Monday’s meeting was relatively brief compared to many this term, but it involved some pretty meaty discussions on issues small and large. You can always watch the video here and enjoy the full experience to hear the many points I can’t possible condense here in my regular reporting out. The Agenda started with one item carried over from the previous meeting that ran too long for us to get to it:

Relocation of Loading Zone on Sixth Street
This has been an interesting discussion over the last few weeks. The bus stop on Sixth Street at Sixth Ave is the busiest bus stop in the City that isn’t at a Skytrain Station with more than 1,200 transit users boarding and alighting there every day. The 106 route is also one of the busiest routes in the region, and shares this stop with the 105, while connections are made here to the 101 and 155. The 106 has specifically been a target for Speed and Reliability measures for some time. The preferred approach is to move the bus stop as close as possible to the Sixth and Sixth corner while still maintaining safe movements around what is also one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in the City. There is also a desire to build a modern, accessible, and sheltered bus stop that is “future proofed” for pending bus service improvements at this busiest stop in the City.

Unfortunately, these changes were not transmitted by the City or TransLink to the residents of an adjacent building, and they aren’t happy about that, mostly because a loading zone was near the entrance of their building was proposed to be moved to where the previous taxi queue was.

There was a pretty robust discussion around this, but I cannot help but mention there was quite a bit of misinformation circulated early that added to the resident’s anxiety and concerns, and despite staff and some of Council’s attempts to correct that information, we are deep into Betteridge’s Law by now. One example was access to HandiDart – and the need to clarify that the new longer bus stop will accommodate regular bus movements and HandiDart services, actually improving proximity to the building for HandiDart users (and providing a sheltered place for HandiDart users to wait for their ride). Indeed with the loading zone moved, HandiDart will be able to access the entirety of the curb from Princess Street to Sixth. Similarly, concerns that the changes will hamper ambulance of fire access were clearly refuted by the Fire Chief last meeting.

The biggest concern expressed by residents was that the loading zone at the Princess Street end of their street frontage present since the building was opened (and expanded in 2021 when some pay parking was stripped then modified further when a temporary bust stop was installed) would be lost, relocated to the south end of the blockface to replace the taxi queue area. Through discussion with staff, it was determined that returning this loading zone to the pre-2021 condition was viable, and would not seriously impact bus operations. There is some detail here to work out, as HandiDart access is still a primary concern, and we want to assure that still works with any modification, but it looks like Council has found a compromise between the needs of transit users and the needs of the building residents. If there is disappointment here, it is that we probably could have found this solution if we had taken a bit more time to talk to folks prior to starting the redesign work, but we got here now, and I’m glad Council took the time to listen an understand the problem, and staff were able to find a workaround. Sometimes it works, folks.

We then approved the following items On Consent:

Bylaw Amendments to Reflect Community Services Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 8529, 2025
Council adopted (unanimously) Bylaw 8529 in late September, a Bylaw that collects various user fees together under a new Bylaw to align with our new departmental structure. This means edits to three other Bylaws to finish the move: these are those three Bylaws.

Downtown BIA Renewal 2026 – 2029
Business Improvement Areas are non-profit organizations regulated by the Community Charter. The members (defined as businesses property owners within a geographic area) agree to a taxation level, usually based on the frontage or area of their property, the City collects those taxes and returns them to the BIA to do “business improvement” activities defined in the Charter. This agreement between the city and the BIA must be renewed every four years. Last month, the members of the Downtown BIA unanimously approved a four-year renewal term, and a pretty significant increase in their levy, the City need to pass a Bylaw to make this a reality.

The following two items were Removed from Consent for discussion:

Response to Council Motion – Limiting Business Licences for Vape Stores
There has been community concern raised about vape technology, both as a public health concern for youth and about the prevalence of new shops opening up in New West. Tasha Henderson has been working with colleagues across the province to advocate for the Province to take better control of the industry, recognizing that municipal borders don’t mean much to a supply chain like this, but there is something we can do locally to stem the tide a little. There are “age restricted” vape shops in New West – a category that doesn’t include gas station convenience stores or other retail places where vape products may be available, but they are not displayed, much like cigarettes are managed.

