City Lands Planning

City Lands Planning


One way the City is growing is by increasing density on City Lands near the city centre and frequent transit areas. This will provide the City and Council a higher degree of control over the pace and rate of growth, help optimize the value of City assets, fund City amenities, and provide a diversity of housing types.


Overview of Changes

The City has planned for an increase in housing density on the following five City Lands: City Hall Lands, Fire Hall Lands, East First Lands, Alder Street Lands, and Harry Jerome Neighbourhood Lands, as shown on the map below. These changes are intended to help meet future housing and City needs over the coming decades. This means, any development of these five properties would take place separately and over time, and require Council approvals — allowing Council to direct the pace and amount of new development.

City Lands

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Harry Jerome Neighbourhood Lands

The first site that the City rezoned, with a portion of the site to be made available for development, is the Harry Jerome Neighbourhood Lands. The Council approved funding strategy for the new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre, which is scheduled to open in 2026 at a cost of $230 million, includes the sale or long-term lease of surplus City lands at the Harry Jerome Neighbourhood Lands. Some of these lands have already been leased and developed (as the Lonsdale Square and Sunrise Senior Living projects), some will be retained by the City for park, and some will be made available for disposition in the near future.

The City amended the Official Community Plan to allow increased height and floorspace for the Harry Jerome Neighbourhood Lands. The bylaw changes increase the permitted height of two high-rise buildings by five storeys (to 88 and 103 metres respectively), and the allowable gross floor area from 2.5 to 2.9 times to support the development of approximately 180 additional housing units. The benefits include increased housing supply, added population to support local retail and service businesses, and additional revenue for the City for the funding of the new Harry Jerome Community Recreation Centre. The changes are anticipated to have minor impacts on traffic and infrastructure, and City staff consider the changes reasonable in the context of allowable height and density in the area.

Other City Lands

City Hall - 141 W 14th St.

The Zoning Bylaw was updated to allow the same amount of residential development as currently allowed in the Official Community Plan (OCP). The OCP allows a floor space ratio of 4.0 and buildings up to 68m in height. There is no proposed change to the location of the Library or City Hall.


Fire Hall - 165 E 13th St.

The Zoning Bylaw was updated to allow the same amount of residential development as currently allowed in the Official Community Plan (OCP). The OCP allows a floor space ratio of 4.0 and buildings up to 46m in height.


East First Lands - 112 E 1st St. – 178 E 1st St. and 131 E 2nd St.

The Zoning Bylaw was updated to allow the same amount of residential development as currently allowed in the Official Community Plan (OCP). The OCP allows a floor space ratio of 3.6 and buildings up to 48m, 37m, and 23m in height, depending on their location.


Alder Street Lands - 405-423 Alder St. and 439-489 Alder St.

The Official Community Plan (OCP) and the Zoning Bylaw was updated to allow a mid-rise residential development up to 6 storeys and up to a 2.6 floor space ratio. This helps the City create a standard mid-rise zone that development applicants can use, and also helps achieve a Housing Accelerator Fund commitment. 

Documents

For more information about the proposed changes, please see:

Project Timeline

  • Community engagement 
    July 2025
    City staff conducted pop-ups, a community workshop, a town hall meeting and a survey to collect feedback.
  • Bylaw Changes First Reading 
    October 6, 2025
    Council meeting to consider bylaw changes to the City’s planning tools.
  • Public Hearing
    November 17, 2025
    An opportunity for the public to share feedback with Council on the proposed updates.
    Learn more about this process on our Public Hearings and Meetings page.
  • Council Decision
    December 8, 2025
    Council adopted the bylaws.


Contact Us

Planning & Development Team
Phone: 604-982-9675
Email: zoningupdate@cnv.org

aerial view of CNV neighbourhood

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