OFFICIAL COMMUNITY PLAN REVIEW AND UPDATE – DRAFT TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background

History and Context

View Royal is the westernmost municipality of the five core Capital Region District (CRD) municipalities, and is also the transition to, and is geographically part of the West Shore. View Royal’s location make it both an area of opportunity, and local and regional challenges.

The Town of View Royal is a growing community of over 11,500 people located within the Capital Regional District. As a largely residential community, it boasts a high standard of living supported by a wealth of natural amenities including Esquimalt Harbour, Portage Inlet, Thetis Lake Regional Park, the mouth of both Craigflower and Millstream Creeks, and numerous pockets of rare Garry oak and Arbutus ecosystems. View Royal also hosts historic colonial settlements and structures, the most notable being Craigflower Manor. View Royal is home to the regionally critical Victoria General Hospital and a growing development node supporting health care and services in the Capital Regional District.

Residents enjoy recreation services through West Shore Parks and Recreation, along with the many parks and natural green spaces located throughout the Town. The Island Highway Business Corridor straddles the View Royal / Colwood border offering a mix of business, as well as much future development potential and growth. The community is serviced by two other large commercial hubs, including Eagle Creek Shopping Centre, located in the Town’s Northern Community Corridor, and Admirals Walk, located along Admirals Road in the Town’s Eastern Community Corridor.

Growth and Development

Since incorporation in 1988, the Town of View Royal has been transforming from a quiet suburb into a distinct and vibrant community, complete with its own unique neighbourhoods, commercial services, and highly desired parks and green space. Still, one of the most valued aspects of View Royal is the high quality of life afforded by proximity to parks, shoreline and open space, employment opportunities, and arts and culture. As there are very few greenfield properties available for development, future growth will largely come from redevelopment of previously developed sites. This will require a balance of effective stakeholder engagement strategies and realistic, sustainable development standards to achieve the vision for the future.

Housing

There has been a considerable increase in housing supply in the identified growth areas in View Royal over the last few years, especially purpose-built rental housing. However, the supply of below-market and affordable housing continues to be critically short in the Town. The Town’s Zoning Bylaw was recently amended by introducing small-scale multi-unit housing (SSMUH) in accordance with Provincial Bill 44. These amendments allow secondary suites and/or garden suites, and a minimum of 3, 4, and 6 dwelling units on lots exclusively zoned for a single-family dwelling or duplex. The OCP review and update will need to reflect these changes. The number of dwelling units permitted is dependent on the location and property size. The OCP update will look forward with plans to better address housing through policy and guidelines.

Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

In support of action on climate change, the Town of View Royal has joined 1,500 jurisdictions around the world in declaring a climate emergency. This declaration necessitates a very strong policy response within the Town’s OCP which reflects the gravity of such a declaration and appropriately addresses the crisis of a changing climate. View Royal embraces the concept of a triple-bottom line approach to sustainability, which balances social, economic and environmental issues. Now, more than ever before, the Town and its residents know that future sustainability and prosperity depends on the decisions made in the near term. The revised OCP will be developed through a climate action lens where alternate futures can be explored and establish the Town’s strongest sustainability targets to date while providing more informed economic and social guidance than in the past.

Reconciliation

A very important element that is largely missing from the 2011 OCP is the awareness of indigenous history and contemporary issues, which should be addressed through the development of a new OCP. An emphasis on building relationships and ongoing reconciliation with the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations is a significant element of this project. Increased sharing of information from the BC Archeology Branch also provides new opportunities to include known heritage cultural resources and sites in land planning.

Transportation and Mobility

Four major transportation corridors (the Trans-Canada Highway, the Island Highway, the Galloping Goose Regional Trail and the E&N Railway) bisect the municipality. Regional vehicle traffic congestion continues to have real impacts on local residents and businesses. Continued growth in neighbouring municipalities and future investments in transit infrastructure (such as the transit exchanges) will have a significant impact on, and provide new opportunities for, the future of View Royal. For this reason, View Royal has been a strong proponent of promoting investments in non-automobile transportation modes and infrastructure including the Galloping Goose Trail and the E&N Trail, as well as use of the E&N corridor. The corridor’s transportation utility will be closely linked to the adjacent land use choices and policies, particularly at major nodes and intersections. There is an opportunity to explore Transit-Oriented Design principles in these locations, with the understanding that the E&N corridor may not see a mass transit implementation for decades.

