“TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT” FOR BURRARD STATION
Progress Toward A “Livable City” or
An Invitation To Developers and Lobbyists?

by John Streit
(click images to enlarge)

Over the next few months, you’ll be hearing lots about Transit Oriented Development (TOD) areas in British Columbia. It’s one of several initiatives launched by the provincial government to try and spark construction of more affordable homes for middle-income earners amidst an ongoing housing crisis.

**FUTURE TOD AREA IN THE WEST END? (*EWAN STREIT PHOTO*)**

TOD zones include areas within 800 metres of SkyTrain stations or within 400 metres of a bus exchange where passengers transfer from one line to another. Examples of the latter include the Kootenay and Dunbar bus exchanges. West Coast Express rail stations are also on the list. There are 52 such locations in the province.

According to the B.C. Ministry of Housing, local governments are required to:

Ensure that minimum levels of density, size, and dimension established by the province in regulations are allowed in TOD areas. These will vary by municipality and may vary within the TOD area. Local governments can approve densities that exceed the provincial regulations at their discretion
Remove restrictive parking minimums for off-street residential and allow parking volumes to be determined by market need and demand
Consider guidance and details in the provincial policy manual when planning or amending zoning bylaws

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon explains what these special areas will offer when built. “TOD areas will provide significant opportunities to integrate additional housing and job space, new shops and services, and amenities close to high quality rapid transit to create complete, inclusive and affordable transit-oriented neighbourhoods,” Kahlon said.

In terms of size of apartment buildings, up to 20 stories would be allowed close to SkyTrain stations, and around 12 stories will be permitted near bus exchanges and the West Coast Express.

The thought is, there should be ample affordable housing within a five to ten minute walk of a key transit hub.

TOD areas in downtown Vancouver around Stadium-Chinatown Station and Waterfront Station were immediately implemented by the province. By June 30, 2024 the City of Vancouver must add Burrard, Granville, Vancouver-City Centre, and Yaletown-Roundhouse SkyTrain stations to the TOD list.

**BC HOUSING MINISTER RAVI KAHLON (*PROVINCE OF BC*)**

Currently, the only TOD that touches our neighbourhood surrounds Burrard Station, which reaches the northwest portion of the West End at Robson and Thurlow. However, that could change if major bus routes and Bus Rapid Transit are added to the list in the future. The Robson, Davie and 23 routes are three of the most heavily used in the city, and are often overcrowded.

Kahlon tells TWEJ his housing ministry is helping cities pay for the development changes needed to make TOD’s happen. “The province is providing $51 million in funding for all B.C. municipalities, with nearly $3.3 million in funding going to the City of Vancouver. This funding is intended to support local governments to meet the new legislated requirements. Local governments, such as the City of Vancouver, can use this funding to update housing needs reports, zoning bylaws, development cost charge and amenity cost charge bylaws, and community plans by hiring consultants and staff, and to do research and community engagement, to meet Development Approval Process Review amendments and other housing density initiatives,” Kahlon said.

Randy Helten is a founder and director with West End Neighbours, a volunteer-driven grassroots neighbourhood group that shares information about upcoming developments and city consultations. He’s also president of the West End Neighbourhood Food Network. He believes TOD as a concept is a good idea for obvious and well-known reasons. “The problem is that TOD in practical implementation is interpreted to mean only tower-oriented-transit-oriented development, and that then becomes entwined with many more impacts, many of them negative. Concrete towers in TOD are expensive, less environmentally sustainable than low and mid-rise, intricately tied to major developers and lobbyists and hence political lobbying, cast shadows and block views, speculation, and land price escalation, result in massive disruption, renoviction and displacement of older affordable rentals, change the character of neighbourhoods away from human scale, and much more,” Helten said.

**RANDY HELTEN OF WEST END NEIGHBOURS (*WEN*)**

He also believes the provincial legislation itself (Act 47) was essentially forced upon communities with zero consultation and the democratic process cast aside.

“This was imposed top-down from the province, one-size-fits all for dozens of municipalities. All BC NDP MLAs representing Vancouver were silent as the Vancouver Charter was amended, 12 paragraphs in under 120 seconds. Presided over by West End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert. Not a question was asked. No clarification. No comment. They went along with Kahlon and Eby imposing closure. I feel they betrayed their own constituents in their ridings in Vancouver. Now with Bill 47 enacted, the affected municipalities including Vancouver are required by legislation to accept massive increases in height and density in the TOD areas, with no further public process, and changes can be made at any time without the oversight of the legislature. The minister of housing in the current regime, and any future government in power in B.C., can change the details with the stroke of a pen on the desk of whoever is housing minister at the time. It is even out of the hands of the minister of municipal affairs. The net effect of this is that powerful industry lobbyists and political donors will be able to have direct influence through lobbying, out of public view and oversight. That opens the doors for potential corruption as well.

“As I understand it, the decision making is also largely removed from municipal council (hence public) oversight and handed to the director of planning in each municipality. This also increases corruption risk, reduces accountability and transparency. The people of a neighbourhood, municipality, and the province have largely been removed from the processes that affect many aspects of the communities we live in,” Helten warned.

So can transit oriented development areas help alleviate the lack of affordable housing in B.C.? Yes and no, Helten guesses. “There will be massive demolitions, renovictions, and displacement of older, established buildings and communities. I fear that the new housing in the tower-oriented-transit-oriented developments will largely not be affordable in practical terms. So, will housing be built? Yes. What will the next increase (new builds vs older affordable housing demolished) in dwelling units be? Hard to predict, and as far as I know, neither the municipality nor the province intends to be tracking and publicly reporting on net change in housing. Will TOD housing be affordable? Depends how you define it, but probably mostly no (it will mostly be new construction at the top of the market rate). Will TOD housing be ‘attainable’ housing? Probably only a limited proportion of it,” Helten said.

TOD is part of the BC NDP government’s ‘Homes for People Action Plan.’ “It will help to create more housing options for people – to maximize access to amenities, making it easier for people to access the commercial services, health-care centres, educational facilities, and recreation opportunities, they need. This helps to create more livable and accessible communities,” Minister Kahlon told TWEJ.

According to the provincial government, the City of Vancouver is responsible for implementing TODs in their municipality, along with other housing statue amendments.

**TOD ALLOWABLE BUILDING HEIGHTS (*PROVINCE OF BC*)**

TWEJ reached out to the City for more clarification about the implementation of transit oriented development and were told, “the City welcomes the Province’s legislation aimed at allowing more homes to be built faster and simplifying the development approval process. This aligns with work already well underway in Vancouver. The City is currently reviewing the details of the policy manual. It will take time to sort through this information before the City can confirm potential impacts,” they said.