Our City, Our Homes

Thank you for your patience, and for taking the time to share your comment. Your feedback has been shared it with the project team.  

The development application at 88 Tenth Street (Columbia Square) does exceed the minimum allowable density and location of the Province’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Area legislation. However, it is generally consistent with the previously established Downtown Community Plan’s Land Use Designation for the property. The Downtown Plan calls for mixed-use high density of approximately 30 storeys at that location. In cases like these, the City is not proposing to reduce a property’s density entitlements in locations where the existing development or permitted density is already higher than the Province’s legislation.

The current application for this development is in its early stages, and a Master Plan is expected as part of the development process. This plan would expand on the details of the current application, including elements such as parking, green space, tower design, access to light, circulation, and community amenities, among other key items. You can visit the 88 Tenth Street (Columbia Square) Be Heard page for more information.

A separate initiative the City has been engaged in recently is called “Building Social Connections”. You can click the link to learn more! In summary, it’s a study of programming strategies and aspects of building design focused on informing inclusive ‘sociable’ housing policy, especially at higher densities. This includes approaches on promoting a sense of belonging, inclusion, social relationships, and community (neighbourly) connections. We’re now working on how to integrate the findings and design solutions proposed in the Building Social Connections’ Policy and Design Toolkit (2024) into the City’s frameworks.

Thank you for your patience, and for taking the time to share your questions. We have shared your feedback with the project team. 

The City does not have the ability to remove the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Area designation from properties identified through Provincial legislation. However, one of the key areas we explored through recent community engagement was how to best adjust the edges of TOD areas to reflect our local conditions (such as slopes) and existing building context. The City also consulted the community on whether lower density residential uses, like infill housing and townhouses, should also be permitted within TOD areas. Height and density regulations aside, all relevant City policies continue to apply within TOD Areas. For example, properties in Queen’s Park Heritage Conservation Area that are listed as ‘Protected (Advanced) Properties’ are not affected by the legislation. 

Affordable housing, family friendly housing, and heritage assets and values continue to be City priorities that are protected and expanded on through different policy tools, such as our Affordable Housing Acceleration Initiative, the Family Friendly Housing Policy, and the various Heritage Protection tools which remain at the City’s disposal, and would work jointly with the new regulations from the Province. 

Thank you for your patience and interest in creative solutions! We have shared your comment with the project team.

The changes introduced by the Province as part of the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Areas legislation prevents the City from requiring a minimum number off-street vehicle parking spaces in new residential developments within TOD Areas. Moving forward, the number of vehicle parking spaces included in new residential developments in TOD Areas will be decided by the developer, and will likely vary from project-to-project based on their individual priorities and understanding of market demand for parking spaces. However, a minimum of accessible vehicle parking and bicycle parking spaces will still be required for new residential developments, and minimum vehicle off-street parking requirements will still apply to new commercial (e.g. a retail store) and institutional (e.g. a school) developments.

The City of New Westminster’s Master Transportation Plan, which was endorsed by Council in 2015, includes actions the City is taking to encourage reduced reliance on cars. This includes putting in place improved infrastructure for walking, cycling and rolling, and transit, with a focus on vulnerable road users like those who use mobility aids and wheelchairs. The City also has a focus on curbside management, which is impacted as more people seek to park on the street. This space is also needed for a variety of activities, including putting out garbage and recycling bins for pickup, bus stops, loading of passengers, and/or delivery services (e-commerce).

Thank you for your patience, and for taking the time to share your question about the City's approach to development in heritage neighborhoods that overlap with Transit Oriented Development Areas.

A portion of the Queen’s Park Heritage Conservation Area overlaps with the Columbia Street Station Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Area, which was set by the Province in 2024. The City is legislatively required to implement the TOD Areas across the City.

Those properties in the Conservation Area that are listed as ‘Protected (Advanced) Properties’ are not affected by the Transit Oriented Development Area legislation. 

All other residentially zoned properties in the Conservation Area are subject to the TOD Area regulations. This means the City must consider applications with building height and densities up to those set by the TOD Area regulations, and shown here. Development under the TOD Area regulations would likely require consolidation of a number of properties and, based on the typical minimum lot sizes needed to accommodate this size of development, opportunities to do this are likely limited. Any application made to the City would have to comply with the City’s development permit guidelines, and consider the guidelines of Conservation Area.

Thank you for your patience! We appreciate you taking the time to submit your question. 

This is one of the questions we’re looking for feedback on! The City is currently exploring the types of housing that should be permitted within the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Area land use designations of the Official Community Plan (OCP). Infill housing and townhouses are being considered both within and outside the TOD Areas, though we are also exploring whether the application process would be the same or different in both locations.