Community Infrastructure and Services

Since incorporating as a municipality in 1988, the Town has made substantial investments in upgrading local infrastructure to ensure that residents have access to a wide range of community services. Today, the vast majority of residents and businesses located inside the Urban Growth Boundary are connected to urban infrastructure and services. Through development, the Town has also achieved upgrades to important infrastructure. There is a concern that infrastructure needs will not be able to keep pace with community growth and development. A major challenge for the Town is continuing to provide the high-quality infrastructure and services the community expects in a fiscally sustainable manner.

Project Scope, Timeline and Deliverables

The Town’s existing OCP was adopted in 2011 and needs to be updated to reflect the changing demographics and community needs. There are still many aspects of the current document that will be valuable to retain, refine and further develop. This review will also integrate the latest information, master plans and policy documents adopted by the Town.

This RFP is intended to focus on the following key areas:

1. Community Profile, Vision and Guiding Principles:
   • review and update the community profile, vision and guiding principles with input from the community.
2. Land Use Designations and Special Planning Areas
   • review and update land use designations (intent, uses, heights and densities) based on anticipated housing need and community growth;
   • review and refine the 2011 OCP’s “Community Development Framework”, with a focus on exploring opportunities to enhance mixed-use villages and corridors;
   • establish a key mixed-use, employment precinct along Island Highway from Six-Mile Road to the Colwood border;
   • revisit the vision and location of the Town Centre; and
   • establish uses, urban design and built form principles, amenity areas, etc., for the Provincially designated Transit-Oriented Area in the Hospital Neighbourhood.
3. Housing
   • incorporate recent research undertaken by the Town on Housing and Land Economics. It is anticipated that there will be strong community interest in analyzing housing capacity, and exploring diverse housing forms and how different housing forms can fit into neighbourhoods;
   • incorporate updates that reflect the calculated anticipated housing need and projections over the next 20 years; and
   • enhance policies and actions related to housing affordability and attainability.
4. Transportation and Mobility
   • establish stronger connections between land use and transportation policy, including transit-oriented development (TOD); and
   • align OCP with the Active Transportation Network Plan (2023).
5. Climate Action, Adaptation and Resiliency
   • bring a climate action lens to the policies that guide planning and land use decisions;
   • align OCP with the Town’s Community Climate Action Strategy (2022);
   • enhance policies and actions that focus on energy efficient site and building design, water conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
6. Environment Preservation and Enhancement
   • align OCP with forthcoming Urban Forest Strategy, natural asset management, parks inventory and long-term planning;
   • enhance tree preservation and protection policies and actions; and
   • review and update environmental protection and natural hazard development permit areas and associated design guidelines (work has already been initiated on this task).
7. Growth Management Considerations
   • take into consideration the provision of adequate servicing, transportation capacity, parks and recreation, schools, community health etc., and how to pay for it; and
   • identify potential new sites for parks and open spaces, and other amenities, where required.
8. Safety and Wellness
   • review and update policies related to community safety and security (e.g., Crime Prevention through Environmental Design); and
   • review and update policies that have a significant influence on quality of life, and social and community well-being as View Royal continues to grow and demographics change.
9. Arts, Culture and Heritage
   • review and enhance policies related to the integration of View Royal’s cultural heritage and cultural assets into the social and physical landscape of the Town to communicate the community’s past, strengthen its sense of place, and increase public awareness;
   • explore reconciliation through indigenous art and cultural presence throughout the Town.
   • enhance policies related to supporting the growth of arts and cultural opportunities and amenities; and
   • expand tourism and economic development opportunities related to arts, culture and heritage.
10. Reconciliation
    • expand historic context to include pre-colonial culture, art, and physical resources and assets to recognize the long history of the Songhees Nation and Esquimalt Nation; and
    • explore how the British Columbia Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act might be used to further reconciliation efforts at the local level.
11. Development Permit Areas and Design Guidelines
    • undertake a comprehensive review and update of the Town’s Development Permit Areas and associated design guidelines by including best practices in urban design and built environment, and environmental preservation and enhancement;
    • strengthen Development Permit Area guidelines with an increased emphasis on how design can contribute to placemaking in View Royal; and
    • incorporate energy efficiency, GHG reductions and water conservation in Development Permit Areas.
12. Regional Context Statement, Implementation Strategy and Monitoring
    • update the Regional Context Statement to reflect the new OCP;
    • fulfill the legislative requirements of OCPs;
    • include an implementation strategy; and
    • develop a monitoring program and complete a program baseline.