Regulating retail for an undesirable but legal products needs to be approached carefully. Sometimes it points to a moral panic (see video game arcade restrictions that were a hassle to overturn a few years ago), and sometimes it opens the gates to Council having to draw lines in gray areas with imperfect knowledge (are vape stores worse than cigar stores?) and without fully understanding the outcome being sought. This is a good example, if vape shops are age restricted, is this about keeping those products out of the hands of youth? Or do we just not like the aesthetic of vape shops? Politics is about the grey.

The City hosted a Retail Strategy roundtable this summer with many businesses and commercial property owners there, and they overwhelmingly supported some restriction of Vape shops because of a perceived impact on street vitality. We also received correspondence from the medial health officer supporting further restriction. So staff are recommending we update our zoning bylaw to limit expansion of new age-restricted vape shops, recognizing that the existing one are “grandfathered” in – we don’t have strong legal grounds to shut them down. And Council agreed.

Rezoning and Special Development Permit Applications: 801 Columbia Street
The vacant lot at Eighth and Columbia is one of those challenging spots in the City. It was an area of, to be generous, underperforming retail prior to being demolished by the City to support the staging of adjacent construction (including belonging to the city to support staging for Anvil Centre construction). The City (in hindsight, probably not wisely) sold the property off, and in 2016, considered a Development Permit to build a three-story commercial building on the site.

Alas, the developer of that plan never competed their planning, and the property was sold off again, and still sits as an empty lot in the middle of the downtown. The current owner now wants to build a rental high-rise on the spot with two stories of retail at grade and (this is a first for New Westminster, and no surprise considering the adjacent SkyTrain and new Provincial Transit Oriented Development regulations) no residential parking.

This is a preliminary application, but Council did not sound particularly excited about it. There were a number of concerns raised, mostly around buildability (there is nowhere except busy streets to stage construction of a building this scale), and a general lack of amenity value for such a large development.

The purpose of this preliminary review is not to say yes or no (as this is not a complete application or proposal and there are numerous details to work out), but for Council to let staff and the developer know if there are significant concerns that need to be addressed prior to consideration of rezoning, and to set some expectations for community amenities or other conditions that should be included if a rezoning application comes to Council. In the end, that list seemed longer than Council was comfortable drafting in a council meeting, so the decision was to defer this item until next Council meeting so Council can show up with a more considered list.

And that was the end of the very short agenda. Happy Diwali everyone! Go Jays Go!

Back for the UBCM (report soon) and back to your regular Council schedule. Our Monday meeting had a fairly light Agenda, though we first had a presentation from TICorp on progress on the Pattullo Bridge Replacement project. Details here.

Council moved the following items On Consent:

Licence Agreement with BC Transportation Financing Authority for Construction of a Multi-Use Path in Grimston Park
We are building a bike lane in the West End. Don’t panic – this is a short connection between the foot of the Stewardson multi-use overpass and Nanaimo Street beside Grimston park. It’s a small project, but it is on Ministry of Transportation land, so we need a licence agreement to put a path on their land.

Local Government Climate Action Program 2024 Reporting Year and Corporate Emissions Inventory Update
The City is part of the Province’s Local Government Climate Action Program (LGCAP), meaning we get annual funding from the Province (~$300K/year) for our climate action work. We are required to report back on how we spend the money, but also provide reporting on our Greenhouse Gas Emissions and actions towards our Corporate Energy and Emissions Reduction Strategy. This is that annual reporting – all 24 pages of the work we are doing.

Our emissions have been reduced 32% compared to the 2010 baseline, and we are on track to meet our CEERS goal of 45% reduction by 2023. We are not on track to meet our “stretch goal” of Net Zero by 2030 in our Seven Bold Steps, and the path to get there is a body of ongoing work.

