16 Progress toward Shaping our Future

Following the adoption of Metro 2040, member municipalities had two years to complete a regional context statement (RCS) . The RCS is the document that shows the relationship between Metro 2040 and each municipality’s official community plan (OCP), or, for specific jurisdictions, another local land use plan . A RCS is meant to align local and regional land use designations, strategies and actions . It must be accepted by the Metro Vancouver Board and adopted through a municipal OCP amendment bylaw .

As shown in the table to the right, by year-end 2013, the Metro Vancouver Board accepted regional context statements from eleven of twenty-three local jurisdictions* . A twelfth RCS from the Township of Langley was submitted, but not accepted by the Metro Vancouver Board . As per Local Government Act Section 856, Metro Vancouver and the Township of Langley are currently engaged in non-binding dispute resolution on this matter .

It is anticipated that the remaining regional context statements will be submitted in 2014 .

FOUR ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION: ALIGNING THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL

REGIONAL CONTEXT STATEMENTS

Local Jurisdiction RCS Status Board Decision Date

Anmore Pending Submission

Belcarra Accepted July 29, 2011

Burnaby Accepted November 15, 2013

Coquitlam Accepted October 11, 2013

Delta Accepted September 27, 2013

Langley City Accepted July 26, 2013

Langley Township Not Accepted November 15, 2013

Lions Bay Pending Submission

Maple Ridge Accepted September 27, 2013

New Westminster Pending Submission

North Vancouver City Pending Submission

North Vancouver District Pending Submission

Pitt Meadows Accepted November 15, 2013

Port Coquitlam Accepted July 26, 2013

Port Moody Pending Submission

Richmond Accepted November 16, 2012

Surrey Pending Submission

Tsawwassen First Nation**

Vancouver Accepted July 26, 2013

West Vancouver Pending Submission

White Rock Accepted September 27, 2013

University of British Columbia* Comments provided September 27, 2013

University Endowment Lands*

STATUS OF REGIONAL CONTEXT STATEMENTS (TO YEAR-END 2013)

* The University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University Endowment Lands (UEL) are not subject to the Local Government Act and were not required to provide a resolution accepting Metro 2040 . Under the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act, UBC must complete a RCS which is approved by the Province via a Minister’s Order; Metro Vancouver provides comment . UEL is not required to complete a RCS, but has voluntarily done so in the past .

** For the purposes of Metro 2040, Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) is considered a member municipality . Upon adoption of Metro 2040, TFN’s land use plan was deemed to be consistent with Metro 2040 and submission of a RCS was not required. However, if TFN amends or replaces their existing land use plan, it will include a statement equivalent to a RCS .

Baseline Annual Report 17 Baseline Annual Report 17

18 Progress toward Shaping our Future

SUMMARY OF METRO 2040 AMENDMENTS

From adoption in 2011 to year-end 2013, Metro Vancouver received fourteen Metro 2040 amendment requests from member municipalities, and four amendment bylaws were approved, resulting in changes to the Urban Containment Boundary, land use designations, Special Study Areas, and text . The approved amendments are detailed in the following pages and summarized in the table on the following page .

Two Type 1 amendments were requested . The Metro Vancouver Board approved an amendment from Coquitlam as described in the summary table, and declined a request from the District of North Vancouver to address possible two-step amendments . Instead, this issue was addressed through the development of the Regional Growth Strategy Implementation Guideline #2: Amendments to the Regional Growth Strategy .

Five Type 2 amendments were requested, including one from the District of North Vancouver that did not proceed, requesting an additional Urban Centre at Lower Lynn . The Metro Vancouver Board approved an amendment from Anmore, as described in the summary table, and declined two proposed amendments from the Township of Langley (North Murrayville and Hendricks). The rationale for declining the last two amendments was that the two sites were designated Agricultural and within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), and Metro 2040 policy 2 .3 .4 states that the Agricultural designation will not be amended if a site is part of the ALR . One proposed Type 2 amendment from the Corporation of Delta, for the MK Delta Lands, is being held at second reading at the request of the Metro Vancouver Board and the municipality .

