanges, discussion of common
concerns, and opportunities to take stock of progress and addresses
questions of equity between neighbourhoods.
To facilitate the visioning processes, and subsequent implementation,
staff will be developing neighbourhood planning guides containing
information on new approaches to implementing neighbourhood visions.
The city-wide program provides a forum for staff to discuss new ideas
for implementation with the public.The neighbourhood process (Figure 2)
includes two activities - those that involve the public and those that
require staff to assemble information and integrate material for
further public review and comment.
(1) Introductory events invite people to participate in developing a
neighbourhood vision.
(2) At workshops residents, business owners and operators discuss
ideas for the neighbourhood.
(3) Staff assemble workshop ideas into draft visions.
(4) Workshops, displays, and surveys engage citizens in choosing and
refining a preferred vision.
(5) Staff assemble public input into a draft preferred vision.
(6) The neighbourhood discusses and proposes any changes to the
preferred vision.
(7) The neighbourhood vision process concludes with the preferred
vision being discussed with City Council in a public forum.
Staff suggest starting with two neighbourhood vision programs
concurrently. This would complete four visions a year. A program
review is proposed at the conclusion of four visions. This will
provide an opportunity to adjust the program based upon experience. At
that time staff will be in a better position to assess actions required
to implement completed visions and advise Council on ways to adjust
staff resources between developing new visions and implementation. In
addition to this major review, staff will be reporting to Council for
direction at the start and conclusion of each vision process.
e) Neighbourhood Program: Estimate of Costs and Staffing:
At this point, Council is not being asked to approve budget or staff
for the neighbourhood vision process. Following a decision on the
preferred process, staff will propose a program budget.
For information purposes, staff have done some preliminary program cost
estimates. Based on the proposed program:
- Annual non-staff cost to do four neighbourhood visions is
$305,000. This cost could be partially offset by funds normally
spent on community planning projects.
- Estimated annual staffing requirements to do the neighbourhood and
city-wide processes is 20 staff. All but three positions
(multicultural, communications, and youth coordinators) are
available through redirection of existing staff from community
planning and policy programs. If this program proceeds, there will
be substantially reduced resources for undertaking traditional
local area planning programs, area studies, and zoning reviews.
Further information on possible staff and other resource requirements
is attached as Appendix C. A more refined cost projection will be
included in the May 1996 Council report.
2. DISCUSSION PAPER REVIEW
Staff propose that the discussion paper "Bringing CityPlan to
Neighbourhoods" be released in January 1996, for public review and
comment from January through March (Figure 3). Following this review,
staff will report back to Council with a proposed program for
implementing CityPlan in neighbourhoods. Funds required for the public
review are $23,800 as noted in Appendix B, page 1. Source of funds is
the CityPlan budget. Staff will coordinate with other City initiatives
such as the Transportation Plan and Better City Government to take
advantage of opportunities for joint programming and
efficiencies.
3. PREPARATION OF NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING GUIDES
During this same period, January to May 1996, staff recommend starting
to assemble information for "Neighbourhood Planning Guides". The guides
will include information which residents can use to develop vision
statements on such directions as housing variety and neighbourhood
character. The guides will outline expectations for the program and
provide information about the extent of the City's resources for
implementing visions.
The guides will also include a "catalogue" of example traffic calming
methods, affordable housing actions, public place designs, financing
options, and zoning schedules to provide for more housing variety and
address neighbourhood character. These ideas can be used by residents
to develop their neighbourhood vision and implementation plans.
The estimated cost to start preparing the guides is $44,000 as noted on
page 2 of Appendix B. Source of funds is the carry-over CityPlan
budget.
4. REZONINGS DURING NEIGHBOURING VISIONING PROCESSES
On June 6 1995, staff noted the possible problems associated with
privately initiated rezonings potentially prejudicing visioning
processes. At that time Council approved a motion that applications for
rezoning prior to adoption of a neighbourhood vision should not justify
the rezoning on the grounds that it "supports CityPlan neighbourhood
centres."
Staff have reviewed the issue of rezonings prior to and during
neighbourhood visioning programs. Staff continue to be concerned about
the potential disruption and diversion of staff resources which might
occur should a controversial rezoning be initiated prior to an agreed
neighbourhood vision. This is particularly problematic in or near
otherwise single-family areas where development of a neighbourhood
centre will be a significant new direction for the neighbourhood.
A seperate report from the Directors of Planning and the Manager of the
Housing Centre proposes policies regarding rezoning inquiries during
the neighbourhood visioning process.
CONCLUSIONS
The adoption of CityPlan provides the City with overall directions.
These directions provide a context for: future neighbourhood, city, and
regional plans; capital plans; and the delivery of city services.
A wide variety of programs to implement CityPlan are already underway.
Programs include Greenways, the Transportation Plan, Community
Policing, zoning schedules for more compatible single-family zoning,
and Integrated Service Teams. Further initiatives will be considered in
the context of Capital Plan proposals.
The CityPlan directions provide quidance for improving neighbour- hood
livability. The next step is to develop neighbourhood initiatives
which respond to CityPlan directions.
This report proposes a process to develop Neighbourhood Visions. These
Visions will provide a framework for actions in neighbourhoods which
meet both the needs of neighbourhoods and contribute to the kind of
city thousands of people supported through the CityPlan process.
The neighbourhood vision process is a proposal which is being aired for
public discussion. Following public input staff will prepare a
detailed work program for "bringing CityPlan to neighbourhoods."
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