Report Back on School Streets and NASSI Opportunity
This NASSI program creates “pop-up” School streets for a week around schools in some communities as a bit of a demonstration of a different way to traffic calm and reclaim road space around schools. We had previously looked at participating in the 2025-26 school year, but Council decided it was not cost-effective, and was not the highest priority for limited resources. At that time, staff received some new info about the program just as the report was coming to Council, and promised a report back. This is that report. In short, the program needs a 9-month lead time, significant City staff time, and the $12,500 available for funding the program would not cover a substantial amount of the cost, and Council have decided that this effort an investment is better spent on existing road safety work.

Temporary Use Permit: 30 Capilano Way (Amusement Arcade)
There is a funky little business in the Braid Industrial Area that fixes and maintains pinball machines and video game consoles, and at the same time operates as an arcade where people can play the games. This doesn’t align with Industrial Zoning, so Council (in a fit of COVID enthusiasm, and in a split vote if I remember) issued a Temporary Use Permit to allow the business to add “amusement” to their industrial designation. We are now considering extending the TUP to mid-2027, which is the longest period we are allowed to grant a TUP without doing a full rezoning.

In 2027, the applicant will need to apply for a rezoning if they want to stay. Before that date, we hope to have a new Industrial Lands Strategy which should help inform the Council of the time on where this kind of niche use fits in our limited job-creation lands.

The following items were Removed from Consent for discussion:

Housing and Land Use Planning 2025-2026 Work Program.
This report is an annual staff checking in with Council on the work plan, no doubt as they plan for upcoming budget discussions and Council’s need to know what is included in our existing (budgeted) work plan. Of course, housing and land use planning have been busy files this term, with our Housing accelerator Fund programming, the Provincial housing regulations, and work around the Crises Response Pilot Project that included this department.

There is a lot here for our relatively small but nimble Housing and Land Use Planning staff compliment, including work to address homelessness, to fast-track affordable housing, to build more homes near Public Transit (TOD areas, including the 22nd Street vision), starting the process on a new Downtown Community Plan, Infill and Townhouse programs, Rental replacement and secured market rental policies. There is also liaison work being done to support School planning, and whole lot of tracking and reporting out on progress ot both provide Council transparency, but also to demonstrate to our funding partners that their investments are well made in New West.

Implications of Housing Legislation on Curbside Management
I’ve written about “Curbside Management” before – this is a more comprehensive way to view street parking strategy. The City has 400+km of curbside space, and curbside in some of our neighbourhoods are the most valuable real estate in the City: needed for transit prioritization, for active transportation, for commercial loading zones, for accessible parking, for deliveries and for trash removal, and (if any space is left over), good old fashioned parking. Right now 67% of our curbspace in the City is unregulated (you can park a car there with no cost or restriction).

The new provincial housing regulations have thrown a bit of a wrench on how we manage street parking demand. When we can no longer require off-street parking with new development, and off-street parking being so expansive to build (a single underground parking spot can cost $50,000 or more to build), it is likely there will be more demand for street parking. Of course the changes in new housing form will take years – decades even – to become common, so we have some time to address the anticipated challenges. People who really care might want to spend a bit of that time reading the bible of parking policy, because the plan here is to start talking to the community about curb space priorities, look at changes in waste collection, parking enforcement, and permitting systems to assure we are meeting the community’s expectations regarding curbside use. This is surprisingly complicated policy work, with perverse incentives and unintended consequences on every curb, which is why staff asked Council for the resources to do the background policy development work before bringing recommendations. Council agreed to this.

Alas, a motion came from Council that seemed to undermine a lot of this, proposing a suite of new policies bereft of the background work to understand the implications for the community. Fortunately, Council voted against immediate implementation, and asked staff to report back on the resources required for some of the policy changes, while dismissing others that were clearly more populist than policy.

We then had the following Bylaws for Adoption:

Construction Noise Bylaw No. 6063, 1992, Amendment Bylaw No. 8491, 2025
This Bylaw that changes how we manage Construction Noise Bylaw exemptions was adopted by Council.