Six Type 3 amendments were requested . Five of these were approved by the Metro Vancouver Board, as described in the summary table, and one, from the Township of Langley (Hwy . 1 / 200th St .), was declined . The rationale for declining the amendment was that the site included an established industrial use that was strategically located in one of the region’s primary industrial areas along the regional goods movement network .

One Type 3 Housekeeping Amendment was initiated and approved by the Metro Vancouver Board in May 2014 . The process was initiated as a result of sixteen amendments associated with the eleven regional context statements accepted by the Metro Vancouver Board by year-end 2013 . Several of these amendments were regional land use designation changes, but they also included the confirmation of Urban Centre boundaries, the designation of five Frequent Transit Development Areas (FTDAs), and the addition of local centres in Vancouver and Coquitlam .

While processing early amendment requests, Metro Vancouver and member municipalities identified a number of procedural issues and opportunities for improvement . As a result, improvements to the amendment process were explored, and amendments to Regional Growth Strategy Procedures Bylaw No.1148, 2011 and Regional Growth Strategy Implementation Guideline #2: Amendments to the Regional Growth Strategy were initiated .

More information about Type 1, 2, and 3 amendments and the amendment process is available in Metro 2040 Section 6 .3 .

FOUR ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION: ALIGNING THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL

METRO 2040 AMENDMENTS

Baseline Annual Report 19

METRO 2040 BYLAW AMENDMENTS SUMMARY TABLE (JULY 2011 – DECEMBER 2013)

Metro 2040 Amendment Municipality Description

Bylaw No. 1150, 2011 October 28, 2011 (Type 3)

Coquitlam General Urban to Conservation and Recreation Numerous sites, totaling 659 hectares

Richmond General Urban to Conservation and Recreation 3 Sites, totaling 149 hectares

West Vancouver General Urban to Conservation and Recreation 1 Sites, totaling 10 hectares Extend Special Study Area on the General Urban designation 1 site, totaling 679 hectares Text Amendment - Metro 2040 Section 6 .12 .5 Special Study Areas: to acknowledge inclusion of revised Special Study Area for the District of West Vancouver .

Tsawwassen First Nation Text Amendment - Metro 2040 Table A.1: to revise growth projections for TFN.

Bylaw No. 1160, 2012 September 21, 2012 (Type 1)

Coquitlam Text Amendment - Metro 2040 Section 6 .3 .4 b: to remove “Conservation and Recreation lands utilized for commercial extensive recreation facilities” from the minor amendment process (removal of this clause means that this land use would follow a similar amendment process to other areas designated Conservation and Recreation in Metro 2040) .

Bylaw No. 1168, 2012 July 27, 2012 (Type 2)

Anmore Rural to General Urban, and extend the Urban Containment Boundary 1 site, totaling 2 hectares

Bylaw No. 1185, 2013 July 26, 2013 (Type 3)

Port Moody Create 3 Special Study Areas 2 sites, totaling 397 hectares on Industrial 1 site, totaling 70 hectares on General Urban Text Amendment - Metro 2040 Section 6 .12 .5 Special Study Areas: to acknowledge inclusion of revised Special Study Area for the City of Port Moody .

20 Progress toward Shaping our Future

METRO 2040 LAND USE DESIGNATION AMENDMENTS

Since Metro 2040 adoption, 972 hectares of land have been redesignated . Major regional land use designation amendments, requested as part of the municipal acceptance of Metro 2040, occurred in Coquitlam and Richmond . The City of Coquitlam requested 659 hectares of parks, public open spaces and riparian corridors designated General Urban be changed to Conservation and Recreation . Similarly, the City of Richmond requested that 149 hectares, including the Garden City, Department of National Defense and Terra Nova lands, be changed from General Urban to Conservation and Recreation .

Land use designation amendments have been reflected in the regional land use designation map . Amendments to the map include adopted Metro 2040 amendments as well as amendments incorporated in Board-accepted regional context statements that are considered to be ‘generally consistent’ with Metro 2040 .

The Urban Containment Boundary (UCB) is intended to be a stable, long-term footprint for urban development . Shifts in the UCB during the first years of implementation better aligned regional and local designations . In 2011, there were 90,404 hectares of land within the UCB . Approved amendments from the City of Langley, Anmore and White Rock added 26 hectares for a total of 90,430 hectares by year-end 2013 .

