At the Standing Committee on City Finance and Services on June 26th, Council gave approval in principle to the new Transit Oriented Area (TOA) Designation Bylaw, as well as a draft TOA Rezoning Policy. This TOA Rezoning Policy will establish conditions under which new rezoning enquiries and applications will be considered. Additional changes to be brought forward include consequential amendments to community plans and City policies. 

Rezoning Policy 

• Provincial legislation does not require municipalities to amend existing zoning in TOAs to prescribed heights and densities 
• Opportunities to pre-zone land within TOAs are being explored through Vancouver Plan implementation, and may be brought forward for Council consideration in the future 
• The intent of the Rezoning Policy is to guide reviews of rezoning enquiries and applications within the 29 TOAs, and to clarify expectations within and outside of existing plan areas until future planning work can be completed to either amend existing or introduce new policy through area plans 
• The Rezoning Policy will apply to parcel configurations in existence at time of TOA Bylaw enactment 
• Land Use Framework - generally follows tiers identified in the TOA Policy Manual for heights and densities, with some minor adjustments noted below: 
  • For Tier 1, density is proposed to increase from 5.0 FSR to 5.5 FSR based on typical lot sizes/assemblies in the Vancouver context. These provisions would be expanded to certain RM-zoned properties in the Commercial-Broadway Station Precinct of the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan that are up to 400m from Commercial-Broadway Station; 
  • For Tiers 3 and 5, no changes to provincial heights and densities are being proposed as 3.0 FSR is commensurate with 6-storey developments in Vancouver. Rezoning applications for 8-storey buildings will be considered, but a greater uptake of low-rise, wood-frame options are anticipated 
• Relationship to Existing Plans – The TOA legislation enables additional redevelopment options for provincially-mandated heights and densities for sites in community plan areas, and supplements existing City plan policies and options for development 
• Housing 
  • Proposals seeking to maximize height and density in all Tiers will be required to 1) secure 100% of the residential floor area as secured rental housing, with a minimum 20% permanently secured as BMR, or 2) deliver 30% of the residential floor area to the City as "turn-key" social housing; 
  • In all Tiers, policy will support applications for low-rise market rental developments of 4-5 storeys, and 6-storeys with 20% BMR, which could be rezoned directly into existing rental residential district schedules rather than custom zones for each site; 
  • Third-party financial testing has shown proposed inclusionary housing requirements for the higher-density options in Tiers 1, 2, and 4 are currently feasible in some, though not all, TOAs. City staff will be refining inclusionary housing policies further through inclusionary housing and density bonusing tools, which local governments are required to transition to by mid-2025 under Bill 16 - this work will take a more fine-grained approach to development economics and project viability; 
  • Future area planning processes will explore housing needs and opportunities within individual TOAs in greater detail, and may result in changes to this policy over time 
• Tenant Protection 
  • The same enhanced Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy (TRPP) for Broadway Plan is included in the TOA Rezoning Policy; 
  • Additional Height and Density - non-profit owned seniors housing, 100% social housing, and residential or commercial proposals advancing the City's reconciliation goals can be considered above and beyond on a case-by-case basis. Proposals can also take advantage of additional height incentives offered through the Mass Timber Policy for Rezonings to advance the City's Climate Emergency Response goal of reducing carbon emissions related to construction materials 
• Other Land Uses 
  • Delivery of ground-floor commercial space is expected to align with existing plans where they exist, except King Edward Station TOA where staff are requiring at-grade commercial uses of remaining arterial redevelopment sites to address a known deficit. Where no area plan exists, this is expected on arterial sites within 400m of the station or 200m of a bus exchange; 
  • Proposals for 100% commercial space can also be considered in Tier 1 up to 20 storeys or 5.5 FSR to help address lack of hotel capacity in Vancouver 
• Form of Development 
  • Proposals should generally comply with existing built form guidelines. For those outside of existing area plans, proposals will be expected to generally comply with form of development as outlined in the Broadway Plan for midrise and tower forms, and with Residential Rental Districts Schedules Design Guidelines or other applicable city-wide urban design guidelines for low-rise forms; 
  • All other City policies, guidelines, and bulletins still apply per standard process 
• Heritage 
  • Rezoning proposals in TOAs can be considered for up to 10% additional density beyond the policy maximum under the TOA Rezoning Policy, similar to policy already approved for the Broadway Plan area, for proposals which retain, conserve and designate a heritage building on the Vancouver Heritage Register (VHR) in a manner consistent with Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada and the City’s Heritage Policies 
• Infrastructure and Amenities 
  • Utilities and transportation - subject to Council direction, staff will initiate a coordinated utilities review with local and regional partners to better understand impacts of meeting the provincial TOA legislation on shared infrastructure and map out any associated infrastructure upgrades; 
  • While public amenities (parks and open spaces, childcare, social and cultural facilities) are not the focus of the initial rezoning policy, public amenities will be addressed through the city-wide infrastructure plan and investment framework 
• Implementation 
  • In cases where TOAs overlap, the higher tier will apply. Since height and density do not always correspond, proposals will be limited to whichever is achieved first 
• Process 
  • Active in-stream rezoning applications will be allowed to proceed under policies in effect at time of application submission; 
  • Rezoning applications under existing city-wide policies that are pending at the time of adoption of the TOA Rezoning Policy may be allowed to proceed under previous policy if the application submitted without undue delay, subject to staff confirmation on a case-by-case basis; 
  • Where a rezoning application has already received an approval in principle following a Public Hearing under another policy, a revised proposal under the TOA Rezoning Policy would be considered a new application (with a corresponding fee) 