Community Services Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 8529, 2025
Engineering User Fees and Rates Bylaw No. 7553, 2013, Amendment Bylaw No. 8534, 2025
Fire Protection Bylaw No. 6940, 2004, Amendment Bylaw No. 8535, 2025
Planning & Development Fees and Rates Bylaw No. 7683, 2014, Amendment Bylaw No. 8541, 2025
Electrical Utility Bylaw No. 6502, 1998, Amendment Bylaw No. 8546, 2025
These Bylaws that set various fees and rates for 2026 were adopted by Council.

2026 Permissive Property Tax Exemption Bylaw No. 8542, 2025
This Bylaw that designates what properties in the City get an permissive property Tax exemption was adopted by Council.

We had our now-twice-annual Council Meeting in Queensborough, at the always-active Queensborough Community Centre. Items related to the start of our 2026 Budget process dominated our full agenda. However, we started with a bit of Unfinished Business from previous meetings interruptus:

Riverfront Vison Update – Westminster Pier Park to Sapperton Landing Park
Submitted by Councillor Campbell

WHEREAS the Riverfront is the City’s most significant cultural, economic and natural asset, home to vibrant and diverse public spaces, high quality recreation, business and housing, and significant natural features and is an integral component of the local economy, providing employment, services and tourism opportunities while providing a living link to the city’s past; and
WHEREAS the City of New Westminster’s Riverfront vision, as adopted by City Council in February 2016, includes goals to create a continuous network of attractive Greenways and parks, provide connections from all neighborhoods to the river and to programing and animating the riverfront with an active, engaging and dynamic series of experiences compatible with existing industrial uses that entice visitors to explore its many destinations and adjacent amenities; and
WHEREAS the envisioned riverfront pedestrian connection between Westminster Pier Park and Sapperton Landing Park is a vital component of the overall Riverfront vision; and
WHEREAS the imminent completion of Pier Park West and expanded esplanade and the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge is nearing completion;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT staff provide Council with an update on the implementation status and overview of the logistical considerations, and challenges that need to be addressed in order to complete the riverfront pedestrian connection between Westminster Pier Park and Sapperton Landing Park.

This is a topic that comes up frequently when I am talking to the community – is it possible to connect Pier Park to Sapperton Landing with multi-purpose path? The City did some work a few years ago to look at the feasibility, and the answer was, “probably, but it won’t be easy”. Then we had the Pier Park fire (which made the distance farther), the Pattullo Bridge Replacement Project (which was in the way of doing any significant planning), and the expansion of Pier Park West (which was a higher priority for limited parks planning staff). Council back in October of 2023 agreed unanimously on a more careful path forward on the Pier Park replacement related to some of these challenges.

It’s worth mentioning the many challenges in the way to make this connection work, starting with the City not owning large parts of the land (or water) where the trail would need to go. There are jurisdictional challenges with the Port, the railways, Metro Vancouver, the Province, and First Nations rightsholders. There are engineering challenges with constrained space, a tidal river with significant industrial use, rail proximity and the significant challenge of there being a train bridge that you cannot easily get under or over. See above where I said “it’s not easy”. But with the Experience the Fraser project picking up regional steam, Metro Vancouver looking at parks expansion, and other adjacent projects beginning to wind down, it is time to start the conversations again about this missing link.

We then moved the following items On Consent:

2026 Permissive Property Tax: Exempt Properties – Review of Application Results
We annually approve a Bylaw that exempts some properties from all or some of their property taxes. This is a provincial regulated process, and most exemptions are regulatory (we are required to provide exemption – like churches) and some are permissive, or at the pleasure of Council (like Honour House and the Sapperton Pensioners Hall). This is the Bylaw that codifies and costs that list.

Construction Noise Bylaw No. 6063, 1992, Amendment Bylaw No. 8491, 2025
Regular readers will recognize we do a lot of Construction Noise Bylaw Exemptions at Council, often multiple for a single project (such as SkyTrain station construction work that must happen when the tracks are closed). Our Current Bylaw says only Council can grant these, and in part that is because Council are often the ones who receive complaints, so they should know what’s happening. That said, it is a lot of work to put a council report together, and construction can be delayed while builders wait for the Council process to unfold. This is one of those “red tape” things people talk about often with Local Government.

