About
Bills 44, 46, 47 passed by the provincial government in November of 2023 have significant implications for Vancouver housing. The legislation, intended to substantially increase housing supply across the province, is broad and takes away control from local government, which the provincial government sees as neglectful in enabling housing. Like the ongoing debates about how to address the housing crisis, some welcome the legislation for being much needed while others denounce it and the provincial government for overstepping into an area where it does not understand local context.
Bill 46 deals with development financing, introducing a new tool called the Amenity Cost Charge which changes the existing ways in which development charges have been levied to provide amenities such as child care spaces and social housing through the Development Cost Levy (DCL) and Community Amenity Contributions (CAC).
Bill 44
Bill 44 ensures that multi-unit housing is allowed in areas zoned exclusively for what is called “single-family houses” or duplexes so that there is enough supply to meet anticipated needs. In the Vancouver context, a review by the City of Vancouver concluded that Vancouver is largely compliant with this legislation through the adoption of R1-1* Residential Inclusive zoning adopted by council in September of 2023.
One area that was not compliant with Bill 44 was the First Shaughnessy Heritage Conservation Area. In May of 2024, the City took steps to change that**. In order to comply, the City of Vancouver allowed multiple dwellings of 6 units as a new use for the properties that are without heritage protection. Until the change, only single detached houses were allowed.
Bill 47 Transit Oriented Areas
Bill 47 mandates minimum heights and densities for areas around rapid transit stations and bus exchanges. Municipalities cannot restrict development proposals in these areas based on density and height. These are called Transit Oriented Areas and there are 29 in Vancouver that have been identified. The minimum heights and densities are tiered with the highest closest to the station. For example, 20 storeys is the minimum within 200 metres, 12 storeys is the minimum between 200-400 metres, and 8 storeys is the minimum between 400 to 800 metres from the station. The logic is to locate high densities and developments with a mix of uses to concentrate people in an area within walking distance to transit. Based on the locations of the Skytrain stations, TOAs are predominantly located east of and along Cambie. The City has pointed out to the province the concern around how to protect “critically important historic areas such as Chinatown, Yaletown and Gastown, as well as retail ‘villages’ such as Main Street and Commercial Drive that support independent businesses facing potential displacement.”
Why on Top10
As is intended by the provincial government, this set of legislation will result in significant changes to the built environment. One of the major difficulties will be in maintaining a sense of place since there is little in the regulations that show concern for that. Especially with TOA areas, there will be displacement and immense pressure on small local businesses, affordable rentals especially areas that have been more affordable on the east side of Vancouver. While the Vancouver Sun reports that the Housing Minister has said that, “the transit-oriented development will ensure communities that have heritage sites will still be able to make decisions around how they want to see (or) if they want to see heritage sites being developed,” it is not that simple for vibrant, unique and beloved streets like the area around Main and Broadway and the portion of Commercial Drive closer to the Skytrain station that do not fall under the formal definition of a “heritage site”. The Joyce-Collingwood area and the Filipino-Canadian community which has been a transit oriented development area before Bill 47 has been an example of the issue around proper planning for development while recognizing and sustaining community identities and ways of living.
Among all the different people and organizations who have an interest in or argue for the city’s diverse forms of heritage, culture, and places that have meaning, there are differing opinions and concerns about the effects of this legislation. Heritage Vancouver is an organization that is committed to place and we believe that the diverse experiences and qualities of neighbourhoods and their identities are critical to the city. We discussed some of the reasons for the province’s view on mandating this legislation in the neighbourhood planning Top10 article in 2022, and we regret the perception that community involvement and place-based planning cannot have a role.
Heritage BC put out their statement on this legislation earlier in the year and have indicated their engagement with the provincial Heritage Branch and its engagement with the housing policy arm of the provincial government. While not easy in the current environment, we will be engaging for example with Heritage BC in hopes of finding ways to make room for nuance in development and considered discussion on planning.
Additional Information
https://heritagevancouver.org/top10-watch-list/2022/3-neighbourhoods/
https://bylaws.vancouver.ca/zoning/zoning-by-law-district-schedule-r1-1.pdf
* R1-1 zoning consolidated what is known as the single family residential zones into one, allowing up to six housing units -including multiplexes- on a standard lot. One concern brought up about the vulnerability of character houses was that with R-1-1 zoning, the retention incentive (FSR 0.85) to keep a character house is less than that of the multiplex (FSR 1), which results in more incentive to demolish the character house.
** From the zoning perspective, the First Shaughnessy Heritage Conservation area consists of 300 properties that are classified as “protected heritage property”, 7 sites that are designated with a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA), and the rest are sites without heritage protection. Under Bill 44, the 300 heritage protected properties are not in compliance. For these properties, the City of Vancouver allowed for multiple conversion dwellings of 6 dwellings, which are conversions of the existing house to contain 6 dwellings. The regulations before the change allowed for options ranging from 2-8 dwellings depending on the size of the property. The 7 sites designated with HRAs are exempt from the requirements of Bill 44.
We acknowledge the financial assistance of the Province of British Columbia
