Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Program
Updates and Archives
» Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Information Session: Zoning for New Housing Types - April 30, 2011
» Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Open House - February 19 and 21, 2011
» Newsletter #7
» The Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan was approved by City Council on November 4, 2010
» Analysis of the Financial Viability of the Housing Forms in the Proposed Norquay Village Draft Plan (October 2010)
» Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Housing Information Sessions
» Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Open House – June 12, June 14 and June 16, 2010
» Newsletter #6
» Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Open House – January 30 and February 2, 2010
» Open House - Clarendon Extension and Nearby Street Design Proposals - June 2009
» Community Meetings in Chinese – May/June 2009
» Public Workshops - Spring 2009
» Open House November 29, 2008
» Newsletter #5
» Newsletter #4
» Further Planning Work Underway
» Letter to Community
» Newsletter #3
» 2400 Motel Site Study Update
» Initial Program Process
» Initial Work Schedule
» Kick-Off Event
Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Information Session: Zoning for New Housing Types - April 30, 2011
In November 2010, Council approved the Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan, including four new housing types. Staff anticipate Council considering the approval of zoning for three of these housing types later this year. These are the Stacked Townhouse zone, the Small House/Duplex zone and the Traditional Rowhouse zone. An Information Session with presentations and Q&A sessions was held on April 30, 2011, and was attended by approximately 120 people. View the boards and handouts that were presented at the information session. You can also view the comment sheet responses 
(58kb) that people submitted at or following the open house.
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Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Open House - February 19 and 21, 2011
The Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan was recently approved in November 2010.
Approximately 240 people came out to the Open Houses on February 19 and 21, 2011, where they viewed information about height and density on Kingsway. If you were unable to attend an open house, you may view the open house display panels in English and Chinese. Attendees filled comment sheets letting us know what they thought about height and density along Kingsway and around Norquay Park. View the comment sheet responses (107kb).
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Newsletter #7
Newsletter #7 is available in English (333kb) and Chinese (2.82mb).
This newsletter presents items relating to density and height that were considered and approved by Council in November 2010.
The Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan was approved by City Council on November 4, 2010
- Watch the Council meeting video: video 1 | video 2
- Read the Council report (13.29mb)
- Draft Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan (Adopted by Council on November 4, 2010) (737kb)
- Norquay Village Public Realm and Transportation Improvement Plan (2.51mb)
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Analysis of the Financial Viability of the Housing Forms in the Proposed Norquay Village Draft Plan (October 2010)
View the consultant report (341kb)
Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Housing Information Session
Approximately 40 people came out to Housing Information Sessions on June 24, July 8 and July 15, 2010. These sessions provided information to residents and property owners regarding proposed new housing types within Norquay. These three sessions focused on each proposed new housing type within Norquay including: Duplex, Infill and Cottage Housing; Stacked Townhouses and Traditional Rowhouses; and Four-storey Low-rise. A Chinese language meeting was also held on June 21, 2010 to discuss all proposed housing types.
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Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Open House – June 12, June 14 and June 16, 2010
Approximately 290 people came out to Open Houses on June 12, June 14 and June 16, 2010, where they viewed proposals for the Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre plan. Planning staff presented proposals to revitalize Kingsway and increase flexibility for individual property owners and renters. Many attendees filled out comment sheets to provide feedback on plan proposals to allow a wider variety of housing options in the neighbourhood, to revitalize Kingsway into a diverse, pedestrian-friendly, mid-rise commercial street, and to provide new community amenities and public spaces.
You can view the open house display panels in English or Chinese. Many neighbours filled out comments sheets letting us know what they think of options to revitalize Kingsway, create more opportunities for housing, improve mobility, and provide new community amenities and public spaces. View the comment sheet responses (190kb).
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Newsletter #6
Newsletter #6 is available in English (395kb) and Chinese (4.97mb).
This newsletter presents highlights of the draft plan which are proposed to create more housing choice, revitalize Kingsway and provide new community amenities and public spaces.
Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Open House – January 30 and February 2, 2010
Approximately 180 people came out to Open Houses on January 30 and February 2, 2010 where they viewed information about draft options for the Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan. View the open house display panels in English or in Chinese. Many neighbours filled out comments sheets letting us know what they think of options to revitalize Kingsway, create more opportunities for housing, improve mobility, and provide new community amenities and public spaces. View the comment sheet reponses (99kb).