FOUR ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION: ALIGNING THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL

METRO 2040 LAND USE DESIGNATION AMENDMENTS

Metro 2040 Designation

2011 Total Land Area (hectares)

2011 Regional

Share

2013 Total Land Area (hectares)

2013 Regional

Share

Net Change Through

Amendment

Conservation and Recreation

131,828 47 .1% 132,591 47 .3% 763

General Urban 70,904 25 .3% 70,088 25 .0% (816)

Agricultural 55,313 19 .7% 55,342 19 .8% 29

Industrial 10,190 3 .6% 10,130 3 .6% (60)

Rural 8,480 3 .0% 8,565 3 .1% 85

Mixed Employment 3,394 1 .2% 3,393 1 .2% (1)

Total 280,109 100.0% 280,109 100.0% 0

METRO 2040 LAND USE DESIGNATION CHANGES (2011 - 2013)

REDESIGNATION OF METRO 2040 LANDS (2011 - 2013)

Amended To (hectares)

Agricultural

Conservation and

Recreation Industrial Mixed

Employment Rural General

Urban Total

losses

Amen

ded

From

(hec

tare

s)

Agricultural - - - - 1 1

Conservation and

Recreation

30 - - 41 2 73

Industrial - - - 46 14 60

Mixed Employment

- 1 - - - 1

Rural - - - - 2 2

General Urban - 835 - - - 835

Total gains 30 836 - - 87 19 972

Baseline Annual Report 21

TEXT AMENDMENTS

Two text amendments to Metro 2040 Section 6 .12 .5 involved minor changes to incorporate Special Study Area provisions for areas in West Vancouver and Port Moody .

One text amendment to Metro 2040 Section 6 .3 .4 b was requested by the City of Coquitlam to remove the phrase, “Conservation and Recreation lands utilized only for commercial extensive recreation facilities” from the minor amendment process . The inclusion of this phrase was originally requested by the city, and subsequently deemed unnecessary .

Amended from:

b) for sites within the Urban Containment Boundary, amendments from Industrial, Mixed Employment, Conservation and Recreation lands utilized only for commercial extensive recreation facilities, or General Urban land use designations to any other such regional land use designations;

Amended to:

b) for sites within the Urban Containment Boundary, amendments from Industrial, Mixed Employment or General Urban land use designations to any other such regional land use designations;

One text amendment was requested by Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) to amend growth projections in Appendix A, Table A .1, to increase population, dwelling unit and employment projections for the TFN lands.

FOUR ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTATION: ALIGNING THE REGIONAL AND LOCAL

OTHER METRO 2040 AMENDMENTS

SPECIAL STUDY AREAS

The Special Study Area (SSA) overlay was established in Metro 2040 to identify lands in non-urban designations where, prior to the adoption of Metro 2040, a municipality expressed an intent to change an existing land use . A change would be subject to more detailed land use planning by way of an area plan or a site specific development plan and approval of a Metro 2040 amendment .

In effect, the SSA overlay reduces the approval threshold for amendments from a non-urban designation (i .e . Agricultural, Rural, and Conservation and Recreation) to an urban designation (i .e . General Urban, Industrial, or Mixed Employment) . With the SSA overlay, the threshold is reduced from a 2/3rd weighted vote of the Metro Vancouver Board and a regional public hearing, to a 50%+1 vote and no public hearing . The SSA overlay does not alter the underlying regional land use designation or the considerations that should be made regarding regional impacts and implications of any proposed amendment .

At adoption, Metro 2040 identified approximately 3,000 hectares of land as having a SSA overlay . Since adoption, the Metro Vancouver Board approved an additional 1,146 hectares of land in West Vancouver and Port Moody to have a SSA overlay . This approval resulted in two text amendments to Metro 2040 involving minor changes to Special Study Area provisions . The amendments had no material effect on the voting threshold for any future amendment requests for these lands because the underlying designations are urban, but they do signify municipal aspirations for the sites .

Baseline Annual Report 21