New community plans on the way for three Burnaby neighbourhoods

New community plans are in the works for the Edmonds, Royal Oak, and Cascade Heights neighbourhoods.

City council voted on Jan. 23 to give planning and development staff a budget of $200,000 to begin consultation on the new plans over the next several months.

Community plans provide Burnaby council with a policy framework for individual regions of the city, and are intended to guide decisions about issues like land-use, development, housing targets, and public open spaces.

A report to council notes that the current community plan for the Edmonds area was created in 1994, with an amendment to include the Southgate Master Plan in 2014. The report describes Edmonds as Burnaby’s largest town centre and the city’s first downtown area—it was also the home of Burnaby’s first municipal hall, located at Kingsway and Edmonds St.

“Edmonds is also one of the most diverse neighbourhoods in the city, with a dynamic mix of residents of all ages, income levels and backgrounds. This history, diversity and connection to open spaces makes Edmonds a special and unique place in Burnaby, for which continued investment in its future success is essential,” the report reads.

The report says the urban fabric of Edmonds is rooted in three mixed-use nodes at Kingsway and Edmonds, Southgate Village, and near Edmonds SkyTrain Station—and says those nodes will be reviewed independently “to ensure that early investment in housing and commercial revitalization is advanced as early as possible”.

The Royal Oak plan, meanwhile, hasn’t seen any comprehensive changes since its adoption in 1999. The report says it would be appropriate to update this plan in accordance with other urban village plans across the city—like the ones recently adopted in the Bainbridge and Lochdale areas.

And the Cascade Heights neighborhood, while designated an urban village, has never actually had a comprehensive community plan in place before now.

“As such, a new community plan for this neighbourhood would consider new housing options, employment opportunities, neighbourhood services, and public spaces as part of the renewal of the aging commercial and residential building stock, and in support of the ongoing redevelopment and future expansion of the Bumaby Hospital,” the report reads.

At the Jan. 23 council meeting, Coun. Pietro Calendino noted that the Cascade Heights neighbourhood in particular is in need of more housing options.

“Second, Burnaby—like most communities in the Metro Vancouver area—is growing fairly fast in population and converting from a bedroom community to a dynamic residential community and employment community, and for this we require a lot more housing units of all forms in the city,” he said.

Calendino said new community plans will also help the neighbourhoods in question transform into 15-minute cities—where residents have everything they need on a daily basis accessible within 15 minutes.

Coun. Alison Gu, meanwhile, noted that while she’s in support of the plans, she wanted to clarify whether the boundaries of the Cascade Heights plan could be extended—pointing out that the area around Sunset St is currently home to low-rise affordable housing developments, along with ‘mom and pop shops’ and restaurants.

The city’s planning and development manager Ed Kozak clarified that the exact boundaries of each community plan will be determined after public consultation—and are “fluid right up until the very end of the process”.

He also pointed out that the boundaries for the recently adopted Lochdale plan changed based on the request of residents who wished to be included.

Given the smaller geographical area of the Cascade Heights neighbourhood, staff believe that plan can be created and implemented in an expedited manner.

Phase 1 of the Royal Oak and Edmonds planning process, which will determine preliminary concepts and directions for the neighbourhoods, will begin this winter and carry on through to the spring.

After several more planning phases, staff expect the community plans to be finalized by fall 2024.

There will be “extensive” public consultation at each step of the planning process.

“It is also noted that citizen-led advisory groups played a significant role in developing both the original Edmonds and Royal Oak Plans and as such, each public consultation phase for the new community plans will involve referrals to applicable community-based groups and resident groups that are active in each community,” the report reads.

The plans are expected to incorporate the topics of climate action, Truth and Reconciliation, sustainable transportation, and housing among others.