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Open House - Clarendon Extension and Nearby Street Design Proposals - June 2009
The purpose of the Open House, held on June 18th at Cunningham Elementary, was to introduce staff proposals for changes to 33rd Avenue, 34th Avenue, Clarendon Street, Nanaimo Street, and Slocan Street to area residents and property owners. The proposed changes include extending Clarendon Street through from 33rd to 34th Avenue (Clarendon Connector) and signalising the newly created intersection, with the intention of improving connections for all transportation modes, particularly Transit's #29 bus service. The proposal is also designed to take pressure off of 34th Avenue between Nanaimo Street and Kingsway, and Slocan Street between 33rd and 34th avenues, so that these local residential streets can function as intended. Additional changes along Clarendon Street south to 41st Avenue are proposed to make it safer and more pedestrian-friendly.
Approximately 50-60 local residents and/or property owners attended the Open House, with most supporting the proposed measures, particularly the tree planting along Clarendon Street, proposed corner bulges, and other traffic calming improvements. Some attendees feared impacts from increased traffic volumes and speed along Clarendon Street and 33rd Avenue, and suggested that the City provide pedestrian signals, particularly near Cunningham Elementary, or recommended that the new road link not be made. Most other comments related to existing issues in the area, such as inadequate sidewalks, or recommended converting two local traffic circles to four-ways stops.
View the open house notification letter (1.14mb) and map (389kb).
View some of the open house presentation boards here:
- Welcome board / overall aerial photo (3.92mb)
- Existing local area bike routes and transit service (421kb)
- Clarendon extension key map (154kb)
- Proposed changes for Clarendon Street and surrounding network (845kb)
- Proposed changes for Clarendon Street, 38th to 39th Avenue (170kb)
- Proposed changes for Clarendon Street and 34th Avenue (341kb)
- Proposed changes for Nanaimo Street and 33rd Avenue - option 1 (209kb)
- Proposed changes for Nanaimo Street and 33rd Avenue - option 2 (201kb)
- Proposed changes for Slocan Street and 33rd Avenue (309kb)
- Proposed changes for 34th Avenue and Wales Street at Kingsway - option 1 (398kb)
- Proposed changes for 34th Avenue and Wales Street at Kingsway - option 2 (270kb)
- Clarendon extension traffic volume counts (215kb)
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Community Meetings in Chinese – May/June 2009
Two meetings were held for the Chinese-speaking community in the Norquay area, on May 28, 2009 at Cunningham Elementary and on June 2, 2009 at Norquay Elementary. Eighteen residents (24 including children) attended the first meeting and 25 attended the second. At both meetings, participants were presented with updated planning process and housing option ideas produced at the Spring 2009 Workshops. They provided feedback on new housing and key principles for Neighbourhood Centre in Norquay.
View highlights from the meetings here:
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Public Workshops - Spring 2009
Workshop 5 - Assessing Options
Workshop 5, held on May 14, continued the discussion of Norquay amenities. Following presentations on how growth is financed in Vancouver and on City parks and facilities, the 30 participants broke out into smaller groups to discuss the neighbourhood’s current needs and opportunities, and to begin suggesting some priorities.
The groups worked from a list of public and private amenities identified as desirable in earlier public consultation, and added some new ideas. The list includes information on potential funding sources (e.g. public and/or private), as well as relative cost ($ being relatively low in cost and $$$$ being relatively high).
While the priorities for amenities suggested by the groups are diverse, some common priorities include:
- seniors’ programs and services
- arts and cultural spaces
- new shops and services and a modest–sized grocery store
The following are the lists worked on by each of the groups. Comments added by the groups are in italics. Each participant was also given four dots to place beside the amenities which they felt were the highest priority. The results of this workshop will help to inform ongoing work on plan concepts for Norquay.
Workshop 4 – Character, Places, Connections
The aim of Workshop 4, held on April 28, was to explore and further ideas for the area’s character, public places, and connections. The workshop was conducted in a World Café Format, where the 41 participants could join small “kitchen table” discussions on any two of the five following topics.
Here are the discussion notes and/or illustrations for each of the topics.
- Table 1: Traffic, Transit & Pedestrians
- discussion notes (31kb)
- discussion notes
- Table 2: Greening & Linkages
- discussion notes (27kb)
- group 1 illustration (107kb)
- group 2 illustration (122kb)
- discussion notes
- Table 3: Kingsway Streetscape
- discussion notes (29kb)
- streetscape/public space preferences (264kb)
- discussion notes
- Table 4: Housing Character
- discussion notes (29kb)
- comment sheet results (31kb)
- discussion notes
- Table 5: Parks
- discussion notes (25kb)
- illustration (251kb)
- discussion notes
Workshop 3
The focus of Workshop 3, which was held on April 4, 2009 was to create options for Norquay. 47 participants looked at options on where low, medium, and high density housing could be located. Three teams developed several schemes with a focus along Kingsway and the SkyTrain Stations.