Staff are recommending that we delegate the authority to permit these exemptions for “Public regional service Providers”, which essentially means various levels of government building hospitals, transit, and the such. The Bylaw still applies to them, they still need to get an exemption approved, but staff will be able to grant those approvals.

Council Strategic Priorities Plan – Second Semi-Annual Report for 2025
This is our semi-annual report on progress toward Council’s Strategic Priorities Plan, adopted by Council back toward the beginning of the term. I might write a follow-up on this as there is a lot in this report. In short, the work we planned to get done this year (aside from some of the emergent issues that have arisen during the term – like the need to adopt a new OCP because of Provincial Housing Regulations) is coming along for the most part. Of 51 work areas, the dashboard shows we are in the green (completed, or in progress as expected) for 30, are in the orange (progress has been made, but more to do) on 18, and three are in the red (We will be challenged to see them completed). When I look back at the chaos of the last couple of years – Federal and Provincial elections, fundamental regulatory changes, economic uncertainty from inflation, tariffs and likely recession) – I am actually a little surprised and pleased we have met so many goals. There is a theme here –among the chaos, we are just getting the shit done.

The following items were Removed from Consent for discussion:

2025 Capital and Operating Quarterly Performance Report
Our quarterly reporting out on finances is generally positive. As one might expect with the global economy now, capital costs are up a bit (1.3%) due to inflation and delay, but staff have found some internal efficiencies and re-allocations to get that down to less than 0.4% impact on our budget. Meanwhile, we are projecting an operational surplus (taking in more money that we budgeted) of about 2.4%, almost all of this utility charges (because more people are hooking up to utility than budgeted) and increased interest earned on our reserves. At the same time our spending is 1.2% below projected, largely because if ongoing vacancies and time it is taking to fill some funded positions. Together, this adds up to about a $11.8M surplus, again mostly in Utility funds.

In short, the finances of the City are being well managed.

Budget 2026: Fees and Rates Review, Amendment Bylaws
One of the early steps of our annual budgeting process is to set next year’s “fees and charges” for everything from parking to building permits to cemetery services. We do this early because it helps finance staff with the modelling that goes into creating next year’s budget. It’s good to have those numbers in our pocket before we start talking tax rates.

These fees are overall meant to approximate the cost of providing the service, though some (like discounts for seniors or parking fees to manage a limited resource) are also set to fit a policy goal. Staff generally recommend that we increase fees every year to keep up with inflation (as measured by CPI), as that is a good proxy for the increased cost to deliver the various services. They also regularly do a regional scan to assure our fees re not out of scale with what other cities are charging. If we are way above or below others, that is probably a sign we are doing something wrong in how we cost the work.

Parking is something that often comes up in these conversations, and without getting into the weeds now (read Don Shoup!), staff are suggesting we do a more comprehensive parking strategy – actually a more comprehensive curbside management strategy – after the new OCP is adopted and we have adoption of the new provincial housing regulations as they relate to off-street parking.

As is typical for a Council with a $300 Million budget to discuss, we spent most of our time talking about a $10,000 item, the fares for the QtoQ. Staff proposed raising the fares by a quarter ($1.25 to $1.50 for concession fares, $2.25 to $2.50 for Adult). This is more than a CPI increase, but is still a pretty modest increase for a service that City taxpayers already subsidize to the tune of $800,000 a year (not including capital costs). In the end the majority of Council agreed to a smaller increase of the Concession fares to $1.30, and the recommended Adult fare increase.

Budget 2026 Process, Schedule, and Baseline Property Tax and Utility Rate Projections
This report does not “project a 5.3% property tax increase”, nor has “staff recommended a 5.3% baseline property tax increase”, despite the misinformation already being circulated by austerity mongers. This report is not setting even a preliminary tax rate; we are way too early in the process for that, and have not even seen the Police Board budget yet. This report is simply setting some groundwork and getting Council to agree to a process of workshops and meetings to work out the 2026 budget.

