reGENERATE: A Vision for 22nd Street Neighbourhood

Thank you for your question. The emerging vision does not include a proposal for a park-and-ride. One of the principles that informs the vision is to focus growth and amenities close to transit. In lieu of parking, there are strategies in the vision for improving bus connections to Skytrain, which should help improve options for people getting to and from the transit hub, within New Westminster and across the region. The emerging vision does call for pick-up and drop-off areas near the station, to provide brief stopping opportunities for those who need to get to transit via private vehicle.

Thank you for your enquiry. On May 27, staff brought forward a presentation and report to Council on implementation of the new provincial housing legislation, including designating areas around SkyTrain for transit oriented development by the legislated deadline of June 30^th. However, before applications can be processed within the 22^nd Street station area, the visioning needs to be complete, as per Council’s Interim Development Review Framework. More information, including the staff reports, Interim Development Review Framework, as well as a Guide to Transit Oriented Development Areas in New Westminster, can be found at https://www.newwestcity.ca/new-provincial-housing-legislation/transit-oriented-development-areas. 

Regarding visioning for 22^nd Street, the project team continues to work on a draft, building off the preliminary concepts developed and shared at the beginning of March, and is working towards bringing a draft forward for community consultation in the fall, with the goal of having a vision for Council’s consideration of endorsement this coming winter.

Thanks for your question. As you note, the submissions in the ideas challenge explore different housing forms and densities, as well as respond to the inclusive climate action focus of the challenge. To allow for creative responses, restrictions on density and form were not part of the challenge parameters.  The Official Community Plan projections anticipated a certain degree of growth in the area around 22^nd Street SkyTrain station. However, we anticipate coming up with updated and revised projections through the visioning process, informed by ideas challenge submissions as well as community engagement. The land use and density allowances will also be informed by the new provincial legislation setting densities around SkyTrain stations (more information here).

A number of momentous announcements from the Province outlined new legislation to get more housing built faster. We still have work to do to better understand these announcements, timing, and what they mean for our community.  

We will be making changes to our municipal regulations and approval process to align with the new provincial legislations. As the information is still preliminary and new, we don’t yet know what these changes and the exact timeline will look like. We will share more as we learn it, and as we proceed toward implementation. Until then, we will be operating with a business as usual approach. Anyone wanting to redevelop their property before these changes are adopted will still need to comply with the current regulations and processes.

Part of what is being explored through visioning for this area is the question of housing form and density. The City is committed to accommodating housing needs, and this area provides an important opportunity to put housing near transit, but the specifics of heights and densities have not yet been determined. We are watching the provincial announcements on minimum densities near rapid transit, and digesting the implications of this as we listen to feedback from community through the ideas gathering phase of this project. As you allude to, we have heard from community that neighbourliness, social connectivity, and having a sense of place are important, and need to be considered no matter the housing form.

In an effort to address the housing crisis we are facing, the Province announced proposed legislation changes which, if passed, aim to get more housing built faster. These changes are significant, will bring a big shift in our efforts to address housing needs, and will have implications for planning the 22^nd St station area in particular.

 We still have work to do to better understand these announcements, and what they mean for the area around 22nd Street Station and the larger community. The vision, and any future amendments or updates to the OCP will address the proposed legislation changes. More information is expected from the Province in the coming months that will help us navigate next steps. 

We recognize that traffic congestion, especially along Twentieth Street, is a key constraint for this area, and already a significant community concern. As you note, part of the challenge with traffic in this area stems from Queensborough Bridge which provides an important regional connection across the river. As part of the visioning process, we are exploring transportation options. Included in this work is: reaching out to Burnaby’s City staff to understand impacts from growth in Burnaby; collaborating with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure; and leveraging the expertise of our City’s transportation staff and consultants. Additional mobility concepts and transportation analysis will be needed as part of the visioning process.

 We also intend to explore how development could be undertaken in a car-light way given that it is adjacent to SkyTrain, a regional-serving bus loop, and bikeways. We hear your point that not everyone living near transit can take transit. The goal of transit-oriented development would be to support new residents in choosing more regularly to not travel by car. 

Thanks for your interest in engaging in this planning work. The pop-ups were designed to allow residents out doing their regular activities to connect with staff, including at rush hour at the SkyTrain station. However, as you note, they were mostly scheduled during daytime hours. Two major engagement sessions were held on Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm – one in-person and one online to ensure there were options for people who may also prefer to avoid large in-person gatherings. We anticipate hosting another in-person engagement activity in mid-November in Connaught Heights. Details of location, date and time will be posted on the Be Heard page when the venue is confirmed. Lastly, the community survey and online ideas boards are also open until this Sunday, so please feel free to engage through those avenues as well.

We appreciate that the planning process for this neighbourhood has had starts and stops, and many residents are keen to see a plan finalized. Though the pandemic and subsequent staff shortages delayed the process, it has now been relaunched. To further our efforts, the City has also engaged a consulting team who will be supporting the work. 

Following the creation of a plan, the actual pace of change in the physical neighbourhood will largely depend on land owners, lot assembly, and the development community. Development proposals will need to fit with the community’s aspirations, be financially viable, and be in demand in the market. Of course, the planning process will take these feasibility considerations into account when crafting the vision.

Thank you for your question and comments. The station area was defined as part of the development of the Official Community Plan (OCP) process, which wrapped up in 2017. There was significant community interest in having the station area boundary at Twentieth Street at that time. More recently, Council has directed staff to reconsider the boundaries of the station area, including being open to ideas beyond what is demarcated in the OCP as the station area. The maps being used for this current visioning process now show a 500m radius, to depict what could be considered to be a walkable distance from transit (recognizing the steep slopes also impact walkability). We appreciate this kind of input regarding what kinds of uses may be appropriate west of Twentieth Street, and what kind of consideration is needed with regards to transitioning from higher-density uses.