How To . . . #6
Subdivision in Vancouver
Subdivision generally refers to the division of land into two or more parcels. However, it can also include:
- consolidation of two or more parcels into a single site,
- adjustment of an existing property line,
- dedication of land for road or lane purposes, and
- volumetric subdivisions to create air space parcels.
Vancouver City Council approves the by-laws that regulate subdivision of land in Vancouver. The Subdivision By-law regulates the width, area and configuration of the proposed parcels. This is to ensure that subsequent development can occur compatibly with that of surrounding parcels. The Subdivision By-law also sets standards for services required for a parcel of land, including the layout, design of streets and lanes, water supply, sanitary and storm sewerage systems and other utility services.
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Vancouver City Council appoints an Approving Officer and a Deputy Approving Officer. Provisions of the City’s Subdivision By-law and the Provincial Land Title Act give guidance and a framework within which decisions must be made when the Approving Officer considers whether to approve or refuse a subdivision proposal. Most approvals contain requirements that the applicant must fulfill before a subdivision plan is given final approval. In the Approving Officer’s absence, the Deputy Approving Officer makes these decisions.
Information regarding the feasibility of subdividing your property can be obtained at the Subdivision Counter on the third floor of the East Wing of City Hall or by calling Subdivision staff at 604.871.6627 or 604.873.7556. The property address and legal description are necessary for staff to identify the property and provide specific subdivision information. It should be noted that information provided in such a way is considered unofficial, as a full staff review is necessary before the Approving Officer can confirm the feasibility of subdividing your property. Requests for official information must be made in writing by submitting either a preliminary proposal or a formal subdivision application to the Approving Officer, which both require a non-refundable processing fee.
A preliminary proposal establishes whether a subdivision is possible without an applicant having to pay in advance for a subdivision plan prepared by a B.C. Land Surveyor. Once a preliminary approval letter has been obtained, then the applicant can advise their surveyor to proceed with the survey and prepare the necessary subdivision plans.
If a subdivision plan prepared by a B.C. Land Surveyor is submitted with a proposal, it constitutes a formal application to subdivide. The submission requirements are the same as for a preliminary proposal except that a registration set of subdivision plans is submitted in place of a sketch plan.
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Types of Subdivision Applications
Minor Subdivisions
Subdivision of existing sites that are less than 4000 m² in total area are considered minor subdivision applications. Usually, minor subdivisions involve the creation of two or more new parcels from one or more larger parcels. If a proposal is supportable, it usually takes between four to six weeks to issue a preliminary approval letter.
Intermediate and Major Subdivisions
Subdivision of existing sites between 4 000 m² and 10 000 m² in total area are considered intermediate subdivision applications, while sites over 10 000 m² are considered major subdivision applications, if they are likely to require legal agreements to address servicing, soils and access issues. Subdivision staff should be contacted prior to submitting a preliminary proposal for all intermediate and major applications, to confirm which application fee will apply. Processing times for intermediate and major proposals vary with the complexity of the proposal, the number of legal agreements required and the number of other proposals being processed.
Dedications for Road or Lane
Dedication of land to achieve road or lane widening is sometimes established as a condition of development permit issuance or a rezoning application. Processing time for dedications is usually one to two weeks, unless there are soil contamination issues. Subdivision plans for dedications must be registered at the Land Title Office to fulfill a development permit or rezoning condition.
Consolidation
Consolidation of two or more parcels into a single parcel is sometimes established as a condition of development permit issuance or a rezoning application. Consolidation plans can be prepared by a B.C. Land Surveyor and do not require approval from the Approving Officer, unless a road or lane dedication is also required. Consolidation plans need to be registered at the Land Title Office to fulfill a development permit or rezoning condition.
Air Space Subdivision
Air space subdivision is a volumetric subdivision with both horizontal and vertical dimensions, commonly used to separate ownership in mixed use buildings, such as commercial/residential developments, in order to allow each component to be financed and owned independently of the other. Subdivision staff should be contacted prior to submitting a proposal. Most preliminary approvals take approximately 12 weeks to process and a similar period can be anticipated to complete various legal agreements established as approval conditions.
Amending Subdivision Categories in the RS-1, RS-3, RS-3A, RS-5 and RS-6 Districts
On January 19, 1988, Vancouver City Council amended the Subdivision By-law by creating seven categories of minimum parcel width and area for subdivisions in the RS-1 Zoning District, to reflect the historic and prevailing subdivision patterns of neighbourhoods throughout the City. Categories range from 30 feet in width and 3,000 square feet in area, up to 150 feet in width and 18,000 square feet in area, and can vary on a block to block basis. Several of the categories have subsequently been assigned to the RS-3, RS-3A, RS-5 and RS-6 Zoning Districts. When Council introduced the categories, they also approved a process to amend or “reclassify” a category to either a larger or smaller standard. Property information, including subdivision and zoning categories, can be viewed online by accessing the City’s VanMAP application, available at http://vancouver.ca/vanmap. Subdivision staff should be contacted to discuss proposals prior to submitting an application.
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Submission requirements vary somewhat for each of application types described above. Please visit the Subdivision Counter, located on the third floor of the East Wing, or visit: http://www.vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/subdivision/.
