B.C. government forces West Vancouver to densify Park Royal and Ambleside areas

B.C. government issues housing policy deadlines for West Vancouver and Oak Bay

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201 studio rental homes approved for Park Royal mall in West Vancouver

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The new prescriptive directives follow a review by provincially appointed advisers, who were tasked earlier this year with evaluating how the two municipal governments can better facilitate new housing. Both West Vancouver and Oak Bay were consulted on the proposed prescriptive directives and provided feedback, which the provincial government notes helped shape the final orders.

In West Vancouver, the provincial government is directing the municipal government to amend its Official Community Plan (OCP) and increase housing density within the Park Royal-Taylor Way area with clear development regulations and density minimums as prescribed by the provincial government.

This area of Park Royal-Taylor Way is, of course, the location of the North Shore’s largest shopping mall, a public transit bus hub served by numerous bus routes, and the busy arterial road corridor between the Lions Gate Bridge and the Upper Levels Highway (Highway 1/99).

Minimum height allowances of 12 storeys and a floor area ratio (FAR) density of 4.0 must be permitted for nearly all of the Park Royal North mall land area, as well as adjacent sites currently occupied by a mall parkade, both vacant and developed sites fronting Arthur Erickson Place on the hillside backdropping Park Royal North, the parcel of the 2022-completed 19-storey and 16-storey Gateway Residences towers of Park Royal South, the 1993-completed 14-storey and 11-storey West Royal Apartments towers, and the site of ongoing construction project of the eight-storey Executive on the Park residential building.

Residential areas immediately to the northwest and northeast of Park Royal North must have new minimum allowances of up to eight storeys and a density of 3.0 FAR.

Further to the west of Park Royal, the municipal government must amend bylaws to densify select existing single-family and duplex areas in the Ambleside and Dundarave areas — either by extending the Development Permit Area (DPA) for Ambleside Apartment Area or establishing a new DPA that enables the same density offered by the Ambleside Apartment Area DPA.

Additionally, the provincial government is requiring the District to approve the Ambleside Centre Local Area Plan, which has seen its review process stalled. This new area plan previously initiated by the municipal government to densify much of the Ambleside area has been in the works for several years, and it would introduce new mid-rise building forms to the area to provide new housing and job space.

The provincial government is requiring West Vancouver to complete all of these actions by the end of December 2025. As well, the municipal government has been put on a tighter leash by being required to provide more transparency on its reporting on the number of housing units considered and rejected under its preliminary development and public consultation policies.

As for the provincial government’s interventions in the Greater Victoria jurisdiction of Oak Bay, the municipal government is required to amend its Development Application Procedures bylaw by the end of December 2025 to allow District staff — instead of the elected officials of Oak Bay District Council — to approve minor development variance permits. As well, Oak Bay must revise its parking bylaws for multi-unit housing, reducing the minimum requirement to one vehicle stall per residential unit where more is currently required.

By the end of this year, Oak Bay has also been directed to update its OCP with a new focus on housing supply and revise its building and plumbing bylaws related to blasting activities.

The directives for both communities are part of the provincial government’s broader effort to meet housing demand under the Housing Supply Act legislation passed in 2023 that targets dozens of high-growth municipalities across B.C.

Both Oak Bay and West Vancouver — among the first 10 cities under the legislation — have been deemed to be underperforming jurisdictions in the eyes of the provincial government in meeting their initial legislated annual targets of generating net new housing unit completions, not merely approvals. Oak Bay delivered 16 of its 56 net new housing targets in the first year, while West Vancouver delivered 58 of 220 units.

The provincial government states the new prescriptive directives will help both municipalities catch up on their legislated targets.

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• B.C. government issues housing policy deadlines for West Vancouver and Oak Bay
• West Vancouver and Oak Bay put on "naughty" list by BC government for coming far short on new housing supply
• 201 studio rental homes approved for Park Royal mall in West Vancouver
• Nearly 6,500 homes reach completion in Surrey, exceeding first-year legislated housing targets by 53%
• City of Burnaby switches to height-based building policies, abandoning density limits