These focus areas are where the Town expects to receive the most in-depth analysis, engagement and development to inform the new OCP.

To ensure that the project is successful, incorporates significant and meaningful community and stakeholder engagement, and meets legislative deadline requirements, the OCP review and update will be executed in three phases. The three-phased approach is summarized as follows:

The intent is to create a user-friendly OCP document that has:

• a logical and organized structure
• clear and understandable graphics, images and illustrations
• clear language and well-defined terms
• a clear table of contents and index digitally linked to relevant sections of the document
• a design that facilitates easy online use.

Community, Council and Staff Engagement

Town of View Royal has prepared a draft Communication and Engagement Strategy (refer to Attachment 1) for the OCP process that was endorsed by Council. This Strategy paves the way for a robust engagement process for the OCP and will be updated with input from the OCP Advisory Committee and consultant, and for consistency with the workplan, approved by Council.

Town staff will lead the public engagement process with support from the consultant with activities, including but not limited to:

• an in-person project kick-off meeting
• open houses, focus groups, workshops, walk-shops, neighbourhood pop-ups, on-line surveys, and other engagement events, as needed to complete specific project deliverables
• an in-person, mid-project update to Council
• regular progress reports and presentation materials. Staff will give presentations to Committee of the Whole, Council and the OCP Review Advisory Committee
• in-person Council workshops led by staff with support from the consultant
• an in-person, draft OCP project presentation to Council
• preparation of presentation materials for the public hearing.

Project Management and Town Project Responsibilities

The Project Manager for the Town will be the Director of Development Services; however, the Senior Planner will oversee and manage the day-to-day coordination of this project and will work closely with the consultant. The primary staff liasons will be the Director of Development Services and Senior Planner, who will be available for meetings, discussion and review of draft documents.

Town project responsibilities, include the following:

• lead the engagement activities with support from the consultant
• provide some mapping support for the process
• provide meeting space for meetings with Council, OCP Advisory Committee, Committee of the Whole (COW), the public, and other stakeholders
• oversee the legal review by the Town’s solicitors with legal review comments to be completed by the consultant
• bring forward and present on technical updates, summaries and draft OCP documents to OCP Advisory Committee, Committee of the Whole and Council at key intervals in the project with information provided by the consultant. There may be times that the consultant may be required in-person to support staff at the OCP Advisory Committee and/or COW and Council meetings.
• refer the bylaw to meet legislative requirements and will forward all referral comments to the consultant for consideration and incorporation into the bylaw. Both staff and the consultant must confirm that all legislative requirements are being met.

Project Schedule

The project schedule is summarized in the following table:

Table 1. Project Schedule

Reference Material

The following View Royal documents should be considered in the preparation of responses to this RFP:

• View Royal Strategic Plan 2023-2026
• OCP, Bylaw No. 811, 2011
• Zoning Bylaw No. 900, 2014
• Draft OCP Communications and Engagement Strategy 2024 (refer to Appendix 1)
• Council Report on OCP Project Scope dated September 23, 2024
• What We Heard Report – Community Engagement Survey dated September 24, 2024
• Council Report on Draft Communications and Engagement Strategy – Official Community Plan Review and Update – dated September 16, 2024
• Housing Needs Assessment Report & Interim Housing Needs Report (updated in 2024)
• Active Transportation Network Plan 2023
• Community Climate Action Strategy 2022
• View Royal Land Economics Study 2021
• Sanitary Master Plan 2019
• Community Satisfaction and Engagement Survey 2019
• Parks Master Plan 2017
• Drainage Master Plan 2017
• Transportation Master Plan 2016 (Update)
• Community Amenity Contributions Policy

The following external documents may be helpful to review in the preparation of responses to this RFP:

• CRD Regional Growth Strategy 2018
• BC Climate Action Charter
• BC Archaeology Branch - Archaeological Overview Assessments
• OCPs of neighbouring municipalities that share a border with View Royal, including District of Saanich, Township of Esquimalt, City of Colwood and City of Langford.