In September 2024, Heritage New Westminster (HNW) President Deane Gurney presented Mayor Patrick Johnstone with HNW’s final report on the recent public engagement sessions convened to discuss preserving and valuing the social, environmental, and economic benefits of New Westminster’s built heritage amid municipal and provincial housing priorities.

Mayor Patrick Johnstone

Following the report presentation, Deane Gurney followed up with questions for the mayor, on topics including:

• the city’s ability to request exemptions from zoning bylaws after reaching “density goals”
• housing targets and compliance with provincial housing bills
• Heritage Conservation Areas (HCAs) and their protection under new zoning regulations
• infrastructure development to accommodate increased population density, and
• balancing housing needs with climate goals, including urban forest management

Mayor Johnstone provided detailed responses, placing each issue in the context of broader regional and provincial policies.

Please note: Mayor Patrick Johnstone’s responses to Heritage New West’s questions represent his own thoughts. He is not speaking on behalf of City Council.

Q. “If New Westminster has already reached its density goals, can city Council request exemptions from the new zoning Bylaws”

A. No. The City is required by regulation to update its OCP, and to bring its zoning bylaws on compliance with Provincial regulations. However, I want to put the broader question into context, because I don’t understand the term “density goals” as it is applied here.

The City is a signatory to the Metro Vancouver Regional Growth Strategy, which contains growth predictions both for population (based on demographic research) and housing units (based on population growth). We are expected to have an OCP that outlines a path to meeting those predicted needs. There are also “targets” embedded in that plan that (for example) 27% of new housing will be in frequent transit development areas. New Westminster has been meeting these targets over the last decade, but are a long way from meeting targets set out to 2040 and 2050.

Provincial regulations also require that the City complete a Housing Needs Assessment, which uses demographic and market trends to determine how much housing will be required over the next decade to meet anticipated housing need. The most recent HNA indicates a need for market housing demand of 968 net new units by 2026, and 3,328 net new units by 2031. We have also assessed a net non-market (“affordable”) housing need of 1,290 units by 2026 and 2,083 by 2031. There are details within these numbers of housing types, but short version is we need to be approving 540 net new units of housing a year every year until 2026 to meet the community need. Our current level of approvals is keeping pace with this in all except the “affordable” housing component.

Recently, the province issued some new “Housing Target Orders” which would require the City to complete 4,400 new housing units in the next 5 years. This is higher than the assessed need we determined based on the Housing Needs Assessment methodology the province itself developed, but these are also not “approvals”, but are “completions”, which is a different kettle of fish. We are no on pact to meet this level of approvals.

These Needs and Targets exist separately from, though practically overlap with, Bill 44 (which requires municipalities to zone for multiplexes on single-detached lots) and Bill 47 (which requires municipalities to set Transit Oriented Areas around SkyTrain stations with pre-determined permissive height and density). Regardless, the City is required to follow the provincial regulation that governs it.

Finally, “zoned capacity” is a frequent red herring in this discussion, and I want to warn against it. It is likely the City has sufficient “zoned capacity” to meet all housing targets above. However, the assumption that every piece of land in the city being fully developed to the upper limit of its zoned capacity is not something that any City can rely upon to meet the housing and affordability needs of the community.

Q. “Due to the unique heritage value of the City, what measures can city Council take to protect these as the HCA may not be enough? Is the HCA going to be enough?”

A. Bills 44 and 47 do not remove the protective tools for heritage conservation within the Local Government Act, and the bills do not effectively apply to existing heritage designated properties. The Queens Park HCA is still in force, however there remains uncertainty about how a City can balance HCA protections against the inability for a City to withhold approvals for multiplexes or multi-family buildings in the HCA on properties that are not currently designated. It appears we cannot use
“heritage” alone as a reason to withhold approval, but may be able to apply requirements consistent with the HCA to limit what we must approve. That potential inconsistency involves a somewhat technical part of planning legislation that we will need to ask the Province to clarify and provide an interpretation when push comes to shove, and I am not comfortable at this time providing an opinion about how it will come to pass. I suspect Heritage BC or others in this space are working on seeking this clarity.

Q. “How will the City support and advocate with the province for heritage preservation, specifically the QP HCA?”

A. Right now, staff are still working to understand what the actual impacts of Bill 44 and 47 are, and are busy updating our OCP and Zoning Bylaws to meet compliance deadlines. Part of this work includes integrating the new requirements with all of our existing Bylaws, plans and policies to assure that modifications are internally consistent and legally defensible. The QP HCA is one of those existing Bylaws that will need to be evaluated and may need to be amended, and that is where staff’ energy is currently committed.