When staff present a 5.3% tax increase as the “business as usual” baseline, they are simply telling us that if we want a lower increase than that, something will need to be cut from the work we are already committed to doing, and if we want to deliver more to the community, the increase will need to be higher than that. Anyone who has watched this process over the last few years (once again, the most transparent budget decision making of any Council in the Lower Mainland), the reality is that we have yet to know what new commitments Council will agree to, or what savings will be found within the current budget, but almost certainly both will happen over the next three months before we know what the 2026 tax rate will be.

We had one Bylaw for Adoption:

Title to Highway (Portion of Keary Street) Bylaw No. 8533, 2025
This Bylaw that allows the creation of an air space parcel for the construction of an overhead walkway between Royal Columbian Hospital and the new office building at 230 Keary Street was adopted by Council.

And after appointing a number of people to City Advisory Committees and panels, that was the work for the evening!

Following last post, here is Part 2 of my long report from the Council meeting this week,. the “work we got done” part, starting with the items we approves On Consent:

22nd Street Station Area: Planning and Development Department Work Plan for Implementation of the reGENERATE Vision
The 22nd street Station area continues to be a work in progress. The City recognizes that single family homes adjacent to SkyTrain Stations are not a great way to support the Regional Growth Strategy, or any sustainable development principles of transit-oriented urban growth – not to mention the Provincial TOD legislation under Bill 47. However, the City also recognizes (and have heard clearly from the community) that we have one chance to get this area right, and community needs around infrastructure and amenities need to be addressed with any redevelopment of this area. This “study area” work involves Planning, Parks, Engineering, and other City departments, and is not done yet, though we have done quite a bit of public consultation around it.

The vision that resulted from more than a year of proactive community consultation was endorsed by Council in December of last year (unanimously) and the next steps are to develop design guidelines for new buildings to inform the Development Permit application process and design the eventual public space and streetscape design, This will coincide with high-level planning of a Transit Village around the 22nd Street Station, planning the shorter-term and longer-term vision for the BC Hydro lands that run as a green corridor (albeit, one with power lines over it) through the neighbourhood; and continued advocacy and collaboration with titleholders and stakeholders.

230 Keary Street and Royal Columbian Hospital Bridge Connection
As part of the last building in the Brewery District, the developer agreed to provide an accessible connection between RCH and the SkyTrain station through their property. For a variety of reasons, the best connection is an elevated walkway over Keary Street and the commercial fourth floor of the 203 Keary Street building. They would build this over City land, meaning we need to sell them an airspace parcel – 1350 cubic metres of air over public land. We are legally required to seek fair market value and balance that against the value of the public amenity. The value of a fully accessible connection between Sapperton Skytrain and the Hospital is clearly a valuable public amenity that would cost the City millions to build, so staff recommend we sell the airspace parcel for $1, with the agreement that we get it back if the bridge is removed when it meets end of life many decades in the future.

Construction Noise Bylaw Variance Request: 252 Brunette Avenue
TransLink needs to do some work on the Sapperton Skytrain Station to permit longer trains and improved service that can’t happen when the trains are running, and hoped to do it by now (we previously gave them a construction noise variance) but it has been delayed for a variety of reasons, including scheduling issues with the underlying railways. So we are letting then do construction work outside of construction hours to allow the work to get done.

Development Cost Charges Bylaw No. 8327, 2022, Amendment Bylaw No. 8539, 2025, and Amenity Cost Charges Bylaw No. 8540, 2025
The City is updating its Development Cost Charges Bylaw and creating a new Amenity Cost Charges bylaw to align with Bill 46, the new provincial legislation that changes how Cities can extract money from new development to pay for infrastructure and amenities to support that growth.

