In the Fall of 2011 City staff developed a preliminary “General Terms of Reference” (TOR) for use in the three community plans. This document was created with input from organizations in the West End, Marpole and Grandview-Woodland, city-wide organizations and City Advisory Committees.

The template will provide the basis for further revisions in each of the three neighbourhoods. The intent is to develop a framework document that outlines the key principles and products that will be common to the three planning processes, and to supplement this with an initial outline of key assets, issues and engagement opportunities that are unique to each neighbourhood. This work is currently underway.

Vancouver’s New Community Plans

In the spring of 2012 the City will launch three new Community Plan processes – in Grandview-Woodland, Marpole, the West End. A fourth neighbourhood planning program, for the Downtown Eastside, is also currently underway.

Community Plans are policy documents that provide guidance and direction on a variety of topics, including land-use, urban design, housing, transportation, parks and public spaces, social planning, cultural infrastructure, heritage features and community facilities.

Plans knit together a range of city-wide policies into a comprehensive planning program, while responding to the unique characteristics of a given neighbourhood. Community Plans provide a statement of intent to facilitate positive change and development in a neighbourhood over approximately 20-30 years.

The new Plans were endorsed by City Council in July 2011 (PDF, 54KB) and will incorporate a series of improvements identified through a research and review process that took place between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011. In particular, the new plans will:

Do a better job of balancing city-wide (as well as global and regional) challenges with neighbourhood perspectives
Offer opportunities for deeper, more diverse forms of public engagement
Better manage development pressures and priority setting for public amenities
Make clear and effective plans for everyone… in less time. Are there ways to do community planning more efficiently?

View the results of the Enhancing Community Plans review, as well as other aspects of the work to date.

For some background on the history and approach of Community Planning in Vancouver, you may wish to read our Community Planning 101 backgrounder (PDF, 218KB).

Questions or Comments? E-mail: cityplan@vancouver.ca