What do you think, should infill housing and townhouses be permitted close to SkyTrain Stations, or just apartments? We would love to chat with you and hear your thoughts at one of our upcoming engagement events! You can also take our online survey, which is available on the Be Heard page until Sunday, March 9.

Thank you for your patience and for sharing your feedback with us. We’ve shared your comment with the project team.

We want to apologize for not including images of housing with examples of accessibility features. We did not intend to give the impression that accessibility is not a concern for the City’s housing projects, and will make sure to be more thoughtful about this in our future consultation and other outreach. 

The images shown in our survey were only a few examples specific to the questions provided about housing type and location, and do not represent the full range of considerations we are taking into account, including accessibility of the buildings, or the design guidelines that will apply to these programs. 

In practice, the City carefully considers accessibility for all new developments to support inclusion and independence for everyone. One of the ways we enforce this is in our land use policy work, through the City’s Official Community Plan development permit guidelines and Zoning Bylaw, which focus on how housing (and other buildings and spaces) are built throughout the city. In particular, the City actively encourages barrier-free accessible entrances to support age- and family-friendly design principles and accommodate those with different mobility needs.

In the existing laneway house program, the City has incorporated flexibility in development permit guidelines to incentivize the creation of single storey accessible units that have functional plans for aging in place. For example, a larger site coverage (more square footage on the main level) is allowed within the lot when the building is accessible when compared to laneway houses that are not built to be accessible. We will explore similar accessibility considerations as we develop the new Infill Housing Program.

Thank you for taking the time to share your comment. We’ve shared it with the project team. Here is their response:

In early 2023, the City started a comprehensive review of our development application process by working with a consultant to identify what improvements can be made to the process, and to ultimately increase efficiency and reduce approval timelines. This review also conducted to achieve one of the City Council’s Strategic Goals, building more homes faster. 

The review was completed in summer 2024. Click here to access the July 8 Council report. The findings of the review were also presented to the Urban Development Institute, who were consulted throughout the review process. The City is implementing the findings of the review along with other programs (notably seven Housing Accelerator Fund initiatives, several of which are part of this Our City, Our Homes community engagement phase) to work towards our shared housing goals and meet community housing needs. 

Thank you for your question. The City of New Westminster is committed to preventing trains from whistles across the city, but this is a long process because it requires cooperation from all the rail companies that operate in New Westminster, and assistance from other levels of government. As part of the process, the City has done safety reviews at all crossings. Each crossing comes with its own set of challenges and safety requirements, and the whistling can only stop after any required upgrades are made. For the latest updates and more information about the work to stop train whistles, visit newwestcity.ca/transportation/trains.

Thank you for your patience. That is one of the questions we’re looking for feedback on! The City is currently exploring the types of housing that should be permitted within the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Area land use designations of the Official Community Plan (OCP). Infill housing and townhouses is being considered both within and outside the TOD areas, though we are exploring whether the application process would be the same or different in both locations. 

What do you think, should infill housing and townhouses be permitted close to Skytrain Stations, or just apartments? We would love to chat with you and hear your thoughts at one of our upcoming engagement events! You can also  take our online survey, which is available on the Be Heard page until Sunday, March 9. 

Thank you for your comment and your interest in townhouses in New Westminster. 

This is the type of feedback we are looking for! We’d love to chat with you about housing in New Westminster including townhouses at one of the upcoming engagement events (more details available on the Be Heard project page) to make sure your thoughts are included in the process and reporting to Council. The online survey is also open on the Be Heard page until March 9, Sunday, in case you have not completed it yet. 

To answer your question, find below some more information on what has guided our work in those two neighbourhoods: 

The Queen’s Park neighbourhood has many historic buildings and other heritage assets which are protected by a Heritage Conservation Area, and they cannot be demolished because of this. However, townhouses can be designed to fit respectfully in heritage areas and/or next to historic properties. Townhouse development often requires multiple lots, as opposed to housing that can usually be built on one lot like single detached houses. The Queen’s Park neighbourhood does not have many locations with multiple lots in a row that can be easily redeveloped together. If enough lots in the neighbourhood were to become available for townhouses, the development would likely be managed through a Heritage Revitalization Agreement. These agreements allow for more design control and flexibility in building regulations to better work with the existing heritage or character features of the buildings and neighbourhood. Opportunities for infill housing (such as multiplexes) are being considered in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood, which could increase the opportunities for housing choice, including through both new builds and historic conversions. 

Based on past engagement, Brow of the Hill has not been identified as a primary area for townhouses. Similar to the Queen’s Park neighbourhood, this area has a lot of historic buildings. Also, previously, we heard from community members that there is a desire to prioritize infill housing in the Brow of the Hill neighbourhood as they felt infill housing would be the right fit amongst the existing apartment buildings. However, if there are locations between apartments which you think could be a good fit for the townhouse form, we are keen to hear about them!