The draft TOA Rezoning Policy can be reviewed on page 43 of the report by City staff.  

Community Amenity Contributions 

• Residential rezonings pursuing TOA heights and densities would be expected to provide the required affordable housing (social or BMR) to achieve the height and/or floor space. No additional cash CAC contribution or proforma review would be required as staff are recommending a CAC exemption for these inclusionary housing projects; 
• For non-residential, staff are proposing an amendment to expand the commercial linkage target city-wide, so that 100% leasehold commercial rezonings do not need to be negotiated;  
• Staff will undertake a comprehensive review and update of the City's financing growth tools, incorporate the new ACC (Bill 46), and update the density bonus bylaws and introduce an inclusionary zoning bylaw (Bill 16) for Council consideration. This work will be incorporated into the broader city-wide infrastructure plan and investment framework  

Grandview-Woodland Community Plan 

• Since some areas subject to the Pace of Change (PoC) policy are within TOAs adjacent to the VCC-Clark and Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain stations, to enable additional rental development in the area, including in the TOAs, staff recommend that the policy be rescinded; 
• Given significant existing PBR with low rents (relative to city-wide average) in the area, staff are recommending the enhanced Tenant Relocation and Protection Policy (TRPP) from the Broadway Plan be applied to all rezoning applications in apartment areas in GWCP; 
• Staff recommend expanding Tier 1 TOA heights and densities to sites in Tier 2 in the Commercial-Broadway Station Precinct where City plans already allow 12 storeys; 
• Remaining proposals on the PoC waitlist would have the option to submit a rezoning allocation subject to the updated policies, including enhanced TRPP requirements; 
• Trout Lake View Cone 27 - staff are currently reviewing View Protection Guidelines, but any potential future changes to this view would require Council endorsement (impact on RM-4 zoned properties in south-ease corner of Commercial-Broadway Station Precinct); 
• Reporting back on pace of development will be undertaken more comprehensively through the City's annual report on process towards Housing Targets  

Proposed amendments to City policies 

Staff are proposing minor amendments to existing documents to highlight affected areas and include references to the proposed TOA Rezoning Policy. Area plans may be more comprehensively updated through future area planning work. As work is currently underway to develop the City’s first city-wide ODP (by June 2026), the necessary amendments will be integrated into that process. 

Financial Implications 

A comprehensive review and update of the City’s financing growth tools that incorporates recent provincial legislative changes will be brought forward to Council for consideration in 2025 and 2026. As an immediate action, staff recommend expanding the commercial linkage target to apply in TOAs to simplify the CAC approach for 100% leasehold commercial rezonings. The commercial linkage target helps fund affordable housing and childcare city-wide. It is anticipated that the majority of TOA sites will need to provide significant infrastructure upgrades, which will be identified on a site-by-site basis and secured through the rezoning process. 

More information can be found in the full report by City staff. If UDI members have any specific feedback on the proposals, please email your comments to the UDI Policy Team at policy@udi.org.