Staff in the Subdivision and Strata Title group review all proposals. This review includes:
- considering the proposed parcel size dimensions, the configuration and the intended use
- determining compliance with all applicable City By-laws
- obtaining comments and advice from other City departments, Provincial authorities and neighbouring property owners as required
- making a recommendation, based on the results of the review, to the Approving Officer for decision.
Public Notification
Most subdivisions do not require a public notification, but the Approving Officer may choose to notify neighbouring property owners if there is a concern that they may be detrimentally affected by a proposed subdivision. In these cases, neighbours are encouraged to comment on the proposal, and the Approving Officer considers these comments, in conjunction with the staff analysis, and other relevant information before making a decision.
Approval of a Proposal
If your proposal is accepted by the Approving Officer, a letter is issued outlining conditions that must be met before final subdivision plan approval. For preliminary proposals, the preliminary approval letter is valid for 120 days from the date of approval, but in general the application will be kept active as long as the subdivision plan is submitted within that time.
Refusal of a Proposal
If your proposal is refused by the Approving Officer, a letter outlining the reasons for the refusal is issued. There is no appeal process for a preliminary proposal that is refused. A formal subdivision application must be filed, and refused in writing by the Approving Officer before an appeal can be made. Subdivision appeal provisions are outlined in both the Land Title Act and Vancouver Charter, which are both provincial legislation. Appeal of a subdivision refusal must be made to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Neither City Council nor the Board of Variance has any jurisdiction in subdivision matters.
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Obtaining Final Plan Approval
Before a subdivision plan can be signed by the Approving Officer, all conditions established in a letter of preliminary approval must be satisfied. All copies of the subdivision plan should also be signed, in indelible (permanent) black ink, by all owners, mortgage lenders and any other charge holders, prior to obtaining final approval from the Approving Officer.
Once those conditions have been met and the Approving Officer signs the subdivision plan, the applicant has two months to deposit the plan for registration at the Land Title Office. If this has not been completed, the applicant must re-submit the plan to the Approving Officer for re-approval.
Subdivision of Industrial or Commercial Lands – Information on Contaminated Soils
If you contemplate subdivision of a site previously occupied by uses which may have involved the presence of toxic substances, you will likely be required to provide certification from the Ministry of the Environment that no unacceptable hazard to human health or to the environment exists as a result of possible contamination on that site.
The City of Vancouver undertakes no responsibility for advising applicants as to the condition of soils or construction materials present on any site. Authority for assessing potential hazards associated with soil contamination lies with the Provincial Ministry of Environment. For more information, please contact:
BC Ministry of Environment
#200 – 10470 152nd Street
Surrey, B.C. V3R 0Y3
Telephone: 604.582.5200 Fax: 604.582.5380
Registering Subdivision Plans
All subdivision plans must be deposited for registration at the Provincial Land Title Office, located at 88 – 6th Street, New Westminster, B.C. (Phone 604.660.2595).
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PHONE
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
General enquiries on Development and Building 604-873-7613
/ 7611
Trades Permits Applications (Plumbing, Gas, Electrical, and Street Occupancy
Permits) 604-873-7608 / 7062 / 7052 / 7600
Enquiries on notification and status of Development
Applications 604-873-7344
Status of Building Permit Applications, except field
reviews 604-873-7611
Subdivision and Strata Enquiries 604-871-6627 / 604-873-7556
Tree Permits and Landscape Plan Review (Enquiries on Tree By-law, landscaping
and tree removal) 604-871-6378
LICENCES AND INSPECTIONS
Inspections 604-873-7601 / 7603
Business Licences 604-873-7568
Secondary Suites 604-873-7945
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Rezoning Centre (General enquiries on rezoning) 604-873-7455
Heritage Planning 604-873-7056
SUPPORT SERVICES - BY-LAW ADMINISTRATION
Occupancy Permits 604-873-7539
ENGINEERING SERVICES
Building Grades 604-873-7316
Permits Counter 604-873-7216
Development Permit Coordinator (Engineering Requirements) 604-873-7773
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IN PERSON
City Hall is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday (*please
note exceptions in brackets)
Development Services
Enquiry Centre - East Wing, 2nd Floor (*8:30 to 4:30; Limited Service on Tuesdays from 8:30 to 10:00 am, due to staff meeting)
Processing Centre - East Wing, 3rd Floor (*8:30 to 4:30)
2675 Yukon Street (11th and Yukon)
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Planning Department
Rezoning Centre and Heritage Planning
East Wing, 3rd Floor
2675 Yukon Street (11th and Yukon) |
Support Services (*8:30 to 4:30)
By-law Administration
East Wing, 2nd Floor
2675 Yukon Street (11th and Yukon) |
Engineering Services
Engineering Permit Counter
Main Building, Main Floor
453 West 12th Avenue (12th and Cambie) |
MAIL
Clearly mark the Department (and division or area of department if
possible) on the envelope and send to:
City of Vancouver
(department name here)
453 West 12th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Y 1V4
FAX
Board of Variance 604-873-7475
Enquiry Centre 604-873-7100
Processing Centre 604-873-7100
Subdivision and Strata 604-873-7100
Licences and Inspections 604-873-7100
Support Services 604-873-7100
Planning Department 604-873-7100
Engineering Services 604-871-6191
VANMAP ( www.vancouver.ca/vanmap )
A web-based map system providing property information such as, property
lines, zoning information, aerial photos, addresses, parks, etc.
Subdivision and Strata Information: www.vancouver.ca/commsvcs/developmentservices/subdivision
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