East Fraser Lands Waterfront Precinct: 3480 E Kent Ave S (Parcel 30) and 3522 E Kent Ave S (Parcels 33/34 and 35/36) rezoning application

Thank you for your question related to flood protection at East Fraser Lands. During the rezoning process, the City of Vancouver carefully considered provincial and municipal guidelines addressing the risk of sea level rises associated with climate change. Developments in this area are required to have measures in place to protect homes for light rainfall to large storm events. Developments must also have mitigation and control measures in place for major flooding events. Buildings and infrastructure at EFL are required to meet stringent requirements such as:

1. All buildings are required to be constructed at a flood construction level of 4.8 m above sea level to account for major flooding events, as determined by comprehensive flood modelling. 
2. All stormwater infrastructure has been designed for predicted 2100 precipitation levels to account for climate change impacts within this century. The infrastructure will be able to handle light rainfall to large storms. 
3. For extreme storm situations, major drainage infrastructure will be built at a future date to mitigate and control the effects of a 1-in-100 year flood event.  
4. New dykes will be built along the Fraser River to provide flood protection from rising river levels.

Thank you for your question regarding the social housing component of this rezoning. In this application, the developer is required to transfer a dirt site (parcel) to the Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency for the purposes of developing a social housing project. The City’s current definition of “social housing” requires that 100% of units in the building must be owned by a non-profit or government agency, with at least 30% of units affordable to incomes at or below Housing Income Limits (HILs). In similar projects, VAHA has partnered with a non-profit housing provider to deliver and operate the housing units. If the project is successful in securing funding commitments from other levels of government, there may be opportunities to further deepen affordability beyond the City’s requirements. 

In terms of timing, the social housing site will develop independently of Wesgroup’s project. However, the target timeframe is to align the social housing delivery with the development of infrastructure (access roads and utilities) required as part of the overall rezoning. 

Thank you for your question. The River District has been broken into 3 main Areas (see map here). There are no off leash dog areas planned for parks in Areas 1 or 2. Design of parks in Area 3 will include public engagement which will provide opportunities for the public to weigh in on which park amenities are most important to them.  

Improvements will be made to Kinross Ravine Park to improve access from the River District to the existing destination off leash dog area in Everett Crowley Park. 

Thank you for your question. The delivery of the East Fraser Lands community centre is a key objective of the rezoning consideration and consistent with the Council direction approved in 2021 as part of the EFL ODP 10-year review. In addition, at a recent Council meeting regarding the Capital Plan, the following motion was approved:

Centering Community Facilities and Infrastructure in 2023-2026 Capital Plan (Member’s Motion B.8)

https://council.vancouver.ca/20220302/documents/pspc20220302min.pdf (starts on page 12)

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED 

A. THAT Council direct staff to report back early in the 2023-2026 capital budget planning process with a list of potential capital projects that centers community facilities and aging infrastructure to address the City’s significant infrastructure deficit, including utility upgrades and core infrastructure at the end of its duty cycle which needs to be replaced. 

B. THAT the list of potential capital projects include community facilities such as the new East Fraser Lands Community Centre, the Vancouver Public Library Branch, the Ray-Cam Community Centre renewal and redevelopment in partnership with BC Housing, the renewal and expansion of the West End Community Centre, including the Joe Fortes Library Branch, the Britannia Renewal, the Marpole Library Branch, streets initiatives like the Gastown Complete Street Project, new and improved sidewalks and walking paths, curb ramps at intersections, pedestrian signals and beacons, the installation of new traffic signals where none currently exist to address identified safety considerations, park, green spaces and natural area improvements, as well as priority fire hall renewals. 

C. THAT the report back includes a list of Vancouver’s community facilities and core infrastructure including their age, expected useful lifespan and current asset condition. 

D. THAT the list of potential capital projects-community facilities, street initiatives, green spaces and fire hall renewals-reflect the direction given to staff to align the City’s 2023-2026 Capital Plan with the City’s Climate Emergency Action Plan.

The rezoning application for Area 1 continues to be under review by multiple staff departments. Once the application is approved by Council to be considered at Public Hearing, the public will be notified via the Shape Your City webpage and through mail notification.

Please email the Rezoning Planner directly with your mailing address if you would like to be added to our notification mailing list.