Both DCCs and ACCs are strictly regulated by the province, as we are required to identify and cost the projects that the monies collected from these charges are spent on, not just “we are going to buy more pipes” but “we are going to upgrade Pipe X to Y capacity and Z% of that is due to growth”, meaning it is a technical exercise involving Engineering, Finance, and Planning departments. As such, these updates represent work done so far, and we expect there will be another more comprehensive update in early 2027, informed by our imminent OCP updates and the upcoming Parks and Recreation, Solid
Waste, and Utilities Master Plans.

Staff took these proposed Bylaws to both the development community and the general public for feedback. Now we approve!

Provincial Housing Target Order – Year One Progress Report
A year ago, New Westminster received Housing Target Orders. At the time, I told the Minister we would have no problem meeting them, but we would need more support from the Province for infrastructure and amenities – and where the hell are the schools? As we look at our one-year report, I note that 10 more cities were issued orders last week, and Richard Stewart’s response was to steal my bit (I joke! This is a bit we have all been sharing as regional mayors! More voices the better! Though I wish he also had this level of concern about affordable and supportive housing need in his community).

The good news is that we (as predicted) are meeting our ordered Housing Targets. Indeed, in the first year we exceeded our order, which is a good thing because not only are the order targets based on only 75% of the current actual need in the community, the recent downtown in the development industry suggests that completions towards the end of our 5-year Target Order window will not be as easy to come by, so good to get out ahead a bit. In short, we are 170% of our 2025 target, but have just completed about 26% of our 5-year target.

The not-as-good news, we are slightly below our proportional rental target (42% of new units where the target was 52%), but projections are we will get closer to the target with buildings currently under construction. The worse news part is (as I said to the Minister a year ago) we cannot meet our affordable housing targets without significant increases in senior government funding for affordable housing. Though we currently have two non-market rental buildings under construction, and a third about to break ground, none of these show up in the annual report this year.

Rezoning Application: 140 Sixth Street (Royal Towers) – Application Review Process
The owners of the Royal Towers have been working on a redevelopment plan for the site, and are working through a process of staged approval and development in an uncertain housing market. Their current proposal is consistent with the OCP, but would be a substantial rezoning well exceeding the density envisioned for the Tier 2 TOD area (within 400m of SkyTrain). The proposal is to build two 6-storey buildings, one secured non-market (affordable) rental, the other secured market rental, then demolish the existing Royal Towers moving the residents into the new building. This would be followed by a larger phase of building two large strata towers to pay for it all. The project would also include a commercial area, courtyard public gathering area, etc. The report right now is to update Council on their phasing proposal, and to give the basic details before the developer goes to public consultation to get some public feedback.

Section 219 Covenant for Statutory Rights of Way for Metro Vancouver at TACC
Metro Vancouver has a major sewer line that runs in the old Glenbrook Channel in front of təməsew̓txʷ, one of the constraints on how the building was designed to fit 110,000 square feet and two large pool tanks between the old Canada Games Pool and this right of way. We are updating the rights-of-way to address two utility access areas Metro wants to assure they can maintain their sewer line if and when needed.

Temporary Use Permit Extension for Royal Columbian Hospital Phase Two Construction Parking: 97 Braid Street
During the construction of the new RCH tower, the City has granted a Temporary Use Permit to allow construction teams to park next to Braid Skytrain station in recognition of a lack of parking near the hospital, and the project team has been running shuttles from the Braid station to the construction site. They are asking for a one-year extension of the TUP to see this phase of the project through to completion.

We had one item Removed from Consent for discussion:

Updated Terms of Reference for Community Advisory Assembly
The City is recruiting for the second cohort of Community Advisory Committee members, and based on learnings from the pilot project and feedback from the Assembly Steering Committee, have drafted updated and slightly modified Terms of Reference for the Assembly.

And we had one single Bylaw for Adoption:

Housing Agreement Bylaw (1923 & 1927 Marine Way) No. 8507, 2025
This Bylaw that secures 89 affordable rental housing units in a six-storey residential development by 22nd Street station was adopted by Council. Yes, we continue to approve affordable housing.

Go enjoy your Labour Day weekend, and Go Bellies Go.