Council\u2019s agenda<\/a> for its May 5 meeting includes nine rezoning proposals and two others that are expected to be referred to a future meeting for decision. Tuesday\u2019s meeting marks the first time council has dealt with such a large number of applications under the new rules.<\/p>\nUnder the province\u2019s Vancouver Charter amendments, brought forward through Bill 18, projects that are consistent with the recently passed Official Development Plan (ODP) and include at least 50 per cent residential floor area are prohibited from holding a public hearing.<\/p>\n
However, if a project matches the ODP but includes significant non\u2011residential uses, council has a choice: they can either send the project to a public hearing, or decide on it at a regular council meeting.<\/p>\n
Council approved Vancouver\u2019s ODP March 12.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a document that aims to provide residents, businesses and developers with more clarity and certainty on how different neighbourhoods will grow over time. In a news release at the time, Mayor Ken Sim called the ODP\u2019s approval \u201ca defining moment\u201d for Vancouver.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Vancouver ODP ensures growth happens thoughtfully and in a coordinated way so we can deliver more housing, support a strong local economy, and build complete, connected neighbourhoods,\u201d Sim said. \u201cIt\u2019s about making sure our city continues to meet the needs of the people who live and work here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ODP includes maps and policies that show where housing, job space, parks, schools and public facilities could go, helping ensure growth is coordinated with the development of infrastructure and amenities.<\/p>\n
Workshops, open houses<\/p>\n
The same news release said \u201cother opportunities\u201d will be maintained for the public to provide input during the rezoning process. That includes the \u201cshape your city\u201d platform, where each rezoning application has a dedicated page and comment box.<\/p>\n
The city has also promised to continue holding in-person and virtual workshops and open houses \u201cas needed, to gather feedback and provide information about development proposals,\u201d according to information on the city\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile public hearings are crucial for community input, they often occur too late in the rezoning process to significantly influence outcomes,\u201d the website said. \u201cThis timing can limit public participation and accessibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, the former public hearing process did allow for a substantial amount of housing to be approved, according to a city news release April 8.<\/p>\n
In 2025, the city approved more than 12,500 new homes,\u00a0exceeding the annual target of 8,300 by 54 per cent. Of the 12,500 approved, 2,300 purpose-built market rental units were completed, marking the highest annual level of rental completions in more than 40 years.<\/p>\n
‘Deeper affordability’<\/p>\n
Josh White, the city\u2019s general manager of planning, urban design and sustainability, said a key contributor to the increase was the below-market rental program, which secures long-term affordable homes by allowing added density in exchange for below-market rents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis demonstrates the effectiveness of city policies in supporting deeper affordability through private-sector development,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n
One of the rezoning applications before council Tuesday concerns a property in the West End, where the developer wants to build two buildings: a 41-storey mixed-use building containing 377 rental units, with commercial space on the ground floor; and a 38-storey residential building containing 236 strata units.<\/p>\n
The site comprises two parcels located on the southwest corner of Alberni and Bidwell Streets.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s council meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at city hall.<\/p>\n
[email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\nX\/@Howellings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Change connected to provincial government\u2019s Bill 18 and council\u2019s adoption of Official Development Plan Vancouver city council will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55,197024],"class_list":["post-649480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver","tag-vancouver-city-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}