Vancouver moves to prezone areas to speed development

The City of Vancouver is moving to prezone huge swaths of its Broadway Plan area, a 500-block section of the city that stretches from Vine Street to Clark Drive and 16th to 1st Avenues.

The prezoned areas will allow developers to skip the lengthy and expensive site-specific rezoning process that includes public oversight. Developments would head straight to the development permit stage, without triggering a public hearing. The new simplified zoning allows a variety of rental housing types up to six storeys and, in some areas, 20-storey rental or strata condo towers that include 20 per cent social housing.