At the Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities meeting on June 12th, Council approved the proposed project scope and Terms of Reference for the City’s first Official Development Plan (ODP). The report outlines the project scope to create the city-wide ODP Bylaw, which is a new Provincial requirement, and key implementation action for the Vancouver Plan. In April 2024, the Provincial government adopted new legislation to amend the Vancouver Charter to include requirements for a city-wide ODP, requiring Council to adopt an interim city-wide ODP by June 30th, 2026. 

The current Vancouver Plan comprises a significant amount of the final content anticipated to be included in the Vancouver ODP and will be supplemented with additional content as needed to meet Provincial legislative requirements. Many work streams are underway to advance the vision and big ideas contained in the Plan. This includes advancing detailed area planning initiatives, such as the Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan, advancing housing actions, work related to employment lands and ecology land use planning, and simplifying zoning regulations and developing new tower zones to support streamlined housing delivery. 

"Must have" content requirements for the ODP include: 

• Statements and map designations for: 
• Residential development to meet 20-year anticipated housing needs; 
• Commercial, industrial, institutional, agricultural, recreational, public utility land uses;  
• Restrictions for hazardous conditions or environmentally sensitive areas; 
• Location and phasing of major road, sewer and water systems;  
• Location and type of present and proposed public facilities: schools, parks and waste treatment and disposal sites; 
• Policies for affordable housing, rental housing and special needs housing; 
• Targets to reduce GHG emissions, and policies/actions to achieve targets; 
• Consider the most recent housing needs report; 
• Regional Context Statement. 

 Key process related components for the ODP include: 

• Public hearing requirements to adopt or amend ODP and zoning bylaw 
• Public hearing required to adopt, amend, or repeal ODP Bylaw, and to adopt/amend a zoning bylaw unless it is consistent with the ODP; 
• Public hearing must not be held if the zoning bylaw is consistent with the ODP, and its sole purpose is to permit a development with at least 50% residential gross floor area; 
• Council decision still required at a regular Council meeting 
• Public hearing procedures and notice 
• Adds requirements/processes in relation to public hearings for adoption, amendment or repeal of ODP bylaws and zoning bylaws – generally consistent with existing procedures for public hearings required for rezonings 
• Development approval procedures 
• Adds requirement to define approval procedures under which a landowner can apply for an ODP amendment or zoning bylaw 
• Current ODPs 
• Content requirements in the Bill won’t apply to “current” ODPs; 
• Council may retain, amend or repeal “current” ODPs until June 30th, 2030; 
• Regional Context statement must be referred to Metro Vancouver Regional District, if being amended or adopted 
• Interim ODP 
• Council must adopt a city-wide interim ODP by June 30th, 2026 
• By June 30th, 2030, “current” ODPs must be repealed or integrated into the city-wide ODP 
• Process requirements for the ODP 
• Before adopting an official development plan, Council must consider the ODP in conjunction with relevant financial planning documents and policies;  
• Consider the ODP in conjunction with waste management plans; 
• Regional Context Statement must be referred to Metro Vancouver Regional District, if being amended or adopted; 
• Consider Transit Oriented Area (TOA) guidelines; 
• Requirement to consult with a) persons, organizations and authorities considered affected and b) boards of Education on planning for school facilities; 
• Council must also review the ODP alongside Housing Needs Report updates (every 5 years) and amend if necessary.  

The city-wide ODP is not regulation like a Zoning Bylaw. Rather, it is a statutory policy document adopted by bylaw, containing goals, objectives and policies that will be implemented through area plans, rezoning policies and the Zoning and Development Bylaw over time. The ODP is also not a replacement for area plans. Area plans and policies will still be required to provide more detailed direction for future land use and development in specific areas of the city. While the city-wide ODP includes housing needs and infrastructure requirements, it is not a capital planning document, so the City will continue to prepare 10-year Capital Strategic Outlooks and 4-year Capital Plans. The city-wide ODP will inform these capital planning documents.  

To meet the legislated deadlines, City staff will be working with the Vancouver Plan as the “base” of the city-wide ODP, since the Vancouver Plan is anticipated to provide much of the content required for the city-wide ODP. New content and consultation for the ODP will be limited to that which is outstanding and required under the Vancouver Charter, aside from minor changes that bring the plan up to date with policy recently adopted by Council. 

Additional information to meet legislative requirements include:  

• Housing needs/targets 
• Ecological and hazardous areas and directions content; 
• Direction related to schools in consultation with VSB/CSF; 
• Updated Regional Context Statement to support Metro 2050; 
• Utilities/servicing plan – sewer, water, waste treatment, disposal sites 
• Land use strategy amendments to align with new Provincial legislation, including Transit Oriented Area 
• Minor amendments to reference any updated/new Council approved documents/projects; 
• Generalized land use map conveying development potential across the city through Council-approved rezoning policies (block level detail); 
• Implementation content 
• Rezoning enabling policy 
• Strategy to update the ODP 
• Monitoring framework. 

The proposed work program will take place in four phases over approximately two years: 

Key items which have their own work programs and will need to be reflected in the ODP include: 

• The (interim) Housing Needs Report (Bill 44); 
• Zoning changes to add Small Scale Multi Unit Housing (SSMUH) options in “restricted zones” before June 30th, 2024, (Bill 44); 
• Designation of the Transit-Oriented Areas (TOAs) by bylaw and Parking Bylaw changes before June 30th, 2024 (Bill 47), which will include a rezoning policy to guide development within these areas; 
• Zoned capacity analysis to ensure the City has sufficient lands zoned to meet our housing needs (Bill 44); 
• Update of the City’s Financing Growth framework, including an implementation approach to develop Amenity Cost Charges (ACCs) as well as changes to Development Cost Levies in 2026 (Bill 46), both of which involve work related to “standards of service in the city”; 
• Incorporating new inclusionary housing and density benefit bylaws to support the delivery of social and supportive housing and complete neighborhoods (Bill 16); 
• Modifications to public hearing procedures, and establishment of development approval procedures (Bill 18); 
• Advancement of other workstreams relating to Vancouver Plan Implementation (e.g., ecology land use planning). 

The project scope outlined in this report responds directly to these new legislative requirements; the scope is intentionally limited to ensure the Provincially set deadlines are achievable. A future report to Council will be brought forward with recommendations and a proposed bylaw to give effect to the legislation. 

More information can be found in the report by City staff.