Q. “In a non-HCA area, what mechanisms exist to protect the character of existing character homes and their street character e.g,. Massey Heights Mid-Century Modern or Brow of the Hill along 9th Street?”

A. The same tools that existed before Bills 44 and 47. Heritage registrations and designations, heritage revitalization agreements, and heritage conservation areas can still be used to encourage and support heritage conservation in communities. The strongest tool, designation of heritage properties, is still a legal process in BC, including within Transit Oriented Areas.

Q. “What is the City’s position on the creation of more Heritage Conservation Areas in the City (e.g., Massey Heights, Sapperton)?”

A. I’m not sure the City has a single position on this. The QPHCA was not created by the City working alone, it was the product of a lengthy discussion within the community, sometimes facilitated by the City, but mostly a grassroots effort. If other neighbourhoods demonstrated a similar level of interest and resolve, I think (and I cannot speak for all of Council, because this is a resource question at some point) the City would be willing to facilitate discussions of whether a neighbourhood met a threshold for an HCA, both in heritage value and community support. As you will well remember with the QP HRA, the discussion in the community might best determine if the Council was to turn out to be supportive of the HCA, as it does ultimately require an OCP amendment.

Q. “How will we find and build the infrastructure to support the increased density?”

A. I am assuming there is a typo in this question, and it was meant to ask “fund”, not “find”. I don’t see this as a heritage-related question, but this is a major point of discussion between the City and senior governments. The City is ahead of the curve here, having completed its Asset Management Plans, and having a good grasp on the scale of development required to meet our Housing Needs Assessment. We have a pretty good handle on the gap between what infrastructure we can fund through the tools provided by the Province to fund infrastructure through growth, and the amount we are going to need to spend in the decade ahead to meet community need.

However, this question might also benefit from a bit of context. Whether drawn from the Regional Growth Strategy, the Housing Needs Assessments, or the Target Orders, the targets set for the City for housing are driven by an acute need for housing. The City’s approach is not to build housing in order to attract people, which in turn will put strain in infrastructure. The approach is to build housing to meet the need of the people already arriving here, driven by the job market, demographic trends, and global population. People are already arriving in New Westminster much faster than the housing market can provide for them, resulting in spiraling rents, near-zero vacancy, chronically under-housed families, housing insecurity, and ultimately homelessness. Infrastructure is needed for people, and in that sense, housing is just one more part of the necessary infrastructure we have to support to improve livability in the community.

Q. “How will the City and the Province protect tree canopy and greenspace, especially as we see increased effects of climate change?”

A. The City’s Urban Forest Management strategy is still in force, and we are beginning to “bend the curve” from decades of tree canopy loss to preservation, and even a bit of growth. The regional growth strategy emphasis on concentrating growth within the Urban Containment Boundary is a fundamental regional climate change strategy, as it reduces forest and wetland loss, reduces cost and emissions related to servicing a sprawling City.

Q. “Will the City continue to consult with HCA homeowners about the incentives and adhere to them?”

A. Council has not yet seen any policy changes to the HCA related to the new provincial regulations. Again, it is a bit more technical than I am comfortable to opine on now, but my initial understanding is that there is no conflict between the incentives program and the new provincial regulations.

Q. “What should be acceptable for an HRA, is it being used to circumvent a rezoning application, is painting as requires or dedicating a tree sufficient?”

A. An HRA does not “circumvent” rezoning, it is a related process. In rezoning, land entitlements are changed, usually in exchange for some community benefit, either on the property or to meet city-wide policy objectives. In an HRA, land entitlements are changed for some community benefit, including protection of a heritage asset through designation. Ultimately, whether a land entitlement change (through rezoning or HRA) provides sufficient community benefit is a decision of Council on a case-by-case basis, and I cannot prejudge those.

Q. “What is the traffic plan for residents with increased density – cars and transit?”

A. The City has a Master Transportation plan available on the City website. It is consistent with the regional transportation plan Transport 2050 developed and approved by TransLink. Just as the City’s MTP is linked to our OCP in recognition that transportation is a fundamental aspect of land use planning, Transport 2050 is tied – by legislation – to the Regional Growth Strategy Metro 2050.

Tags: Mayor Patrick Johnstone