Illustrations of the different concepts will follow soon. Here are some preliminary photographs showing the draft concepts:
- Multi–node concept (164kb)
- Multi–node concept – Kingsway elevation (78kb)
- Urban Village concept 1 (189kb)
- Urban Village concept 2 (192kb)
- Transit Village concept (198kb)
Workshops 1 and 2
The first two workshops this spring were held on February 28 and March 7.
In Workshop 1 - “Exploring Norquay’s Character”, 35 residents of Norquay toured their neighbourhood with City staff and put their observations on paper. They explored issues, opportunities, important features and aspirations for the neighbourhood. View below the results of the four working groups.
Northwest Group Northeast Group Southwest Group Southeast Group tour map
summary map
finalized maptour map 1
tour map 2
summary map
finalized maptour map
summary map
finalized maptour map
summary map
finalized map
Workshop 2 – “Setting Neighbourhood Goals”, was attended by over 45 residents. In this workshop, residents and staff explored the urban structure of Norquay and worked on a set of principles and objectives for the neighbourhood. View the notes and urban structure sketches below.
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 structure map
principlesstructure map
principlesstructure map
principlesstructure map 1
structure map 2
principles
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Open House November 29, 2008
150 people came out to the Open House in November 2008 where they learned about the planning process and how they can get involved by joining a Working Group or registering for Workshops. Display panels are now available for viewing in English (4.09mb) and Chinese (8.87mb).
Newsletter #5
Newsletter #5 is available in English (963kb) and Chinese (848kb).
This newsletter summarizes further research and analysis planning staff have conducted in response to comments from Norquay residents.
Newsletter #4
Newsletter #4 is available in English (190kb) and Chinese (552kb).
This newsletter summarizes the feedback which has informed the additional work needed to create a Norquay Neighbourhood Centre that has broad community support.
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Further Planning Work Underway
The City of Vancouver has extended the planning process for Norquay Village so that feedback received from the community could be fully addressed in a revised neighbourhood plan proposal.
The City has been listening carefully to the community since feedback was sought through a neighbourhood survey in the summer of 2007. Although an independent advisor concluded that the survey data “could not and should not be used or interpreted further” due to unusual survey “irregularities”, city staff recognize that there are concerns and that those will need to be addressed through the extended planning process. Information about the Norquay survey data and the report of the independent advisor is available at Norquay Survey Overview.
Letter to Community
A letter was sent to Norquay Village residents, business owners, and/or property owners to clarify the processes of the planning program for Norquay Village and to address some frequently raised questions and concerns. Further information on questions and concerns that have been raised in the community is available in What We’ve Heard Norquay Q&A.
Newsletter #3
Newsletter #3 is available in English (7.64mb) and Chinese (6.49mb). This newsletter contains information on:
- New Housing Types and Zones
- Locations for RT-10, RM-1 & 3-4 Storey Apartments
- Housing & Zoning Information
- Kingsway Rezoning Policy Area
- Public Realm & Pedestrian Improvements
- Linkages and Greening
- Ravine Way
- Other News (2400 Motel Update, What’s Next)
- Norquay Survey Overview
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2400 Motel Site Study Update
First Phase
The 2400 site is City-owned and located in the core of the Norquay Village shopping area. The City is currently undergoing a process to determine the future of the 2400 Motel site. The RC Vision identified it as a “special site”, which if redeveloped should include new, needed commercial and/or residential uses and amenities after significant public consultation. It is hoped that redevelopment will create a catalyst for transforming this section of Kingsway into an animated pedestrian-oriented mixed use area. The 2400 Motel is also considered a heritage site as it is the only surviving intact example of the post-war rise of automobile-related Motor Court development.
As a first step in the 2400 Motel site study, a Statement of Significance (SOS) (1.19mb) for the 2400 Motel Site Study has been developed with input from various stakeholder groups. An SOS is a short document that identifies the heritage value of the site and provides an understanding of the factors that contribute to the site’s significance.
Second Phase
A consultant has been interviewing community groups and interested stakeholders and has held a workshop with these groups. A public open house was held on June 23, 2007 at the Renfrew Community Centre to give residents a chance to view proposals for this site. The panels displayed at the open house are now available for viewing (1.55mb). Please note that minor edits have been made to the original displays to provide clarity.
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Kick-Off Event held on March 25, 2006
The Kick-Off event held on March 25, 2006 was a success with approximately 250 people attending. Mayor Sam Sullivan and Councillors Suzanne Anton and Kim Capri were on hand to open the event with local musicians the Bluegrasstafarians providing the entertainment.
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